Parables and Paradoxes

Parables and Paradoxes (Parabeln und Paradoxe) is a bilingual edition of selected writings by Franz Kafka edited by Nahum N. Glatzer (Schocken Books, 1961). In this volume of collected pieces, Kafka re-examines and rewrites some basic mythical tales of the Israelites, Ancient Greeks, Far East, and the Western World, as well as creations of his own imagination.

Parables and Paradoxes
First edition
AuthorFranz Kafka
Original title'Parabeln und Paradoxe'
TranslatorClement Greenberg, Ernst Kaiser & Eithne Wilkins, Willa & Edwin Muir, Tania & James Stern
Cover artistPaul Bacon (photo by Jan Lukas)
LanguageEnglish, German
GenreParables, Fables, Paradoxes
PublisherSchocken Books
Publication date
1961
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback)
Pages190
ISBN0-8052-0422-9
OCLC10988104

The material in the book is drawn from Kafka's notebooks, diaries, letters, short fictional works and the novel The Trial. An earlier version of the collection appeared under the title Parables, and included a smaller selection of works.

Contents

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I
  • An Imperial Message
  • Pekin and the Emperor
  • The News of the Building of the Wall: a Fragment
  • The Great wall and the Tower of Babel
II
  • Paradise
  • The Tower of Babel
  • The Pit of Babel
  • The City Coat of Arms
  • Abraham
  • Mount Sinai
  • The Building of the Temple
  • The Animal in the Synagogue
  • Before the Law
  • The Watchman
  • The Coming of the Messiah
III
IV

Translations

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Parables and Paradoxes brings together short texts from the wide variety of Kafka's works. Since different texts were handled by different translators this volume allows readers to compare the various ways Kafka's works have been rendered into English. The translators included are: