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Kafkaesque: Fourteen Stories
Long fascinated with the work of Franz Kafka, Peter Kuper began illustrating his stories in 1988. Initially drawn to the master’s dark humor, Kuper adapted the stories over the years to plumb their deeper truths. Kuper’s style deliberately evokes Lynd Ward and Frans Masereel, contemporaries of Kafka whose wordless novels captured much of the same claustrophobia and mania as Kafka’s tales. Working from new translations of the classic texts, Kuper has reimagined these iconic stories for the twenty-first century, using setting and perspective to comment on contemporary issues like civil rights and homelessness.
Longtime lovers of Kafka will appreciate Kuper’s innovative interpretations, while Kafka novices will discover a haunting introduction to some of the great writer’s most beguiling stories, including "A Hunger Artist," "In The Penal Colony," and "The Burrow." Kafkaesque stands somewhere between adaptation and wholly original creation, going beyond a simple illustration of Kafka’s words to become a stunning work of art.
Longtime lovers of Kafka will appreciate Kuper’s innovative interpretations, while Kafka novices will discover a haunting introduction to some of the great writer’s most beguiling stories, including "A Hunger Artist," "In The Penal Colony," and "The Burrow." Kafkaesque stands somewhere between adaptation and wholly original creation, going beyond a simple illustration of Kafka’s words to become a stunning work of art.
160 pages, ebook
First published September 1, 2018
9 people are currently reading
446 people want to read
About the author
Franz Kafka
3,043 books37.1k followersPrague-born writer Franz Kafka wrote in German, and his stories, such as "
The Metamorphosis
" (1916), and posthumously published novels, including
The Trial
(1925), concern troubled individuals in a nightmarishly impersonal world.
Jewish middle-class family of this major fiction writer of the 20th century spoke German. People consider his unique body of much incomplete writing, mainly published posthumously, among the most influential in European literature.
His stories include "The Metamorphosis" (1912) and " In the Penal Colony " (1914), whereas his posthumous novels include The Trial (1925), The Castle (1926) and Amerika (1927).
Despite first language, Kafka also spoke fluent Czech. Later, Kafka acquired some knowledge of the French language and culture from Flaubert, one of his favorite authors.
Kafka first studied chemistry at the Charles-Ferdinand University of Prague but after two weeks switched to law. This study offered a range of career possibilities, which pleased his father, and required a longer course of study that gave Kafka time to take classes in German studies and art history. At the university, he joined a student club, named Lese- und Redehalle der Deutschen Studenten, which organized literary events, readings, and other activities. In the end of his first year of studies, he met Max Brod, a close friend of his throughout his life, together with the journalist Felix Weltsch, who also studied law. Kafka obtained the degree of doctor of law on 18 June 1906 and performed an obligatory year of unpaid service as law clerk for the civil and criminal courts.
Writing of Kafka attracted little attention before his death. During his lifetime, he published only a few short stories and never finished any of his novels except the very short "The Metamorphosis." Kafka wrote to Max Brod, his friend and literary executor: "Dearest Max, my last request: Everything I leave behind me ... in the way of diaries, manuscripts, letters (my own and others'), sketches, and so on, [is] to be burned unread." Brod told Kafka that he intended not to honor these wishes, but Kafka, so knowing, nevertheless consequently gave these directions specifically to Brod, who, so reasoning, overrode these wishes. Brod in fact oversaw the publication of most of work of Kafka in his possession; these works quickly began to attract attention and high critical regard.
Max Brod encountered significant difficulty in compiling notebooks of Kafka into any chronological order as Kafka started writing in the middle of notebooks, from the last towards the first, et cetera.
Kafka wrote all his published works in German except several letters in Czech to Milena Jesenská.
Jewish middle-class family of this major fiction writer of the 20th century spoke German. People consider his unique body of much incomplete writing, mainly published posthumously, among the most influential in European literature.
