Introducing Kafka, by David Zane Mairowitz and Robert Crumb

I've been reading Kafka on and off for a few years and I've always felt intrigued, amused, and terrified, all at once, by his stories. Stumbling on this little book in a bookstore, I was first attracted by the illustrations by Robert Crumb, which by themselves, would have made this intellectual comic book very interesting. I had built up no expectations on the writing and I was delighted to find what a great job it does at putting Kafka's work in the context of his persona, his time, and the history of his country.

Those who already enjoy Kafka will find that this book sheds light into the dark, unexplained corners of his stories without aiming to explain his artwork. I felt that what Mairowitz and Crumb attempted to do was to motivate discussion and provoke the reader to find a meaning in Kafka's stories. It is hard, if not impossible, to go beyond the shock and the horror or perhaps to find any meaning in Kafka's work without an attempt to understand the conditions that motivated his writings. Those who have never read Kafka will enjoy this book for a terrific introduction to many fastastic and bizarre stories and hopefully will feel motivated to read them in their original format. Finally, those who simply enjoy brainy comics will not be disappointed by the terrific illustrations and carefully crafted text.