STARTING THE YEAR WITH KAFKA

We were in Prague sometime last month just to enjoy its fairy tale beauty. It fell upon my lot to plan the itinerary as well as to source out the public transportation routes and such because my spatial intelligence is at its prime when it comes to city maps, grids, directions, signposts and streets rather than unmarked country roads that meander along into nowhere.

Like any tourist in a city for the first time, I would source out the popular places to visit and the eateries. I have no qualms about asking for information from the random person on the street and the Czechs are extremely friendly and helpful. That is a real bonus as short holidays are primarily for relaxation and it would be awful to be in rude company. We are also very partial to local gastronomical delights and ready to try new food and thanks to my two Czech friends, I have a good list of suggestions on what tastes like heaven on earth.

I like visiting European cities because they are so rich in every sense of the word - rich in history, culture and the arts. If walls could speak, I would be hearing tales of kings and serfs of kingdoms past. I would do them great injustice to put down on paper what I hear because words are never enough to describe what goes beyond words. It would merely be a poor translation.

Yet, try if I must.

If Ireland is about Yeats or Joyce, then certainly Prague is about Franz Kafka, a German-speaking 20^th century Bohemian novelist and short story writer. His writings are a concoction of the bizarre and the real, the surrealistic and the fantastic.

His protagonists are almost always alone wrestling with events beyond their control and his themes centre around alienation, existential anxiety, guilt, and absurdity. His best known works include "Die Verwandlung" ("The Metamorphosis"), Der Process (The Trial), and Das Schloss (The Castle).

I studied Kafka’s works when I was at the university and I wasn’t a great fan of his works for the simple reason that I couldn’t make sense of any of them. At 20 years of age, that could be pardonable. In my mind’s eye, I was looking for linear progression and logical conclusions as would be found in most novels but I found none in Kafka’s.

So the whole experience of ploughing through his works was a big muddle, just like the nightmarish muddle that his protagonists face. In fact the term Kafkaesque has entered the English language to describe situations like those in his writing.

When we visited Prague Castle, I couldn’t help but draw comparisons with the castle that is in Kafka’s Das Schloss (The Castle). The actual castle is built on the hill and there are about 200 steps up from Malostranské náměstí to the castle.. While we managed to reach the top of the castle and enjoyed the magnificent view, the protagonist K never did. Just like in life, there are some things that we can achieve and some that we can’t. The wisdom is to let go that which we can’t and to concentrate on what we can achieve.

I do not agree with all of Kafka’s quotes but I do have a few favourites.

Kafka says “A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us.”  

I can see the axe coming down hard on the hard icy surface and the brute force of it shatters the ice to tiny fragments. Every one has that frozen bit that needs to be liberated. It could be a book that does the job or a flash of courage. With time, whatever is frozen can become so calcified that it would seem impossible to be liberated. Yet, I know of many who dared to take control of their own lives while others chose to stay behind.

Kafka says, ‘“I am a cage, in search of a bird.” 

It is about leaving behind what traps us and being on a quest for something more. It is about the desire to be fulfilled. It is about captivity and freedom.

Kafka says, ‘Paths are made by walking.’

I think this is self explanatory. Unless we make those steps, there can be no route forward. The more steps we make the longer the path. If we continue to walk on the same path day in and day out, the earth gets more compact and familiar. But if we choose to walk in different directions, then we can create new paths. Very profound indeed. 

I am not talking about earth shattering resolutions but these quotes are good foundation stones to start a new year with. Baby steps. All in all, I am glad I could get a glimpse into the mind or the tortured soul of a great writer in his homeland. 

THIS ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE NEW STRAITS TIMES MALAYSIA 4 FEBRUARY 2018 
http://digital.nstp.com.my/nst/books/nstnews/2018/20180204nstnews/index.html#/19/