Lunchtime read: Metamorphosis and Other Stories

You go from an innocent enough story about aeroplanes to something a lot darker and with an ending that is incredibly disturbing. At least here we are back on familiar Kafka territory.

The Judgement, A Story
A business man corresponds with his friend who has moved to Russia three years before but he keeps things from him because he does not want to upset the friend who has gone away and had limited success. But he never realises that he has concentrated on his own career and neglected his friend and maybe that is the reason why he does not wish to share in his news. He finally decides to tell his friend of his engagement and goes into talk about it to his father. But his father starts to attack him verbally and reveals that he has been writing to his friend for the three years and also accuses his son of cutting him out of the family business. He roars at him that he condemns him to death by drowning and then the son stumbles from the room, drags himself to the river and falls into the water.

More tomorrow…