Kafkaesque

‘Rarely, if ever, have I read a book about translation so insightful, so wide-ranging, so romantic, so hard-hitting. A book to underline endlessly, to dog-ear, to carry around until battered, and then to tell all your friends to buy because you’re too reluctant to give up your own copy. Maïa Hruska and Sam Taylor have created a wonder’ Polly Barton, author of Fifty Sounds
‘An elegant reflection on how the act of translation itself brings about Kafkaesque diversions … offers poignant reflections on the Europe of yesteryear and its legacy today’ Times Literary Supplement
‘Freewheeling and often fascinating … a thoughtful, digressive and at times sensuous production. It thrives on Kafka’s sheer variety’ Literary Review
‘Compelling, haunting … exposes the intimate and unstable nature of translation itself’ New Statesman
’Brings a welcome freshness of vision and a dashing style … provocative and illuminating, thanks to Hruska’s insights and imaginative associations. Her engaging, elegant prose is deftly recreated in Sam Taylor’s beautiful translation. Kafkaesque is bound to appeal both to Kafka devotees and to readers curious about how he became a global icon’ The Spectator
‘[S]uperbly provocative…allows for the universality that accounts for Kafka’s continuing appeal’ Irish Times
‘The explorations in Kafkaesque are ranging and free-associative… It is poignant that Ms Hruska’s book ends with a literal romance blooming from the act of translation’ Wall Street Journal
‘Lively, lyrically inviting prose … Hruska’s approach makes Kafka fresh and revelatory again’ George Prochnik, author of The Impossible Exile
‘A joyful and mind-opening read for everyone’ Burhan Sönmez, author of Lovers of Franz K. and President of PEN International
‘Dazzling … one fine day, you open a book by an unknown writer, and a charge of pure talent blows you away… It’s a rare occurrence, even when you read for work … that gift that you don’t expect’ La Tribune

Born to a Czech-French family in 1991, Maia Hruska was raised in Germany and now lives in London, working as a lawyer, like Kafka. She is fluent in Czech, French, German, and English. Kafkaesque is her first book.

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