Destroying the evidence of genius. Assessing guilt. [Not a chess thread]

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  • Destroying the evidence of genius. Assessing guilt. [Not a chess thread]

    Dora Dymant the young woman who shared Franz Kafka's last year with him dutifully destroyed those portions of his work which she held in her control following his last instructions to her. In doing so she destroyed the final versions of many of his writings and was able to report how certain unfinished stories had been concluded by the author but of course the knowledge of these conclusions was not that useful in the absence of the text of the final stories.

    In contrast Max Brod who was considered by the author Kafka's oldest and best friend outright refused to be bound by the author's wishes and told Kafka of this refusal while he was still alive. Brod kept every scrap of paper and every letter that Kafka sent and gave to him and later these were made public.

    Gustav Janouch had many conversations with Kafka and they form the basis of a book called not unsurprisingly "Conversations with Kafka". Janouch struggled with the decision of whether to publish his recollections of Kafka or whether to allow these wonderful snippets to disappear. Fortunately he made the right decision.

    When you keep borrowing the same book from the library over and over it is probably time to get your own copy.
    Last edited by Vlad Drkulec; Tuesday, 14th October, 2014, 02:39 AM.
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