Awards

• Short-listed for The Guardian Best Books by Colm Toibin 2013

Overview

Full Product Details

9780691147413

Table of Contents

Reviews

Most impressive is Stach?s recounting of the creation of his subject?s writings... Stach?s own writing is wonderfully expressive. --Publishers Weekly (starred review) A scrupulous, discriminating, and highly instructive account of Kafka?s life. --Robert Alter, New Republic Stach aims to tell us all that can be known about [Kafka], avoiding the fancies and extrapolations of earlier biographers. The result is an enthralling synthesis, one that reads beautifully?. I can?t say enough about the liveliness and richness of Stach?s book?. Every page of this book feels excited, dynamic, utterly alive. --Michael Dirda, Washington Post Book World Stach?s is a splendid effort and will be hard to surpass. --William H. Gass, Harper?s Magazine A masterpiece of inspired biographical writing. --Choice Probing... Essential reading. --Booklist (starred review) Magnificent. --Die Zeit Stach develops the various elements that play a role in Kafka?s life brilliantly. --Der Spiegel The first great biography of Franz Kafka ... exciting and instructive from the first to the last page. --Tagesanzeiger This extraordinary biography fills the empty spaces between Kafka?s own writings and the writings of friends, family, and contemporaries with so much empathy and imagination that one can?t put it down. --Frankfurter Rundschau [M]onumental... [A] superb English-language translation by Shelly Frisch ... now reprinted in a handsome paperback by Princeton... In this first volume, Stach sifts through that rubble with huge amounts of energy and discretion (and Frisch follows him without a misstep; it feels like exactly the book I read ten years ago in its original language)... His letters and journals are marshaled with sometimes breathtaking ingenuity, and the sheer scope of the work allows Stach to be expansive when painting his backgrounds... Always in these recountings, Stach is searching for his elusive subject, trying--as all previous biographers have tried, though none so well--to hear Kafka's strange, singular voice in the noise... Kafka: The Decisive Years was greeted with a loud chorus of praise when it first appeared in English, and the passage of almost a decade has cast no doubt on that verdict. Princeton has re-issued this classic so that it can stand next to the following volume, Kafka: The Years of Insight, newly published in hardcover. No one interested in Kafka (or, by almost inevitable extension, 20th century literature) should miss either. --Steve Donoghue, Open Letters Monthly [F]lawlessly translated... [A] wonderfully intelligent and perceptive portrait of a uniquely powerful writer. --PD Smith, Guardian

One of The Guardian Best Books of 2013, chosen by Colm Toibin Most impressive is Stach's recounting of the creation of his subject's writings... Stach's own writing is wonderfully expressive. -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) A scrupulous, discriminating, and highly instructive account of Kafka's life. --Robert Alter, New Republic Stach aims to tell us all that can be known about [Kafka], avoiding the fancies and extrapolations of earlier biographers. The result is an enthralling synthesis, one that reads beautifully... I can't say enough about the liveliness and richness of Stach's book... Every page of this book feels excited, dynamic, utterly alive. --Michael Dirda, Washington Post Book World Stach's is a splendid effort and will be hard to surpass. --William H. Gass, Harper's Magazine A masterpiece of inspired biographical writing. -- Choice Probing... Essential reading. -- Booklist (starred review) Magnificent. -- Die Zeit Stach develops the various elements that play a role in Kafka's life brilliantly. -- Der Spiegel The first great biography of Franz Kafka ... exciting and instructive from the first to the last page. -- Tagesanzeiger This extraordinary biography fills the empty spaces between Kafka's own writings and the writings of friends, family, and contemporaries with so much empathy and imagination that one can't put it down. -- Frankfurter Rundschau [M]onumental... [A] superb English-language translation by Shelly Frisch ... now reprinted in a handsome paperback by Princeton... In this first volume, Stach sifts through that rubble with huge amounts of energy and discretion (and Frisch follows him without a misstep; it feels like exactly the book I read ten years ago in its original language)... His letters and journals are marshaled with sometimes breathtaking ingenuity, and the sheer scope of the work allows Stach to be expansive when painting his backgrounds... Always in these recountings, Stach is searching for his elusive subject, trying--as all previous biographers have tried, though none so well--to hear Kafka's strange, singular voice in the noise... Kafka: The Decisive Years was greeted with a loud chorus of praise when it first appeared in English, and the passage of almost a decade has cast no doubt on that verdict. Princeton has re-issued this classic so that it can stand next to the following volume, Kafka: The Years of Insight, newly published in hardcover. No one interested in Kafka (or, by almost inevitable extension, 20th century literature) should miss either. --Steve Donoghue, Open Letters Monthly [F]lawlessly translated... [A] wonderfully intelligent and perceptive portrait of a uniquely powerful writer. --PD Smith, Guardian Stach reads the work and the life with minute care and sympathy. He has a deep understanding of the world that Kafka came from and this is matched by an intelligence and tact about the impulse behind the work itself. --Colm Toibin, Irish Independent

