Franz Kafka is a 20th-century writer known for his literature that falls under existentialism. His work explores themes of alienation, bureaucarcy and burnout. Despite authoring pieces with very dark themes, Kafka was known among his friends to be a cheery individual who often laughed at his own work. (Compiled by Nanditha Anand)
Considered to be his masterpiece, Metamorphosis explores the story of a salesman, Gregor Samsa, who finds himself transformed into a monstrous vermin.
This short story explores the alienation of an artist through a starving performer who goes into public decline as the world starts overlooking his profession.
This posthumously published novel follows Josef K, who is arrested by an inaccessible authority. Neither the reader nor the character gets to know the nature of his crime.
Letters to Milena is a collection of letters by Kafka to Milena, who translated his works into Czech. What started as business eventually grew into an epistolary romance.
This work is an autobiographical manuscript that was written to his father in 1919. It shows the complex relationship that Kafka shared with the parent.