{"product_id":"kafkas-son-9781803092683","title":"Kafka's Son","description":"\u003cb\u003eA posthumously published Hungarian masterpiece that reflects on fragmented lives.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Born in 1963, Szilárd Borbély emerged as one of the most important poets of post-communist Europe, exploring the themes of grief, memory, and trauma in his critically acclaimed work. Following the murder of his mother during a burglary in 2000, and the subsequent breakdown and death of his father, Borbély suffered from post-traumatic depression and tragically ended his own life in 2014. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Among the manuscripts that Borbély left behind was \u003ci\u003eKafka's Son\u003c\/i\u003e, a fragmentary work, rendered still more fragmented through the author's death. Through a series of haunting passages that explore early twentieth-century Prague, including the ruins of the ancient Jewish ghetto during the time of its demolition, Borbély inscribes the story of Franz Kafka and his father onto the city. We are used to hearing from Franz; here Hermann Kafka is also given a voice. \"The son,\" he tells us, \"is the life of the father. The father is the death of the son.\" By extension, then, this book is also an indirect telling of the story of Borbély and his father, and about sons and fathers in the Habsburg empire and the culture of brutality that defined Eastern Europe. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e A posthumously published Hungarian masterpiece, \u003ci\u003eKafka's Son\u003c\/i\u003e now appears in English in award-winning translator Ottilie Mulzet's sensitive translation, a fragmentary yet iridescent work inviting us to reflect on our fragmented lives.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSzilárd Borbély\u003c\/b\u003e was an authority on Hungarian literature of the late Baroque period as well as a writer and was widely considered to be one of the most important European poets of the post-Communist period. \u003cb\u003eOttilie Mulzet \u003c\/b\u003ewas awarded the National Book Award for Translated Literature for her translation of László Krasznahorkai's \u003ci\u003eBaron Wenckheim's Homecoming\u003c\/i\u003e in 2019. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Seagull Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50674052104466,"sku":"9781803092683","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_fb68cbba-73e0-4d4b-b8e4-d4f192c08982.jpg?v=1733851775","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/kafkas-son-9781803092683","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}