| Vendor | |
|---|---|
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Liepman Literary Agency
Marc Koralnik |
| Original language | |
| English | |
KAFKA'S LAST TRIAL
The Case of Literary Legacy
This is not another book about Kafka, it is about the trial in which current Germany plays a large part.
An unprecedented international custody battle wends its way through Israeli courts. At stake: a priceless lost cache of Franz Kafka's papers. The manuscripts, kept hidden for decades, promise to shed new light on the most enigmatic writer of the twentieth century. Expertly drawing on extensive interviews, archives, and court documents never before published, this book traces the unlikely trajectory of a trove of manuscripts from Prague to Palestine.
The story of how this treasure trove ended up in the hands of a woman who never met Kafka begins a century earlier with the remarkable friendship between Franz Kafka and his impresario Max Brod. When Kafka died in 1924, a month short of his forty-first birthday, Brod could not bring himself to fulfill Kafka's last instruction: to burn his remaining manuscripts, dairies, and letters. Instead, Brod carried them with him when he escaped the Nazis in 1939, and devoted the rest of his life to canonizing Kafka as the most prescientand most disquietingchronicler of the twentieth century. Safe in Tel Aviv but grieving for a lost world, Brod fell in love with the secretary he employed to put Kafka's unfinished manuscripts in order, an émigré from Prague named Esther Hoffe. Before Brod died in 1968, it was to Esther that he bequeathed the papers. Whether she was an outright beneficiary or a trustee is a central issue in dispute. After Brod's death, Hoffe commenced to sell off Kafka's legacy piecemeal, thus sparking the fascinating litigation that is the centerpiece of this book.
A scholar and writer of considerable intellect and narrative abilities, Balint explores the legal-ethical claims made by the three parties battling for possession of the Kafka archive: the Hoffe family, the National Library of Israel, and the German Literature Archive in Marbach.
Balint brilliantly explores the provocative question of who can legitimately claim to own Kafka, and why: Does Kafka's writing belong to German literature or to the state which regards itself as the representative of Jews everywhere? Or does his body of work remain beyond any national canon, obedient to its own laws of motion, to use his phrase?
This is a story of a then-unrecognized genius betrayed by his most trusted friend, of a wrenching escape from Nazi invaders as the gates of Europe closed, of a love affair between exiles stranded in Tel Aviv, and of two countries whose linked obsessions with overcoming the traumas of the past had brought them as rivals to a bitterly contested trial.
Benjamin Balint, a writer and translator living in Jerusalem, has taught literature at the Bard College humanities program at Al-Quds University in Jerusalem. The New York Times called his first book, "Running Commentary" (PublicAffairs, 2010) "beautifully written and richly researched." His second book, "Jerusalem: City of the Book"(co-authored with Merav Mack), is due out from Yale University Press in 2018. Balint's reviews and essays regularly appear in the Wall Street Journal, Die Zeit, Haaretz, the Weekly Standard, and the Claremont Review of Books. His translations of Hebrew poetry have appeared in the New Yorker.
Deborah Harris: Over the last decade or so I have closely followed the custody battles in Israel over the Franz Kafka trove of documents, brought from Prague to Israel in 1939 by Max Brod and then given by him to his secretary and lover, Esther Hoffe. It was clear to me that there was a book to be written about this whole story, but until I met and spoke repeatedly with Ben Balint, the bigger picture eluded me. I think Ben has done masterful work in crafting this proposal for Kafka's Last Trial.
Ben begins by illuminating the rare friendship shared by Kafka and Brod, and the latter's absolute devotion to Kafka and his work. Kafka entrusted Brod with his papers, with the directive to burn everything when Kafka died. Of course, Brod did not do so, betraying his friend, perhaps, but obviously enriching the world. Brod in turn gave the papers to Hoffe; whether he was an outright beneficiary or a trustee is a central issue in dispute. Upon Brod's death, Hoffe commenced to sell off Kafka piecemeal, thus spawning the fascinating litigation that is the centerpiece of this book. A scholar and writer of considerable intellect and journalistic skill, Ben Balint explores the legal-ethical arena of the trials and the three parties battling for possession of the Kafka archive: the Hoffe family, the National Library of Israel, and the German Literature Archive in Marbach. Balint brilliantly explores the provocative, multi-dimensional question of who can legitimately claim to own Kafka, and why: individuals? Israel? Germany? These are stimulating and profound questions about the legacy of this Promethean literary figure. Some are specific to who Kafka was and where he belongs, and some overarching questions relate to the interwoven issues of identity, national culture and historical circumstance.