His stories include "The Metamorphosis" (1912) and " In the Penal Colony " (1914), whereas his posthumous novels include The Trial (1925), The Castle (1926) and Amerika (1927).
Despite first language, Kafka also spoke fluent Czech. Later, Kafka acquired some knowledge of the French language and culture from Flaubert, one of his favorite authors.
Kafka first studied chemistry at the Charles-Ferdinand University of Prague but after two weeks switched to law. This study offered a range of career possibilities, which pleased his father, and required a longer course of study that gave Kafka time to take classes in German studies and art history. At the university, he joined a student club, named Lese- und Redehalle der Deutschen Studenten, which organized literary events, readings, and other activities. In the end of his first year of studies, he met Max Brod, a close friend of his throughout his life, together with the journalist Felix Weltsch, who also studied law. Kafka obtained the degree of doctor of law on 18 June 1906 and performed an obligatory year of unpaid service as law clerk for the civil and criminal courts.
Writing of Kafka attracted little attention before his death. During his lifetime, he published only a few short stories and never finished any of his novels except the very short "The Metamorphosis." Kafka wrote to Max Brod, his friend and literary executor: "Dearest Max, my last request: Everything I leave behind me ... in the way of diaries, manuscripts, letters (my own and others'), sketches, and so on, [is] to be burned unread." Brod told Kafka that he intended not to honor these wishes, but Kafka, so knowing, nevertheless consequently gave these directions specifically to Brod, who, so reasoning, overrode these wishes. Brod in fact oversaw the publication of most of work of Kafka in his possession; these works quickly began to attract attention and high critical regard.
Max Brod encountered significant difficulty in compiling notebooks of Kafka into any chronological order as Kafka started writing in the middle of notebooks, from the last towards the first, et cetera.
Kafka wrote all his published works in German except several letters in Czech to Milena Jesenská.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 114 reviews
October 11, 2018
Wonderful comics/illustrated versions of 14 stories by cartoonist/illustrator Kuper. Some of these are stripped-down versions of short short stories told in even shorter fashion through mostly images, sometimes in as few as four pages, such as "Trip to the Mountains," or "A Little Fable". Maybe those are not quite as memorable as others, but there's no mistaking Kuper's deep connection to Kafka. Kuper gets Kafka!
There's an intro by Kuper, which explains, among other things, why he is attracted to the (admittedly bleak, or black) humor of Kafka. There's some expected stories, much longer, such as Kafka classic stories "The Hunger Artist" and "In the Penal Colony" that are bleak and yes, have a kind of surreal (call it gallows?) humor, some of them focused on authoritarian power crushing little people, sometimes based in the legal profession, something Kafka knew from his own work and training.
The black and white scratchboard art is meant to approximate some of the black and white woodcuts with which Kafka may have been familiar at the time he wrote, early twentieth century comics wordless comics by Frans Masereel and Lynd Ward. The production is awesome.
A preview of the book by Kuper, on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/PKuperArt/status/...
Here's a 38 minute film presentation, thanks to YouTube, of Kuper on his career, Kafka (Kuper also did a comics version of Kafka's "The Metamorphosis,") and about this book in particular:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1gS1...
Rich Barrett's fine review in The Comics Journal, where you can see some of the images from the book:
http://www.tcj.com/reviews/kafkaesque/
Wordless God's Man by Lynd Ward in YouTube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DiaB...
There's an intro by Kuper, which explains, among other things, why he is attracted to the (admittedly bleak, or black) humor of Kafka. There's some expected stories, much longer, such as Kafka classic stories "The Hunger Artist" and "In the Penal Colony" that are bleak and yes, have a kind of surreal (call it gallows?) humor, some of them focused on authoritarian power crushing little people, sometimes based in the legal profession, something Kafka knew from his own work and training.
The black and white scratchboard art is meant to approximate some of the black and white woodcuts with which Kafka may have been familiar at the time he wrote, early twentieth century comics wordless comics by Frans Masereel and Lynd Ward. The production is awesome.
