A Cage Went in Search of a Bird

April 29, 2024
This inspired anthology demonstrates the enduring influence of Franz Kafka’s fatalistic worldview and mordant humor. In the introduction, Becca Rothfeld muses on Kafka’s “mystifying” aphorisms and recurring theme of imprisonment, suggesting that “we might begin to sympathize with the cage looking for a bird, for we, too, are desperate to catch the fugitive flutter of comprehension.” Standout entries include “The Board,” Elif Batuman’s amusing tale of a woman who goes through bureaucratic hoops to purchase a basement apartment, and Joshua Cohen’s “Return to the Museum,” written from the perspective of a Neanderthal on display at a natural history museum as it reopens after a pandemic. Lingering pandemic fears also pop up in Tommy Orange’s “The Hurt” and Helen Oyeyemi’s “Hygiene,” though both fail to stick their respective landings. More successful is Yiyun Li’s “Apostrophe’s Dream,” which takes the form of a play staged by various punctuation marks about the gradual abandonment of their proper usage. Charlie Kaufman’s metafictional closer is equally clever, unspooling the story of an author who, after his book launch, learns he inadvertently copied Kafka’s language and sees his life upended. These stories will do the trick for the Kafka curious and diehard fans alike.

May 15, 2024
Marking the hundredth anniversary of Franz Kafka's death, the 10 absurd tales in this multiauthored collection aspire to be Kafkaesque. They tangle with themes close to Kafka's heart--alienation, fate, guilt, loneliness, suffering, unbearable bureaucracy. Although none of these offerings matches the weirdness and emotional withering of Kafka's foremost short stories (""The Metamorphosis,"" ""In the Penal Colony,"" ""A Country Doctor""), coming closest is ""The Hurt."" A viral contagion hits humankind hard, causing episodes of excruciating pain and panic, with the suffering filmed and shown online. Notions of beautiful agony and performance art grimly echo Kafka's ""A Hunger Artist."" ""Headache"" recounts a 30-year-old woman's escalating helplessness culminating in a bizarre hospital detention. ""The Board"" describes a strange showing of an underground apartment. Two stories are silly, one about punctuation marks in a typesetter's cabinet that bicker and lament their misuse, the other narrated by a genuine Neanderthal who inhabits an enclosed exhibit in a museum. Additional tales feature machines that become self-aware and build a mysterious tower, painted red lines of unknown significance, and a creepy landlord.

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