Best Short Stories

Franz Kafka was born in 1883 in Prague, where he lived most of his life. During his lifetime, he published only a few short stories, including “The Metamorphosis,” “The Judgment,” and “The Stoker.” He died in 1924, before completing any of his full-length novels. At the end of his life, Kafka asked his lifelong friend and literary executor Max Brod to burn all his unpublished work. Brod overrode those wishes.

• The Judgment"("Das Urteil"; better translation of title, "The Sentence"; written night of Sept. 22/23, 1912; first pub. in the annual magazine Arkadia, Leipzig, 1913; first book pub., Kurt Wolff Verlag, Leipzig, 1916)"The Metamorphosis" ("Die Verwandlung"; alternate translation of title, "The Transformation"; written Nov. 17-Dec. 6, 1912; first pub. in the monthly Die weißen Blätter, Leipzig, Oct. 1915; first book pub.,Kurt Wolff Verlag, Leipzig, 1915)"In the Penal Colony"("In der Strafkolonie"; written mid-Oct. 1914; first pub. As book, Kurt Wolff Verlag, Leipzig, 1919)"A Country Doctor"("Ein Landarzt"; written in the winter of 1916/1917, completed by the end of Feb. 1917; first pub. In the almanac Die neue Dichtung, Leipzig, 1918; first book pub. In collected vol. Ein Landarzt, Kurt Wolff Verlag, Munich and Leipzig, 1919)"A Report to an Academy " ("Ein Bericht für eine Akademie; composition finished by Apr. 22, 1917; first pub. In the monthly Der Jude, Berlin and Vienna, Nov. 1917; first book pub. In collected vol. Ein Landarzt, Kurt Volff Verlg, Munkch and Leipzig, 1919)"