Franz Kafka was born in Prague and was the son of a wealthy self-made Czech-Jewish merchant. After studying for a few years in philology and medicine, he turned to law. He worked as a clerk in a social insurance company in Prague.
His failed love stories, poor relationship with his authoritarian father, impeccable intellectual integrity, and almost pathological sensitivity undermined his health. The "years of hunger" in Berlin after 1918 dealt him the final blow. He died there near his last companion, Dora Diamant.
He wrote in German, novels (the unfinished The Trial, The Castle, America, which were published posthumously by his friend Max Brod, from whom he had requested to burn them) and short stories (among which The Metamorphosis stands out). Today, his diaries and letters (Letter to His Father, Letters to Milena, etc.) have also been published.
"Someone must have been accusing Josef K., for one morning, without having done anything wrong, he was arrested." Thus begins the always relevant The Trial.
