july 3, 1883 - june 3, 1924
in the 7th grade someone gave me a copy of the castle. i read a few pages put it away and thought it was the stupidest thing i had ever read (mostly i read harold robbins & stephen king novels). a few months later i attempted to read it again. still, i wasn't ready. several months later, one winter day, during a snow storm, i picked it up and read it cover to cover and forever fell in love with kafka. other than bob dylan and milan kundera, no other artist has influenced my life more.
one of my favorite kafka pieces is couriers:they were offered the choice between becoming kings or the couriers of kings. the way children would, they all wanted to be couriers. therefore there are only couriers who hurry around the world, shouting to each other - since there are no kings - messages that have become meaningless. they would like to put an end to this miserable life of theirs but they dare not because of their oaths of service.