A preview of the book by Kuper, on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/PKuperArt/status/...
Here's a 38 minute film presentation, thanks to YouTube, of Kuper on his career, Kafka (Kuper also did a comics version of Kafka's "The Metamorphosis,") and about this book in particular:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1gS1...
Rich Barrett's fine review in The Comics Journal, where you can see some of the images from the book:
http://www.tcj.com/reviews/kafkaesque/
Wordless God's Man by Lynd Ward in YouTube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DiaB...
September 12, 2022
Peter Kuper is the most obvious choice in comics to do an adapation of Kafka. He's so good at dark, politically-charged, anxiety-inducing comics. Here he takes all his skills and applies it to adapting some of Kafka's best known short works.
It's good primer on Kafka and demonstrates Kafka's lasting appeal.
It's good primer on Kafka and demonstrates Kafka's lasting appeal.
February 9, 2023
Interesting take on fourteen of Kafka's works.
This graphic novel format adaptation illuminates rather than diminishes.
Surreal illustrations work well with the mood and language of the original stories.
This graphic novel format adaptation illuminates rather than diminishes.
Surreal illustrations work well with the mood and language of the original stories.
September 11, 2021
Excelente interpretación gráfica de los relatos de Kafka
March 10, 2024
Het is zoveel makkelijker te lezen in strip-vorm wie had dat gedacht. Minder lezen en meer plaatjes! Mocht dit van Evan lenen, omdat ik mijzelf graag martel met Kafka. Nu nog Kafka on the Shore, als die ooit weer wordt gevonden in de bieb!
Read
November 12, 2018This rating/review is based on an ARC from the publisher.
Not for me. I hate Kafka, which I kind of knew before but I definitely know now.
Not for me. I hate Kafka, which I kind of knew before but I definitely know now.
January 20, 2019
I love graphic adaptations of Kafka. In part his stories lend themselves to it. And he attracts excellent artists as well. This is a collection of fourteen stories, including "The Hunger Artist", "In the Penal Colony", "The Burrow," and several lesser known fables. They are black-and-white and look like they were done on woodcuts in German expressionist style. The text is all drawn directly from the stories but highly abbreviated.
What I particularly appreciated in going back-and-forth between the full text of some of the stories and Kuper's adaptation is how he took turns of phrase that I had never taken literally and rendered them as such (e.g., the scribbles on the page of instructions for The Harrow in "In the Penal Colony" or a coal bucket rider flying through the air.
Of course not a substitute for the stories themselves, but definitely a complement.
What I particularly appreciated in going back-and-forth between the full text of some of the stories and Kuper's adaptation is how he took turns of phrase that I had never taken literally and rendered them as such (e.g., the scribbles on the page of instructions for The Harrow in "In the Penal Colony" or a coal bucket rider flying through the air.
Of course not a substitute for the stories themselves, but definitely a complement.
March 1, 2024
It's beautiful 🥹
January 27, 2024
wow ok
September 23, 2018
Kuper wonderfully illustrates Franz Kafka's short and inscrutable tales of torment, torture and death in his trademark jagged style.
Apparently, Kafka was an early adopter of flash fiction, as the original stories adapted here are often less than a thousand words, and at least one was basically just a single paragraph. Despite the length, they are packed with symbolism and unspoken depth that just left my poor head spinning.
Worth a look, but too dark and bleak to ever enjoy.
Apparently, Kafka was an early adopter of flash fiction, as the original stories adapted here are often less than a thousand words, and at least one was basically just a single paragraph. Despite the length, they are packed with symbolism and unspoken depth that just left my poor head spinning.
Worth a look, but too dark and bleak to ever enjoy.
October 23, 2018
Appropriately strange. Kafka's brain must have been a dark quite place where whispers of dread came up from below the floorboards.
March 10, 2019
I really enjoyed these clever Kuper interpretations, which captured the mood of inevitability, the odd dread that's all Kafka.
