Kafka’s Friend
ABOUT
THE BOOK
Kafka’s Friend tells the powerfully emotional story of the friendship between two writers – Franz Kafka and Max Brod – and of the women who determined their destinies. Love and literature are constantly intertwined in the lives of the sensitive heroes. The novel is set in Prague in the period from 1903 to 1924, and then during 1953 in Tel Aviv. The beginning of the 20th century and the years immediately subsequent to World War 1 are convincingly described, while the biographies of the well-known heroes – despite the extent to which the factography is respected – present an unexpected story in Gavran’s interpretation.
NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS
Gavran has written a strong work of art in the form of a short novel, carefully designed for a modern reader, short of breath and short of time. Facts from biographies of two extraordinary European intellectuals of 20th century – Franz Kafka and Max Brod present a platform for discussing eternal literary preoccupations like friendship and love, as well as depicting a specific period in history.