can anyone suggest the important works of franz kafka,soren kirkegaard and jean-paul sartre? also what led you towards their works? how do you find the experience?
Kafka is a great write, I'd suggest starting with the metamorphosis and then the trial. Kierkegaard is great, pretty much anything by him is worth reading. Being and nothingess by sartre is worth reading, imho. I was led to these authors through a brief interest in existentialism. You might enjoy some Dostoevsky.
^ You hafta be experienced with kafka fully to grasp the beauty of Amerika, it should be the last book by kafka one reads, imho. Great post. As stated, "Fear and Trembling" by Kierkegaard is an essential. With Sarte, "Being and Nothingness" followed by "Existentialism is a Humanism" is a perfect intro into Sartre.. Those are pre-Marx conversion. You may enjoy some Camus. I was lead to these writing through an interest in Existentialism.
The Metamorphosis is an amazing book. His longer novels are based on small symbolic ideas that are ruthlessly stretched into long novels that become boring at times. All of Kafka’s short stories are amazing. His diaries and letters give the word, neurotic, a totally new meaning. It is worth to dip into them though. I hate all of Sartre’s work except his novel called Nausea. It is written in the form of a diary and had probably more influence on me than any other book because of that. Since two thousand and six I never stopped keeping diaries daily because just a few of Sartre’s words showed me how to do it. One must write detailed, daily, accounts of even the things that you do not find important to write about. You must not stretch the truth of the things that you see. You need not comment on them either. You must find a good way to organise and categorise the things you write. The accounts must not be opinionated or too opinionated. Nausea is a diary of a fictional character who is writing a book. He keeps feeling this nausea at certain times. There is a deeper and probably psychological reason for this that I did not care to understand. I simply liked that book by Sarte because it was so true to life and natural, unlike much of the other things that he wrote and the things that others have written. As for Kierkegaard I started off by reading a book with the selected excerpts of his work. His comments on Job made an impression on me. I think that was just because the book of Job in the bible was so interesting and not because Kierkegaard’s commentary on it was so brilliant. Kierkegaard’s work is confusing, though I cannot deny that there may be a strange beauty in his words. A great Christian Philosopher to read would be Francis Schaefer. The New Super Spirituality is an amazing little pamphlet that I regret giving away. I only bought it for twenty pence. Escape from Reason is not at all bad as well. Schaeffer’s online articles are thought provoking as well. Other than Kierkegaard Schaeffer was clearer about his views, and was not simply a doubting protestant.
For Kierkegaard, read "Either/Or" (Diary of the Seducer is a good part). This is kind of framework to his contribution, in a beautifully written work. "Fear and Trembling" is a good one already mentioned, but also "Sickness Unto Death". If you get into those, read everything by Kierkegaard . He is a tough one to understand and its only after at least an understanding of each of his pieces does the puzzle become clear. He even wrote a piece on how the people who read his work did not understand the forest in the trees. He writes very differently at different times (On purpose) because he is actually trying to write as completely different people. He even used false names on many of his works to hide his identity. He did not want credit, he just knew he had a complete gem of a body of work that he had worked out before he started writing. Let me know if you need any help with him
Kafka, kirkegaard & Sartre all walk into a bar, order a load of beers, become gloomy so that Sarte raises his glass and says “Damn all intellectuals.” Kafka raises his and cries “Yeah! Damn reading too. All those books justify the Nazi’s book burnings, man.” Then Kierkegaard cries “ Yeah, and don’t even get me started on religion. Man, who invented it anyhow? God!? Pah!” Then the filthy, unshaved, barkeeper walks up to them and says “Then get out. We don’t take folks here that don’t understand the magic of curling up in bed with a good book in your arms, ****. So fuck off!”
With regard to Sartre I would read his WWII Iron in the Soul trilogy and his essays. La Nausee really did nothing for me when I read it Kafka is really readable although a lot of effort because he really destroys everything you love Kafka and Camus are my favourite writers because they just don't give a fuck they know exactly where it hurts On topic, I have not read Kierkergaard, how do I do that?
This is a little late, but I study philosophy, so I feel like I can give some worthwhile advice to anyone interested: Kafka: The Metamorphasis is, I'm told, a good place to start. I, however, have not read it. It's a short piece, though, that you can finish in one session, so it is probably worth looking at. I've read The Trial and The Castle. Both were painful, horrible experiences at the time (like Beckett, he does not write the way people want books to be), but when reflecting on them I have very good impressions of both. It's important to read The Trial before The Castle, as the latter is somewhat an answer to the former. Kierkegaard: I've only read the first volume of Either/Or, and an essay on Fear and Trembling. Be careful with Kierkegaard; he's very, very complex, even if it seems like it's quite simple. Like a poster above, I recommend reading Either/Or, especially the chapter Diary of the Seducer, found in the first volume. Kierkegaard is a beautiful writer, so it's easy to be distracted by his prose and forget that he was on to some quite challenging and profound ideas. It might be worth reading Kierkegaard in conjunction with a commentary if you have no philosophical background. Even reading what little I have, he has changed the way I think and act. Sartre: Unfortunately I don't have much experience with Sartre. I've only read one of his novels, a section from Being and Nothingness, and an essay titled Faces. I have two friends who are very interested in him, though, so I can give you second-hand advice. Nausea seems to be the most accessible of his important writings. I wouldn't suggest Being and Nothingness, unless you have a lot of time to spare and have studied some philosophy; it is extremely difficult and dense. Being and Nothingness is his most important work, though, so if you're really interested, give it a go; but it is written for an academic audience. Reading Sartre is both beautiful, like Kierkegaard, and painful, like Kafka.
Investigations of a Dog and Metamorphosis are my favorite Kafka's short stories, highly recommend 'em. All of his novels are worth reading, and I really enjoyed Amerika, but yes, it makes sense to read it last.
