This was my first Kafka read and what a wonderful collection. I now understand the importance of this writer and why his works are classics. I look forward to buying a copy and having it adorn my shelves.

An informal, overly chatty-seeming introduction actually proves ideal for this vital book of Kafka short stories. Vital, because I've turned to his pages off and on for the last thirty years as a layman fan, and still found new pieces here. Poseidon no less gets hung up on paperwork – but not all of this is the typical Kafkaesque nightmare the introduction bewails. Of the more famous pieces here, they're pretty much present and correct, and of the lesser anthologised works it has to be admitted that some are one-paragraph vignettes, but not all are. You can use these pages to help you believe the tragedy of a man who travels by train – in the overhead luggage racks; the scientific report spoken by an ex-monkey; and more – perhaps not the horse used as lawyer, mind.

Best, for me at least, was 'The Stoker' – a story I'd not seen before, and a wonderful, wonderful experience of Kafka taking himself far from his usual shores. A young lad almost gets turned into a lawyer as well, when the ship taking him to the New World arrives at New York. Ridiculous circumstance and creepy feel of grooming aside, there's a poise to the piece – and copious unanswered questions, as only befitting a Kafka story – that really works. This would have been worth the price of admission without that. I'm one of the converted and didn't have to be plied with short and sweet glories to be a fan of Kafka, but I agree with this compiler and translator, in that the esoteric little gems are the way to get under his skin and find the most pleasure. Four and a half stars.

Metamorphosis has long been one of my favorite classics, so I was excited to get at a collection of Kafka's short stories, to read the week prior to traveling to his birthplace, Prague. I love this title, I love this book cover, and I love the portrait of Kafka posing with a dog. I super appreciate Alexander Starritt acknowledging four different translators at the end of this gem, a great translation can augment genius; and these stories written over a century ago, are so comical today and read so fluidly. My only complaint is that I found the tone of Starritt's Preface overtly, and unnecessarily, negative. In fact my recommendation would be to skip the first four paragraphs of his Preface, and just enjoy the rest of the book.

A short story collection from Franz Kafta translated into English by Alexander Starritt; I'd not read any of Kafka's work now and understand the more well-known pieces to be much longer novels. As with most collections, there were some I really enjoyed, others I was less bothered by but there's an overriding theme of tales which make you think, some will make you question your views and morality, some leave you questioning what on earth you just read. The stand out story for me was the slightly longer and disturbing tale 'The Harrow'; I'd recommend to anyone who wants an easy to read introduction to a new author or anyone after a good short story collection; 4 stars.

Having read all Kafka's longer, better-known works, I was excited to have the opportunity to sample some of his short stories. This is an eclectic collection that ranges from stories spanning several pages to brief vignettes lasting only a few sentences. I found them all wonderful, though some of my favourites included 'In the Penal Colony', 'The Stoker', 'The Unhappiness of Being a Single Man', and 'The Verdict'. If you are a fan of Kafka's writing, you're certain to find something to enjoy in this collection. If you are new to Kafka, this volume would provide an excellent introduction to his style before you pick up one of the novels. All in all, a delightful read.

Thank you Net Galley. Wonderful. A well translated, excellent collection. I enjoyed it very much and recommend it very strongly.

An essential read for all fans of Kafka. I consider myself an adherent of his incredible prose, memorable story building, and the simplicity of his plotting, and yet there are several stories in this collection that were new to me.
I could not recommend it more.

This is a collection of short stories in form of anecdote, letters of fables. It didn't capture me. I find hard to read a job when it. Has been trAnslated.
This was also my first time reading Kafka so I was not very familiar with his writing. I still think that if you love Kafka you need to give this one a try!

I had not heard of Franz Kafka or read any of his work, and I did not know it was translated. Therefore, I was not used to his writing style. I like the idea of shorter essays, but it was hard to keep my attention, with some being so short and some being so long.

'Some are fables, some are jokes, some seem placid at first then throw you out the window , some put pictures in your mind that no one but Kafka ever could and that will keep resurfacing for years afterwards as metaphors for your lived reality. Some you read and think, oh I see, this is Kafka, this is why Kafka was such an earthquake, this is why he’s unforgettable.'

The Unhappiness of Being a Single Man: Essential Stories is a new translation and collection of Kafka's short stories by Alexander Starritt and published by Pushkin Press. On Twitter he explained some time ago:
'In 2003, I went to a week-long @VilliersPark summer camp for kids who wanted to do German at university. I got this old library book of Kafka short stories for 10p. 15 years on, I'm translating a selection for @PushkinPress.' and this is the result.

This collection includes Kafka's best known short works such as In the Penal Colony, The Hunger Artist, A Report for an Academy and The Stoker (which of course was ultimately to form the first chapter of the uncompleted novel Amerika) along with others including several of the very short (often one page pieces). One omission is The Great Wall of China, represented only by the sub-story within "A Message from the Emperor".

Of the lesser known pieces my personal favourite is Poseidon (albeit one I had read previously), where the God of the Waves turns out really to be an office-bound administrator:

'What annoyed him most— and this was mostly due to dissatisfaction with his work— was when he heard about what people imagined he was like , for example that he was always careening through the waves with a trident. Meanwhile he was sitting down here in the depths of the ocean constantly going through the books.'

