@Parsifal - I flit from one thing to the next - I am an intellectual butterfly - had forgotten about Kafka - but saw a few bleak movies recently . . . full of vicious male violence; a French one 'Un Prophet' and the de Niro one "once upon a time in America' - which was beautiful in parts but also full of nastiness, beginning with horrible violence - i kept dipping in and out of the movie, to get respite - the music (Morricone) kept me going.
my sister-in-law, elderly and frail had a lifelong attachment and marriage with a man who actually kept her 'down' (he was an accomplished narcissist - well-hidden behind charm) but she never realised - now in old age she keeps saying how she hates men and that they are violent and the cause of all evil in the world, but at the same time she is proud of her identical twin-grandsons - who are smart and great-looking guys - still teenagers . . . Bad fathers certainly can have a bad effect on their male children - or at least some of them, I wouldn't mind betting that all of the worlds cruel dictators had a horrible father.
Re-visiting books is always interesting, I have found. My recent discovery - as you may have noticed - is Hildegard von Bingen - I once leafed through one of her originals and there were a few items which were simply superstitions, so I never bothered. Her music, however, has had a revival and one hears it on the ABC fairly regularly - so I began looking at her again - but interpreted by modern medical doctors - and she has a message useful in our world, too.
It might be similar with Kafka - but I suspect one would have to know that part of the world (and I do) and want to re-visit it - and I am not sure, i want to - but he is also on my list - thanks for reminding me. Go well Taurisk
