Kafka: Lost and Found

I can't remember if it was in high school or in a college class on Existential Fiction that I was first introduced to the writings of Franz Kafka via his surreal, symbolic story "Metamorphosis." I still have the book Continental Short Stories on my bookshelf with stories by Sartre, Camus, Lagerkvist, Borges and others which I read at Ohio U. Many of the stories made impressions that remain with me still.

Metamorphosis as literature corresponds to what Dali's The Persistence of Memory is to art. Kafka's novella depicts the anguish a traveling salesman experiences when he awakes to find he has been transformed into a giant insect, detailing the effects of this change on himself and his family.

So, I was in the library today looking for books by Han Kang, the newly minted winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. While scouring the shelves in the vicinity of Kang I found a few Kafka works, incuding a small volume titled The Lost Writings. Translated to English in 2020, the book is a collection of very short entries, from paragraphs to a few pages in length. 

There's no real preface or introduction. Nothing more than a handful of laudatory quotes. One, by Nabokov no less, exclained that "Kafka is the greatest German writer of our time," stating that writers like Thomas Mann and Rilke were dwarfs compared to Kafka. 

Well, that one was a pretty low blow. Who is Nabokov to decide which faces should be on Literature's Mount Rushmore?

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For students of fiction, The Lost Writings is rich with imagery that fires the imagination. Here is an early entry in this collection. 

So, you want to leave me? Well, one decision is as good as another. Where will you go? Where is away-from-me? The moon? Not even that is far enough, and you'll never get there. So why the fuss? Wouldn't you rather sit down in a corner somewhere, quietly? Wouldn't that be an improvement? A warm, dark corner? Aren't you listening? You're feeling for the door. Well, where is it? So far as I remember, this room doesn't have one. At the time this was built, no one had imagined such earth-shattering plans as yours. Well, no matter, a thought like yours won't get lost, we'll discuss it over dinner, and our laughter will be your reward.

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Related Links
A Hunger Artist (story)
The Trial (novel)
The Trial (Film directed by Orson Welles)

Timeless Lessons from Aesop's Fable about The Fox & the Grapes

Photo by Ray Hennessy on Unsplash

A Fox one day spied a beautiful bunch of ripe grapes hanging from a vine trained along the branches of a tree. The grapes seemed ready to burst with juice, and the Fox's mouth watered as he gazed longingly at them.

The bunch hung from a high branch, and the Fox had to jump for it. The first time he jumped he missed it by a long way. So he walked off a short distance and took a running leap at it, only to fall short once more. Again and again he tried, but in vain. Finally, he sat down and looked at the grapes in disgust.

"What a fool I am," he said. "Here I am wearing myself out to get a bunch of sour grapes that are not worth gaping for."

And off he walked very, very scornfully.

There are many who pretend to despise and belittle that which is beyond their reach.

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I've been listening to a series of lectures called "No Excuses Existentialism" from the Great Courses Series. In one of Professor Robert C. Solomon's lectures about Sartre he noted how the Nobel Prize winner made use of this particular fable to underscore its relevance for people in the 20th century, which is what prompted me to share it here.

The fable has had a variety of applications and interpretations across different disciplines, much like the four blind men who try to describe an elephant. Here are some observations from philosophy, psychology, and the success motivation field.

From Philosophy:

Existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre offered an insightful interpretation of "The Fox and the Grapes." In his perspective, the fox's reaction to the unreachable grapes symbolizes the concept of "bad faith." Sartre argued that humans often engage in bad faith by denying their freedom and responsibility, choosing to adopt false ideas or excuses rather than confront difficult situations. The fox's dismissal of the grapes he can't reach is akin to individuals denying their potential and agency, blaming external circumstances instead of taking action. I think here of the proverb, "The lazy man says, 'There's a lion in the streets.'" (Prov. 26:13)    

From Psychology:

In psychology, "The Fox and the Grapes" can be associated with the phenomenon of cognitive dissonance. When the fox fails to attain the grapes, he justifies his disappointment by convincing himself that the grapes were sour and undesirable. This cognitive dissonance occurs when individuals experience conflicting beliefs or emotions. In real-life situations, people may downplay their desires or rationalize their failures to reduce the discomfort of unfulfilled goals.

From Success Motivation:

According to some, the fable also offers insights into the success motivation field. It teaches the importance of resilience and perseverance in the face of setbacks. Instead of giving up after failing to reach the grapes, successful individuals maintain their determination, learn from their experiences, and continue striving towards their goals. The idea is, "Persist and you will succeed."