This collection also excludes the most famous Kafka story of all, The Metamorphosis, presumably ruled out on grounds of length, or perhaps the sheer number of other translations.

And that brings me on to a key question. Kafka has, of course, being extensively translated so why, with so many fine literary works untranslated into English, do we need another re-translation?

For example, for the short stories, the translations I have on my shelves currently are Stories 1904-1924 by J.A. Underwood and to complement that The Great Wall of China and Other Stories by Malcolm Pasley which focuses on several shorter pieces. While I haven't made an exhaustive comparison, I think pretty much everything in this edition is included in either or both books, and certainly it is all available in other collections.

Starritt's argument is that there has not been enough focus on the short-stories, although his argument starts rather weakly by questioning the pleasure of his novels:

'In English, the word that usually follows ‘Kafkaesque’ is ‘nightmare’. Hardly the thing to make you think, ‘Hurray, a new translation. No Netflix for me tonight.’ And in truth, Kafka’s work is respected far more than it is loved. Potential book buyers sense that reading one of his novels might be unpleasantly similar to appearing in it: boring and painful at the same time. Like a circle of hell reserved for bureaucracy and anxiety dreams, where you fill in meaningless forms until the end of time, and then discover the pen is actually a beetle. That feeling only gets stronger when you flick to the back of The Castle and see how many pages there are.

I can’t say I really disagree. There’s no question about how startling Kafka’s vision is, nor about how, despite the surrealism and the grotesquerie, it all feels so familiar. But are the novels a great read? I have my doubts.'

I did what he advised, using The English version of The Castle on my shelves, and the answer is 316 pages - hardly a dauntingly long read. I can assure anyone reading this review - or his introduction - that the novels are undoubtedly a great read, indeed books that I have and will re-read. There is no doubt that Kafka was an brilliant short-story writer, but let there be no doubt that he was also (indeed I would argue more so) brilliant and highly readable novelist: advocating his short-stories doesn't need to be at the expense of appreciating his novels. [Incidentally a more valid criticism of the novel's would be that none were finished and Kafka himself requested they be destroyed after his death: although many of the short-stories were equally unpublished and included in that request.]

Starritt is I think on stronger ground in arguing that more attention has been paid in translation to the novels - certainly the superstar re-translations in recent times of the Muir's originals have focused on the longer works.

And where I think this collection does truly score is in the selection of the material. Most other collections I am aware of tend to have a scholarly flavour: ordered by date published, comprehensive collections of everything that falls within their remit. But Sterritt says 'I haven’t put them in chronological order, or tried to showcase his different modes; my principle for inclusion has been: only the best,' and it makes for a far better artistic experience.

Overall - perhaps not one I would recommend to those who have Kafka's stories on their shelves already, but a great place to start for those newer to his work. But please do read the novels. 3.5 stars.

I love Kafka and I love his work. These new translations are great because they really capture that "Kafkaesque" feel about his work. Perfect for people who've never read any Kafka and for long-time fans.

First an admission. I have never read anything by Kafka until now. There, I’ve said it.

My thanks to Steerforth Press for giving me a chance to remedy this with an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This is a collection of short stories, which is probably not what most people think of when they think of Kafka. They think of The Trial or The Castle and not of stories some of which last for just a single paragraph (there are others that are over 40 pages long and others at various points between these).

Like, I suppose, many people who have not read Kafka, my reference point is the word “Kafkaesque”. And it is normally followed by the word “nightmare”. His translator here, Alexander Starritt, makes exactly this point at the start of his preface.

Starritt’s preface also argues that it is in his short stories that Kafka excels.

“…about the short stories. There, the ideas that can feel interminable in the novels are quick, funny, strange and sad. Some are fables, some are jokes, some seem placid at first then throw you out the window, some put pictures in your mind that no one but Kafka ever could and that will keep resurfacing for years afterwards as metaphors for your lived reality.”

Clearly, I am not in a position to have a view on the comparison with his novels, but the stuff about the impact of the short stories seems accurate.

This is a stunning collection. Normally, when you read a book of short stories, some stay with you and some fade away. Not here. Every story paints a kind of surreal, yes, Kafkaesque, vision that hangs around to haunt the reader. It doesn’t matter whether it takes you 20 seconds or 30 minutes to read a story, it digs deep into your psyche and settles in. I’m not sure reading this just before bed time is a good idea as it leads to some “interesting” dreams.

I’d like to tell you which story is my favourite, but there’s an unnerving sense as you read each one that it is actually holding up a mirror to your soul and revealing something about what makes you you. To acknowledge that I relate to one more than another might, I worry, reveal more about me than I care to make public!

What about the opening story in which a man sets off to deliver to YOU a message from the Emperor, but he cannot fight his way through the crowd round the emperor and leaves you dreaming of what the message might say? Or the Hunger Artists who make a show of fasting in public until it goes out of fashion? Or the trees in the snow that look frail but aren’t, or are they?

What an amazing way to start my Franz Kafka journey!