June 26, 2018
Illuminated the work perfectly, would recommend for anyone wanting to understand Kafka or for general graphic novel fans.
March 31, 2022
Absolutely loved this. The menacing bold illustrations perfectly match the Kafka stories; the oppressors, the political system, social injustice, poverty, bureaucracy, surrealism.
Already looking forward to revisiting this and checking out more of Kuper’s work
Already looking forward to revisiting this and checking out more of Kuper’s work
October 5, 2023
Ce fut effectivement kafkaesque, maaaiis rien d’extraordinaire
June 5, 2024
four beetles out of five
March 31, 2025
The artwork is spectacular. However, many of the stories chosen were not easy to interpret. Perhaps a second read would help.
February 25, 2025
Some of those images are insanely cool. Can't wait to read more by this kafka guy
January 17, 2022
I've read a couple of collections of kupers Kafka and think he is a perfect graphic art interpretor of Kafka works the woodcut etch angst German expressionist black and white layouts are excellent! Also check out Sinclairs the jungle by Peter kuper.
March 10, 2021
Cool to see how the stories are interpreted in the images. Some stories captured me more than others.
April 4, 2023
Kuper seems to have a firm grasp on Kafka's messages, and his stylistic choice reflects them. The stories in this book are mostly from Kafka's very short fables, often only 3-4 pages long. (Two longest are "The Hunger Artist" and "In the Penal Colony").
Great adaptations make the readers see the points that he might have missed in the original work, and this book provided such an opportunity for me.
Kafka is type of a writer whose messages become more and more agreeable as one ages. I read his novels when I was much younger, and I'd love to revisit them. Reading this graphic novel adaptation made me more so.
Great adaptations make the readers see the points that he might have missed in the original work, and this book provided such an opportunity for me.
Kafka is type of a writer whose messages become more and more agreeable as one ages. I read his novels when I was much younger, and I'd love to revisit them. Reading this graphic novel adaptation made me more so.
May 25, 2020
Una visión diferente de algunos relatos de Kafka, re-interpretados a través de la narrativa gráfica de Peter Kuper. Sobre todo rescato que no son los relatos ilustrados, sino realmente una re-narración a través de la visión gráfica de Kuper, que los hace diferentes, algunos los contextualiza de nueva cuenta, otros permanecen en su forma más clásica, otros más son llevados al límite fantástico.
Rescato especialmente "La madriguera" y "En la colonia penal". Aunque el libro está muy bueno, la edición tal vez desmerece un poco en la traducción, no por el idioma sino porque implicó modificar cuestiones tipográficas y se pierden algunos detalles. Kuper menciona que parte de su trabajo fue utilizar diferentes letras a mano para identificar personajes, cosa que me parece, en la edición en español se pierde. Por eso baja un poco las estrellas, ya que considero que en un libro eminentemente visual, es algo muy importante.
Rescato especialmente "La madriguera" y "En la colonia penal". Aunque el libro está muy bueno, la edición tal vez desmerece un poco en la traducción, no por el idioma sino porque implicó modificar cuestiones tipográficas y se pierden algunos detalles. Kuper menciona que parte de su trabajo fue utilizar diferentes letras a mano para identificar personajes, cosa que me parece, en la edición en español se pierde. Por eso baja un poco las estrellas, ya que considero que en un libro eminentemente visual, es algo muy importante.
November 30, 2018
A creative and accessible version of a handful of Kafka's most famous stories, Kuper was a good illustrator for such, bringing the twinge of humor and the skepticism and cynical drawl of Kafka to the reader visually.
March 14, 2019
Absolutely loved this! Could've read on and on and on. Kuper managed to capture the essence of Kafka in every panel. Superb!
August 5, 2019
This book was a birthday gift and surely I loved it!
February 2, 2020
Quite a remarkable adaptation and presentation. Well done. Gorgeous art that does a remarkable job of adapting the material.
