Give It Up! And Other Short Stories

Feiffer argues against the "Classics Illustrated concept" in his Introduction, and then claims: "Kuper, in this volume, doesn't do what I hate, he does what I love. Jazz. This book is a series of riffs, visual improvisations on short takes by the old master." I'm not persuaded, though I grant without Feiffer's suggestion of a "merger" between Euro-alienation and American rock-and-roll alienation I would have missed the film noir grittiness of Kuper's settings. Still, for the most part the visual interpretations are literal. The exception is the best in the collection, in which Kuper envisions a squalid cityscape for Kafka's "The Trees", streetdwellers and cops standing in for tree trunks, and the ending even coming as an ironic surprise.

Graphic novels have never been high in my reading priorities, but I decided this year I would try some different things. This little gem came up in my search.

I selected it because it is short stories, it is Kafka, it has an introduction by Jules Feiffer. I didn't know Kuper.

I had read all of these stories before (more than once) but Kuper's bold black and white illustrations add a whole now dimension. He nails it.

This graphic novel is an adaptation of several of Franz Kafka’s short stories. Not having read any of the stories portrayed in this book, I am not able to say whether or not they are faithfully adapted. With a few of the stories, I was left with a “huh?” feeling, as though I were missing something. I’m not sure if this was because of the shortened graphic novel version, or if I would have felt the same way reading the original version. I enjoyed the story, “Hunger Artist,” the most out of the lot. Kuper’s dark, stylized graphics work well with Kafka’s dark, enigmatic stories.

I wanted to know if they were literal translations. Translated to English, of course, but also to find out if they were abridged. At the library, I checked out "Franz Kafka - Collected Stories." The shortest are word for word and the longest (?) are very close.Word for WordA Little FableGive It UpThe BridgeThe TreesThe TopThe VultureSlightly AbridgedThe HelmsmanAbridgedA Hunger ArtistA FratricideI continue reading the Collected Stories . . .

I wanted to know if they were literal translations. Translated to English, of course, but also to find out if they were abridged. At the library, I checked out "Franz Kafka - Collected Stories." The shortest are word for word and the longest (?) are very close.Word for WordA Little FableGive It UpThe BridgeThe TreesThe TopThe VultureSlightly AbridgedThe HelmsmanAbridgedA Hunger ArtistA FratricideI continue reading the Collected Stories . . .