know that's not supposed to be humorous but it is.

calling on a stranger to stand up for children, invalids, and the elderly is uproarious.

it exists.

“Youth is happy because it has the capacity to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.”
― Franz Kafka

“We are as forlorn as children lost in the woods. When you stand in front of me and look at me, what do you know of the griefs that are in me and what do I know of yours. And if I were to cast myself down before you and weep and tell you, what more would you know about me than you know about Hell when someone tells you it is hot and dreadful? For that reason alone we human beings ought to stand before one another as reverently, as reflectively, as lovingly, as we would before the entrance to Hell.” - Franz Kafka

Leopards break into the temple and drink the sacrificial chalices dry. This happens again and again, repeatedly. Finally it can be counted on beforehand and becomes part of the ceremony.

-Franz Kafka, Parables and Paradoxes

In reply to this comment by MrFisk:
*quality

i just noticed.was away on a short vaca.
thanks my man =)

This video has been declared a duplicate; transferring votes to the original video and killing this dupe - dupeof declared by rasch187.

*dupeof=http://www.videosift.com/video/Onion-Prague-s-Franz-Kafka-International

Tags for this video have been changed from 'airline, hilarious' to 'airline, hilarious, franz kafka, the process' - edited by rasch187

I'm from Latvia
Admittedly though, while Kafka in the curriculum was indeed a fact, our public education system is becoming a LOT less draconian these days (kids can actually choose NOT to have physics and chem in years 10-12 these days, which is very sad, actually), so I wouldn't be surprised if it had been substituted by local (lesser) authors by now. Then again, I was always a lit-nerd - all I did, age 3-10, was read, several hours' worth, every day. Then I discovered computers.

Also, one of the reasons I remember Kafka as "light reading" might be due to me taking on the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner and Ulysses around the same time

Btw, I didn't vote for the clip in question because of (I know, I'm always unpopular because of this-) Pink Floyd - I absolutely can't stand The Wall...

In reply to this comment by enoch:
In reply to this comment by EDD:
Why would there be any frustration, especially for a Lit major? Metamorphosis is short, interesting and easy reading with quite unambiguous allegory and metaphors. Where I'm from, its analysis is in the 9/10th grade curriculum.

you read kafka in 9th grade?i remember reading steinbeck,j.d salinger and shakespeare.where did you go to school?albania?
i like kafka's short works of poems but his narratives lose me.my roomie was english lit,he was always complaining about kafka.my sentence structure alone should reveal that I was not the english lit person in question...sighs.
i never got into any of his other work.
i was the same with tolstoy and doesteyevsky.they bored me.
"metamorphosis" is pretty good,mix that with floyd and it was a winner to me.
the song and animation actually make this short verse more vibrant in my opinion.

should i remove that line?a co-worker of mine has her masters in english,and she too says that kafka was a pain in the ass.
she is from albania btw..pre-algebra in first grade..yeesh.
figured that was two that thought kafka was a royal pain.
im not exactly a kafka expert,but i like his poetry.
not my fave mind you,but i like.

In reply to this comment by EDD:
Why would there be any frustration, especially for a Lit major? Metamorphosis is short, interesting and easy reading with quite unambiguous allegory and metaphors. Where I'm from, its analysis is in the 9/10th grade curriculum.

you read kafka in 9th grade?i remember reading steinbeck,j.d salinger and shakespeare.where did you go to school?albania?
i like kafka's short works of poems but his narratives lose me.my roomie was english lit,he was always complaining about kafka.my sentence structure alone should reveal that I was not the english lit person in question...sighs.
i never got into any of his other work.
i was the same with tolstoy and doesteyevsky.they bored me.
"metamorphosis" is pretty good,mix that with floyd and it was a winner to me.
the song and animation actually make this short verse more vibrant in my opinion.

should i remove that line?a co-worker of mine has her masters in english,and she too says that kafka was a pain in the ass.
she is from albania btw..pre-algebra in first grade..yeesh.
figured that was two that thought kafka was a royal pain.
im not exactly a kafka expert,but i like his poetry.
not my fave mind you,but i like.

In reply to this comment by rasch187:
Kafka was Czech, not Polish.

And he certainly wasn't a philosopher, just a brilliant writer.


thanks for the clarification on kafka's place of birth,thought it was poland.
but i disagree with you in saying that kafka was not a philosopher.
aristotle,socrates,nicodemus,sun tzu?....no.
but are not all writers,and especially poets, constantly perfecting their craft in condensing the real,and unreal,into a concentrated vision of truth?
they gaze unblinking at the void and expose their souls for all to admire...or admonish.
that, my friend, takes courage few have.
is that not..
in essence..
the very core of philosophy?
before you can think..you must LOOK..
before you can FEEL..you must experience..
we all are tiny gods in our own way.
petty philosophers tinkering with the creation that is our life.
but the greats...
neitzsche,hegel,jung,tielhard etc etc,
ah..they had BALLS.
they stared into the abyss unflinching.
sighs..
i wax melodramitic here..
but i cant help it.
kafka's poetry is infuriatingly obtuse at times,but his genius in rare moments cannot be denied.
but to be honest...
it's J Keats who always makes my feeble attempts appear small,fragile and
a stunning tribute to pure hackery.
that man WAS poetry.
interesting that both kafka and keats died of consumption.
in any case..
thank you my friend for setting me straight,
and allowing an old man to babble about his heroes.
till next time..
namaste.

Tee heeeee Franz Kafka airport LOL LOL LOL LOL

I'm sorry doogle http://www.videosift.com/video/Onion-Prague-s-Franz-Kafka-International

your onion video isn't working but there's new embed codes posted if you'd like to fix it up ..
http://www.videosift.com/video/Onion-Prague-s-Franz-Kafka-International

Tolkien

Hunter S. Thompson

Kurt Vonnegut

Franz Kafka

Favorite dystopianfuture: The Stand (although it had a typical shitty Stephen King ending)

I need to read more fiction.

I've read so many great books that it's really hard for me to whittle it down to five that I think are the best, so I'm going to go with the first five that come into my head. I'm guessing that the first five must have made the greatest impression on me, so it's a reasonable place to start a favorites list.

1. Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut. Vonnegut is probably the single most influential author to me. His protagonists and story lines always clicked with me. It was like he was writing them just for me.

2. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller. Everyone's heard of this one, and it's considered by many to be one of the best novels of the 20th century. If you haven't read it yet, put it next on your to-read list. Notice my first two novels are both set in World War II. I don't know if that means anything or not.

3. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay - Michael Chabon. Considered by many to be Chabon's greatest work. I noticed you read one of his book's, dag. I think you owe it to yourself to read this one. I plan on reading The Yiddish Policemen's Union soon, because I've heard good things about it too.

4. The Trial - Franz Kafka. A dark novel, to say the least. To me it's about the absurdity of life and accepting fate. I don't believe in fate, but I sometimes wonder about the futility of existence. Can't help it.

5. The Foundation series - Isaac Asimov. Read the series when I was a teenager. The idea of being able to use science to not only predict but also control future events fascinated me, and that it was set in the future, complete with space travel, made it even more interesting. I liked how Asimov later was able to merge the Foundation series with the Robot series.

Other novels worthy of mention:

- Tropic Of Cancer - Henry Miller - Almost made the Top 5
- Life of Pi - Yann Martel
- Galapagos - Kurt Vonnegut
- Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Breakfast Of Champions - Kurt Vonnegut
- 1984 - George Orwell
- Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert A. Heinlein
- God Knows - Joseph Heller
- Something Happened - Joseph Heller
- Ringworld - Larry Niven
- The Outsiders - S.E. Hinton