Ben Balint will write a dramatic, intellectually solid and successful book that will be a significant contribution not only to the study of Kafka but also to the broader marketplace of ideas.
The story of how this treasure trove ended up in the hands of a woman who never met Kafka begins a century earlier with the remarkable friendship between Franz Kafka and his impresario Max Brod. When Kafka died in 1924, a month short of his forty-first birthday, Brod could not bring himself to fulfill Kafka's last instruction: to burn his remaining manuscripts, dairies, and letters. Instead, Brod carried them with him when he escaped the Nazis in 1939, and devoted the rest of his life to canonizing Kafka as the most prescientand most disquietingchronicler of the twentieth century. Safe in Tel Aviv but grieving for a lost world, Brod fell in love with the secretary he employed to put Kafka's unfinished manuscripts in order, an émigré from Prague named Esther Hoffe. Before Brod died in 1968, it was to Esther that he bequeathed the papers. Whether she was an outright beneficiary or a trustee is a central issue in dispute. After Brod's death, Hoffe commenced to sell off Kafka's legacy piecemeal, thus sparking the fascinating litigation that is the centerpiece of this book.
A scholar and writer of considerable intellect and narrative abilities, Balint explores the legal-ethical claims made by the three parties battling for possession of the Kafka archive: the Hoffe family, the National Library of Israel, and the German Literature Archive in Marbach.
Balint brilliantly explores the provocative question of who can legitimately claim to own Kafka, and why: Does Kafka's writing belong to German literature or to the state which regards itself as the representative of Jews everywhere? Or does his body of work remain beyond any national canon, obedient to its own laws of motion, to use his phrase?
This is a story of a then-unrecognized genius betrayed by his most trusted friend, of a wrenching escape from Nazi invaders as the gates of Europe closed, of a love affair between exiles stranded in Tel Aviv, and of two countries whose linked obsessions with overcoming the traumas of the past had brought them as rivals to a bitterly contested trial.
Benjamin Balint, a writer and translator living in Jerusalem, has taught literature at the Bard College humanities program at Al-Quds University in Jerusalem. The New York Times called his first book, "Running Commentary" (PublicAffairs, 2010) "beautifully written and richly researched." His second book, "Jerusalem: City of the Book"(co-authored with Merav Mack), is due out from Yale University Press in 2018. Balint's reviews and essays regularly appear in the Wall Street Journal, Die Zeit, Haaretz, the Weekly Standard, and the Claremont Review of Books. His translations of Hebrew poetry have appeared in the New Yorker.
Deborah Harris: Over the last decade or so I have closely followed the custody battles in Israel over the Franz Kafka trove of documents, brought from Prague to Israel in 1939 by Max Brod and then given by him to his secretary and lover, Esther Hoffe. It was clear to me that there was a book to be written about this whole story, but until I met and spoke repeatedly with Ben Balint, the bigger picture eluded me. I think Ben has done masterful work in crafting this proposal for Kafka's Last Trial.
Ben begins by illuminating the rare friendship shared by Kafka and Brod, and the latter's absolute devotion to Kafka and his work. Kafka entrusted Brod with his papers, with the directive to burn everything when Kafka died. Of course, Brod did not do so, betraying his friend, perhaps, but obviously enriching the world. Brod in turn gave the papers to Hoffe; whether he was an outright beneficiary or a trustee is a central issue in dispute. Upon Brod's death, Hoffe commenced to sell off Kafka piecemeal, thus spawning the fascinating litigation that is the centerpiece of this book. A scholar and writer of considerable intellect and journalistic skill, Ben Balint explores the legal-ethical arena of the trials and the three parties battling for possession of the Kafka archive: the Hoffe family, the National Library of Israel, and the German Literature Archive in Marbach. Balint brilliantly explores the provocative, multi-dimensional question of who can legitimately claim to own Kafka, and why: individuals? Israel? Germany? These are stimulating and profound questions about the legacy of this Promethean literary figure. Some are specific to who Kafka was and where he belongs, and some overarching questions relate to the interwoven issues of identity, national culture and historical circumstance.
Ben Balint will write a dramatic, intellectually solid and successful book that will be a significant contribution not only to the study of Kafka but also to the broader marketplace of ideas.
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Published by W. W. Norton & Company |