Amerika

From Goodreads

Amerika: The Missing Person
Franz Kafka

I'm not sure how to describe Amerika by Franz Kafka. Through what lens do I see the work? On the one hand it seems like it's a story about Karl, the main character, and his struggles against the fates. In that way Karl seems like Odysseus and each episode in Karl's life is another obstacle between he and his home. But, if it's a travelogue style book, Karl seems much more like Candide than anything Homeric. The suffering in this book seems more intense than in Voltaire, but Karl is just as naive and optimistic. It's a strange mixture of cheery fatalism and abject horror. Maybe it's the plodding pace of Amerika that allows the reader to feel each injustice and injury Karl faces that gave me the crawlies, but Kafka's meanderings have a more devastating effect than Voltaire's relentless pace.  The ending, with Karl being rewarded for accepting his fate with biscuits from Delamarche and Brunelda seems like a perverse, if fitting iteration of one's citrons and pistachios.

But, I often compare books I like with Candide, still one of my favorites. Delamarche and Robinson don't have quite as good of a reflection in Candide so I won't try to and shoehorn it in here. I loved this book, but I can't help thinking about how incredibly sad Kafka's works are. I was glad it ended, for Karl's sake. Even in the fragments (as Kafka never actually finished the book) I found myself grimacing as to what horrors awaited Karl in Oklahoma. Mercifully, I can imagine that he and Fanny lived a happy life out there, but I fear that Delamarche, or the specter of his uncle would somehow have robbed Karl of pleasant circumstances. The question I don't have the answer for though is could a Delamarche or his uncle or any rapidly deteriorating situation ever have robbed Karl of his spirit? In a way, Karl could be seen as a saint in Camus' views. He stared at the absurd and remained firm, seeking neither negation nor escape. He simply accepted fate and went about his business.