March 31, 2022
Kaçımız okumadık ki Dönüşüm, Milena'ya Mektuplar, Babaya Mektup, Dava, Şato ve daha nice kitaplarını... Biz Kafka'yı yazar kimliği ile tanıdık, kardeşlerini Yahudi katliamında kaybetmesi onun toplumsal meselelerden dolayı yabancılaşarak büyümesine neden oldu.
Yalnızlık onun vazgeçilmezi olsa bile hayatından çeşitli sevgililer geçti. Hukuk mezunuyken memur hayatına göz kırptı. Okuduğu dönemde edebiyatı her daim takip ederken tiyatro merakını eksik etmedi. İlk öyküsüyle daimi dostu Max Brod ile tanıştı. Ve eserler akmaya başlarken genç yaşta hayata gözlerini yumdu.
Kafka'yı nasıl bilirsiniz? Ondan esinlenen bir yazar ise Peter Kuper, 1988 yılından beri onu takip eden farklı anlatımlı çizimleriyle karşımızda. Tıpkı Kafka gibi içe kapanık, yaşam-mücadele-adalet(sizlik), toplum, zorbalık, karamsarlık ve ölüm üstüne resmedilmiş on dört öykü var.
Kafka'yı anımsatır mı? Okuduğum metinler zihnimde film makarası misali geçiş yaparken aklımda kalan tek kelime "belki" olur. Size hikayeler mutluluk bahşetmese bile aklınızda bir tutam Kafka kitaplarını gözden geçirmenize neden oluyor.
Bazı hikayeler sizi huzursuz edebilirken bazı çizimler duraksatıyor. Yazarın önsözünü çizgi romana başlamadan önce mutlaka okumanızı tavsiye ederim. Neden Kafka, nereden esinlenilmiş, ilk okuduğu kitap, kimlerle bağlantı sağlamış ve daha pek çok soruya cevap bulabilirsiniz. Farklı bir arayışı olanlara, Kafka'nın hayranından sıradışı kareler görmek isteyenlere tavsiyemdir.
#kafkaesk #peterkuper #metisyayınları
Yalnızlık onun vazgeçilmezi olsa bile hayatından çeşitli sevgililer geçti. Hukuk mezunuyken memur hayatına göz kırptı. Okuduğu dönemde edebiyatı her daim takip ederken tiyatro merakını eksik etmedi. İlk öyküsüyle daimi dostu Max Brod ile tanıştı. Ve eserler akmaya başlarken genç yaşta hayata gözlerini yumdu.
Kafka'yı nasıl bilirsiniz? Ondan esinlenen bir yazar ise Peter Kuper, 1988 yılından beri onu takip eden farklı anlatımlı çizimleriyle karşımızda. Tıpkı Kafka gibi içe kapanık, yaşam-mücadele-adalet(sizlik), toplum, zorbalık, karamsarlık ve ölüm üstüne resmedilmiş on dört öykü var.
Kafka'yı anımsatır mı? Okuduğum metinler zihnimde film makarası misali geçiş yaparken aklımda kalan tek kelime "belki" olur. Size hikayeler mutluluk bahşetmese bile aklınızda bir tutam Kafka kitaplarını gözden geçirmenize neden oluyor.
Bazı hikayeler sizi huzursuz edebilirken bazı çizimler duraksatıyor. Yazarın önsözünü çizgi romana başlamadan önce mutlaka okumanızı tavsiye ederim. Neden Kafka, nereden esinlenilmiş, ilk okuduğu kitap, kimlerle bağlantı sağlamış ve daha pek çok soruya cevap bulabilirsiniz. Farklı bir arayışı olanlara, Kafka'nın hayranından sıradışı kareler görmek isteyenlere tavsiyemdir.
