Kafka's Last Trial: The Case of a Literary Legacy [Paperback]

Winner of the 2020 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature Fascinating and forensically scrupulous. A tale pitting two Goliaths against one octogenarian David, untangled in exacting, riveting detail.& [A] must-read. Thoughtful and provocative. A gifted cultural historian with a scholarly sensibility. Absorbing.& Balint elegantly intercuts courtroom scenes with episodes from Kafkas biography and cultural afterlife. He brings out every paradox of a judicial process that tried to tie down this most ambivalent of authors, the ultimate disaffiliated pariah, to a fixed identity.& Balints scrupulous and sardonic prose makes you love Kafka, and dread the law. Though Benjamin Balints masterful hunt for Kafkas rightful ownership begins as a local dispute in an Israeli family court, it soon thickens into modernitys most bitterly contentious cultural conundrum. Who should inherit Franz Kafka? The woman into whose hands his manuscripts fortuitously fell? Germany, the nation that murdered his sisters but claims his spirit? Israel, asserting a sovereign yet intimate ancestral right? Searing questions of language, of personal bequest, of friendship, of biographical evidence, of national pride, of justice, of deceit and betrayal, even of metaphysical allegiance, burn through Balints scrupulous trackings of Kafkas final standing before the law. Thrilling and profound, Superb.& Beautifully crafted, with just the right ratios of empirical-legal information, intellectual history, critical awareness of Kafka and his work, and wise reflection. It is obviously the product of admirably patient research and rare dedication to quality control. A highly entertaining story of literary friendship, epic legal battles and cultural politics centered on one of the most enigmatic writers of the 20th century.& [A]n exquisitely human drama peopled with an eccentric cast of characters that beautifully evokes the early days of Israel, the sadness of the exiles, and the long shadow cast by lc…