Lunchtime read: Metamorphosis and Other Stories

Although I had planned to take a break from Franz Kafka this book stood out on the shelf and shows that the author is capable of producing quite accessible stuff along with the well known Trial and Metamorphosis.

The Aeroplanes at Brescia
Kafka tells the story of a group of friends travelling to see some of the most important names in the world of aviation - Bleriot (who flew across the channel), Rougier and Curtiss - and shares in the excitement at seeing these great men take to the skies in what in 1905 was still a form of transportation in its infancy. On the way to the aerodrome the friends see fading posters advertising car races, in a gently swipe at one form of race overtaking another, and all of the trains are full.

At the end one friend wonders if the famous pilots will come to Prague (Kafka's home town) but they seem to have an exclusivity around them that means they can only stay in certain towns and in the sky above residing with the stars.

More tomorrow...