The Guardian Best Books of 2013, chosen by Colm Toibin Most impressive is Stach's recounting of the creation of his subject's writings... Stach's own writing is wonderfully expressive. --Publishers Weekly (starred review) A scrupulous, discriminating, and highly instructive account of Kafka's life. --Robert Alter, New Republic Stach aims to tell us all that can be known about [Kafka], avoiding the fancies and extrapolations of earlier biographers. The result is an enthralling synthesis, one that reads beautifully... I can't say enough about the liveliness and richness of Stach's book... Every page of this book feels excited, dynamic, utterly alive. --Michael Dirda, Washington Post Book World Stach's is a splendid effort and will be hard to surpass. --William H. Gass, Harper's Magazine A masterpiece of inspired biographical writing. --Choice Probing... Essential reading. --Booklist (starred review) Magnificent. --Die Zeit Stach develops the various elements that play a role in Kafka's life brilliantly. --Der Spiegel The first great biography of Franz Kafka ... exciting and instructive from the first to the last page. --Tagesanzeiger This extraordinary biography fills the empty spaces between Kafka's own writings and the writings of friends, family, and contemporaries with so much empathy and imagination that one can't put it down. --Frankfurter Rundschau [M]onumental... [A] superb English-language translation by Shelly Frisch ... now reprinted in a handsome paperback by Princeton... In this first volume, Stach sifts through that rubble with huge amounts of energy and discretion (and Frisch follows him without a misstep; it feels like exactly the book I read ten years ago in its original language)... His letters and journals are marshaled with sometimes breathtaking ingenuity, and the sheer scope of the work allows Stach to be expansive when painting his backgrounds... Always in these recountings, Stach is searching for his elusive subject, trying--as all previous biographers have tried, though none so well--to hear Kafka's strange, singular voice in the noise... Kafka: The Decisive Years was greeted with a loud chorus of praise when it first appeared in English, and the passage of almost a decade has cast no doubt on that verdict. Princeton has re-issued this classic so that it can stand next to the following volume, Kafka: The Years of Insight, newly published in hardcover. No one interested in Kafka (or, by almost inevitable extension, 20th century literature) should miss either. --Steve Donoghue, Open Letters Monthly [F]lawlessly translated... [A] wonderfully intelligent and perceptive portrait of a uniquely powerful writer. --PD Smith, Guardian Stach reads the work and the life with minute care and sympathy. He has a deep understanding of the world that Kafka came from and this is matched by an intelligence and tact about the impulse behind the work itself. --Colm Toibin, Irish Independent

Most impressive is Stach's recounting of the creation of his subject's writings... Stach's own writing is wonderfully expressive. Publishers Weekly (starred review) A scrupulous, discriminating, and highly instructive account of Kafka's life. -- Robert Alter New Republic Stach aims to tell us all that can be known about [Kafka], avoiding the fancies and extrapolations of earlier biographers. The result is an enthralling synthesis, one that reads beautifully?. I can't say enough about the liveliness and richness of Stach's book?. Every page of this book feels excited, dynamic, utterly alive. -- Michael Dirda Washington Post Book World Stach's is a splendid effort and will be hard to surpass. -- William H. Gass Harper's Magazine A masterpiece of inspired biographical writing. Choice Probing... Essential reading. Booklist Magnificent. Die Zeit Stach develops the various elements that play a role in Kafka's life brilliantly. Der Spiegel The first great biography of Franz Kafka ... exciting and instructive from the first to the last page. Tagesanzeiger This extraordinary biography fills the empty spaces between Kafka's own writings and the writings of friends, family, and contemporaries with so much empathy and imagination that one can't put it down. Frankfurter Rundschau

Author Information

Reiner Stach worked extensively on the definitive edition of Kafka's collected works before embarking on this three-volume biography. The third volume, Kafka: The Years of Insight (Princeton), covering Kafka's final years, is also available. The first volume, covering Kafka's childhood and youth, is forthcoming.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available