Today in Labor History July 3, 1883: Franz Kafka was born. He died at age 40, of tuberculosis, before any of his major works were published. He was born to a middle-class, German-Czech Jewish family, but declared himself an atheist by the time he was a teen. As a young man, he participated in the Klub mladých, a Czech anarchist, anti-militarist, and anti-clerical organization. Supposedly, he wore a red carnation to school to show his support for socialism. Much of his fiction explores themes of alienation, guilt and power, and is often characterized by protagonists faced with bizarre and often incomprehensible bureaucratic nightmares. His own life was filled with anxiety and self-doubt that provoked him to burn roughly 90% of his own manuscripts, and much of the 10% that survived was lost or never published. In his will, he instructed his friend, and fellow writer, Max Brod, to destroy his work. Brod ignored this request and helped get “The Trial,” “The Castle,” and “America” published. In 1962, the film version of “The Trial” came out, starring Anthony Perkins as Joseph K, screenplay and directed by Orson Welles. Most film historians and buffs place Welle’s “Citizen Kane near, or at, the top of the list for all-time greatest films ever made. However, Welles considered this film to be even better. And I agree.
#workingclass #LaborHistory #anarchism #kafka #jewish #writer #author #fiction #novel #socialism #books #OrsonWelles #film @bookstadon