Except the reality is, the fox failed. For a variety of reasons. He can't carry a ladder or climb a tree. He didn't own a cell phone so he can't phone a friend.

Owning up to one's limitations is a key part of this fable. Knowing when to move on is a key part of success. On Wall Street there's a saying in this regard: "Don't throw good money after bad." The same might apply to one's time as well. 

The story is also a warning against sour grapes mentality, where people belittle or devalue something they desire but cannot obtain. Nearly everyone involved at an early age in sports -- baseball, soccer, trank & field, football, etc.-- comes to a fork in the road where they must reflect on the reality that they will likely not make it to the Big Leagues, or be on the cover of Sports Illustrated. How we handle this is a reflection on our character. 

Yes, I dreamed of being a Big League ballplayer, but it was apparent that I had shortcomings. Nevertheless, I learned a lot of good lessons from my years in Little League and on through high school. These experiences gave me insights about teamwork, the importance of practice and sacrifice, as well as life.

A sour grapes attitude can lead to a root of bitterness and a sense of victimhood. Successful individuals avoid this trap by accepting the reality of their situation, focusing on personal growth, and adapting their strategies to achieve their aspirations. 

In reflecting on this tale I find myself wanting to take a deeper dive into more of Aesop's fables... as time permits.

Here's another fable by Aesop that I've written about. The moral of this story has been a favorite of mine for ages. Who Will Bell the Cat? A Fable of Aesop That Still Speaks Today

Grapes photo: Creative Commons. © Vyacheslav Argenberg, 

Dylan and Existentialism

“All the existentialists concur that it is through our choices that we become who we are.”
― Gordon Marino, Ethics: The Essential Writings

In June, the Magnolia Salon at Oldenburg House hosted a dialogue between Gordon Marino, author of The Existentialist's Survival Guide, and philosophy prof Steven Ostovich of St. Scholastica. The evening discussion stirred in me fond memories of a trio of philosophy professors I had at Ohio U, especially my introduction to existentialism class and another on existential literature.

There's a sense in which our philosophical stance becomes a lens by which we interpret our observations of reality in all its aspects. In this blog post I simply wanted to share a few quotes and links that might interest readers with a philosophical bent.

This first is from a blog post titled Dylan, Sartre & Existential Connections (2011)

Jean-Paul Sarte and Bob Dylan are two individuals with huge intellects and an unprecedented way of observing history, society, and deep philosophical issues with such incredible insight and poetic artistic creations. They were also two men who were at nature fundamentally human. Driven by desires we all face, standing on unique foundations of past experiences to motivate their artistic publications. These two men parallel each other in ways that are only coincidental, but today can now be seen as bizarre connections that prove they were historical counterparts to a philosophy and political view of existentialism and commentaries on political currents and cultural advancements (good and/or bad).

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The Daily Nous is an online community where philosophical discussion is the central theme. When Dylan won the Nobel Prize they featured a discussion titled Philosophers On Bob Dylan’s Words, Ideas, and His Nobel Prize Win. If you like philosophy, you may wish to bookmark this site and return to it, and if a Dylan fan you will for sure wish to make time to read this thoughtful contribution to the theme.

Liel Leibovitz's 2014 essay in response to the release of the Basement Tapes bootleg is titled, Bob Dylan, Existential Hero. It's a quick snapshot of a time when Bob Dylan was changing, after the motorcycle crash and his extended stay in Woodstock. The music scene was changing, too.

Here's another interesting slice of insight from a NYTimes opinion piece on the meaning of Dylan's silence after being award the Nobel Prize. Yesterday I wrote about "My Back Pages" and the recording of Another Side of Bob Dylan in 1964. The Times piece points out how later that year the Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to the French existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre. "That fall, the philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre played a variation on the same tune in a public statement explaining why, despite having been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, he would not accept it." Coincidence? It's an intriguing opinion piece by Adam Kirsch.

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And finally, here's one more, from a Wade Hollinghaus blog post titled Bob Dylan and the Grand Canyon: Existentialist Thinking. Hollinghaus cites an observation by Saul Bellow of how American Existentialism is different from European Existentialism, after which he writes, "It seemed to me, as I was cruising past an unending series of blank Arizona horizons, that much of what Dylan writes about, in his musical explorations of Americana, tends to be more in touch with Bellow’s American Existentialism. The hobo figures that have littered Dylan’s hundreds of songs, are a testimony to that—'Highway 61,' pretty much all of Blood on the Tracks, the references seem endless."

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One More Time
Bob Dylan and Philosophy: It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Thinking)

Meantime, life goes on all around you. Engage it!