In the Penal Colony [short story]

This is a dark tale, Kafka at his best. It should give us all reason to think about our system, any system, of imprisonment and punishment.

Guilt, fear, punishment, retribution. The desperation of the common man in the face of power. All were tattooed into Kafka's psyche and are recurrent themes in everything he wrote. In this grim little book, crimes are literally tattooed onto the skin of convicts until they experience enlightenment, and then they die.

My verdict: potentious, in the good sense, this may Be Just indicipherable intangible intaglio . . .
OK, maybe I'm comparing too many works to Dostoevsky's The Grand Inquisitor, but so be it. Mysterious visitor appears, with the power, or not, to change. Gets the monoloque spiel from the hatchet man. The overwrought outfit (uniform or religious garb). Supplication from the ladies (Mary). Judge, jury, and executioner. Takes the ultimate punishment for himself in the end. The visitor departs. The grave stone prophesying the return . . .

I read this because I was assigned to read "The Metamorphosis" for my World Lit II class, and when I was finished I was so taken with Kafka and I couldn't get enough. I downloaded this ebook and began reading it immediately after I was done with my assignment. I enjoyed it (though not as much as "The Metamorphosis") and I'm completely in love with Kafka's writing.

The illustrations by Hirsch intensify the horror of the story. I read this on a train between Leipzig and Berlin in July 2008. I love the Insel Bucherei series.

It's not you, it's me.
I'm trying to read Kafka but it's not my thing, maybe I should stick with the fantasy and romances.

Another masterpiece by this genius of the literature.