#kafkaesk #peterkuper #metisyayınları
June 6, 2022
I just revisited this one and enjoyed the re-read just as much as the first time. This graphic treatment is of course not a replacement for the actual stories, but Kuper's gulp-able graphics make it a whirlwind trip where you can really appreciate what seemed to concern Kafka most:
the idea of being forgotten, insubstantial and misunderstood, of course
* the starving Coal Bucket Rider
* the Hunger Artist outshown by a ravenous wild animal
* the shoved aside Helmsman
* the stomped Wese of the A Fratricide whose incipient death isn't a quick enough dissolution into Nothingness for his killer)
but also the pervasive occurrence of one dedicating himself to the wrong idea
* A Little Fable's mouse
* The victim of a policeman's antipathy in Give It Up
* The philosopher from The Spinning Top, who can't see the simple flaw in his logic before he falls into a sickening obsession
* The narrator of Before The Law, whose patience is rewarded ultimately only with the grimmest of revelations (Kuper's art here really brings the story to a heartbreaking place that the original story couldn't/wouldn't have)
* The living Bridge who dares to engage with his travelers
Kuper has more than sufficient artistry as well as love for the source material to make all this stuff resonate anew with each reading.
the idea of being forgotten, insubstantial and misunderstood, of course
* the starving Coal Bucket Rider
* the Hunger Artist outshown by a ravenous wild animal
* the shoved aside Helmsman
* the stomped Wese of the A Fratricide whose incipient death isn't a quick enough dissolution into Nothingness for his killer)
but also the pervasive occurrence of one dedicating himself to the wrong idea
* A Little Fable's mouse
* The victim of a policeman's antipathy in Give It Up
* The philosopher from The Spinning Top, who can't see the simple flaw in his logic before he falls into a sickening obsession
* The narrator of Before The Law, whose patience is rewarded ultimately only with the grimmest of revelations (Kuper's art here really brings the story to a heartbreaking place that the original story couldn't/wouldn't have)
* The living Bridge who dares to engage with his travelers
Kuper has more than sufficient artistry as well as love for the source material to make all this stuff resonate anew with each reading.
January 12, 2025
Kafkaesque is a graphic novel that dives into the surreal, unsettling world of Franz Kafka’s stories, and honestly, the visuals are what really steal the show. The black-and-white illustrations are absolutely striking, with bold contrasts and textured shading that draw you into each panel. From sweeping, desolate landscapes to grotesque depictions of internal and external struggles, the art captures the isolation and unease that Kafka’s work is known for.
The stories themselves are definitely bizarre—think Kafka meets Orwell with an oppressive, overbearing vibe. There’s a lot of existential dread and alienation packed into these pages. But at times, the stories feel a little underdeveloped. Some of them are so short that they don’t quite land the emotional punch or fully explore their ideas, which left me feeling like I wanted just a bit more.
That said, the artwork more than makes up for any narrative shortcomings. The high-contrast designs, the grotesque imagery, and even the way internal and external dialogue is visualized—it all works together to create a haunting, unforgettable experience.
If you’re a fan of Kafka or just enjoy graphic novels that push artistic boundaries, Kafkaesque is worth picking up. It’s not perfect, but it’s definitely a feast for the eyes and a fascinating exploration of some pretty heavy themes.
The stories themselves are definitely bizarre—think Kafka meets Orwell with an oppressive, overbearing vibe. There’s a lot of existential dread and alienation packed into these pages. But at times, the stories feel a little underdeveloped. Some of them are so short that they don’t quite land the emotional punch or fully explore their ideas, which left me feeling like I wanted just a bit more.
That said, the artwork more than makes up for any narrative shortcomings. The high-contrast designs, the grotesque imagery, and even the way internal and external dialogue is visualized—it all works together to create a haunting, unforgettable experience.
If you’re a fan of Kafka or just enjoy graphic novels that push artistic boundaries, Kafkaesque is worth picking up. It’s not perfect, but it’s definitely a feast for the eyes and a fascinating exploration of some pretty heavy themes.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 114 reviews