Kafka vs Proust

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In this video, I will talk about two of the most influential fiction writers of the 20th century, Franz Kafka and Marcel Proust. Marcel Proust’s masterpiece In Search of Lost Time is considered the best novel of the 20th century. Kafka’s short story the Metamorphosis and his novel, The Trial, were ground-breaking. Both lived in the same period, both with a Jewish background, both wrote about the human condition and both have given us literary terms, “kafkaesque” and “proustian”. I have talked about them extensively in separate videos, so in this video I will compare the two by talking about their lives, writings, styles, themes and finally what makes them great and how they are different.
🕔Time Stamps🕔
00:00 Intro
00:48 Historical context
01:29 Biography
04:30 Influences
06:33 German vs French
08:12 Writing Career
13:27 Time vs Space
15:08 Characters
15:39 Writing Style
16:57 Pessimism vs optimism
18:17 Who is better?
Music:
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#kafka
#proust
#kafkavsproust

Пікірлер: 95

  • @Fiction_Beast
    @Fiction_Beast2 жыл бұрын

    My deep dive on Kafka: kzread.info/dash/bejne/Y3tr29GDoZa3f6g.html My deep dive on Proust: kzread.info/dash/bejne/nIhtrrWdoMmspso.html Let me know which other writers you want to me compare?

  • @street_stranger5546

    @street_stranger5546

    2 жыл бұрын

    The

  • @averayugen7802

    @averayugen7802

    Жыл бұрын

    Proust and Joyce!

  • @Fuliginosus
    @Fuliginosus2 жыл бұрын

    I've read Proust's novel three times over the past twenty years, and have thought about it almost every day. Nothing else can compare.

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    I agree.

  • @xiangli683

    @xiangli683

    10 ай бұрын

    Totally agreed!

  • @matsalvatore9074
    @matsalvatore9074 Жыл бұрын

    I really love Kafka n the metamorphosis is the greatest book I ever read because he grips me I can fall into a zone and listen to him. Nobody else does that for me. I respect Kafka so much and am so thankful his work survived.

  • @cansueceklc5020
    @cansueceklc5020 Жыл бұрын

    I just found this channel 20 minutes ago and it officially is my favorite now. A huge admirerer of both. Reading the fifth volume of In Search of Lost Time and read anything published written by Kafka but never thought of viewing their work as a contiuning bridge from existencial pain to relief. Brilliant! I would be forever grateful if you were to make a video about Kafka's letters. I think those effected me more deeply than his novels. Thank you!

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    Жыл бұрын

    Thank you!

  • @jahidhsn
    @jahidhsn2 жыл бұрын

    Well done. Very informative video. I know this channel is very underrated right now. But I hope it grows. Good luck.

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    Appreciate it!

  • @Noah-xg9ld
    @Noah-xg9ld2 жыл бұрын

    This is cheesy but what I like most about Proust is the way he makes you appreciate details. As you get deeper into ISOLT your inner monologue starts to sound like the Narrator's (or Marcel's if you like). Kafka, though he's good, just makes me feel anxious lol. Great video!

  • @dilwashbabo5852
    @dilwashbabo58522 жыл бұрын

    what a tremendous research based work you have done with great enthusiasm in this short video. just loved it.. well done...

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    Thank you!

  • @mainstreet3023
    @mainstreet30234 ай бұрын

    Your videos are sublime. Goosebumps.

  • @sharontheodore8216
    @sharontheodore82162 жыл бұрын

    It takes a true giant to analyse Two giant writers in just about 20 minutes. It is a shame that they did not meet. I think the reason that Kafka is more read could be due to that some of his output was turned into movies. The term Kafkaesque is so widely used which could draw large crowds to find out more about him especially since his books are short. Beautiful summary.Thanks.

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    Kafkaesque has that frightening feeling so you're right it is more widely used term to warn people. Reading their works, Proust seems very relaxed while Kafka seems to have had a tough life, so I wished he had a nice relaxing holiday in Paris while sharing a cup of tea with Proust :)

  • @gracefitzgerald2227
    @gracefitzgerald22272 жыл бұрын

    Im Already such a pessimist. I’m more than halfway through Proust. He makes my days more vibrant. The best way I can shallowly sum it up is “ it’s like in the movies and you’re bitten by a vampire, and you really see everything with more focus.’’ Love it!

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    I’m also a pessimist. Proust is the antidote for me :)

  • @Lea-cq9lb
    @Lea-cq9lb2 жыл бұрын

    Your channel is such a gem! As I'm a rather pessimistic person I avoided Proust a bit but now I'm tempted to read his work anyway.

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    Thank you! Go for it.

  • @viktoriaregis6645
    @viktoriaregis66452 жыл бұрын

    These are amongst the best literature analysis I've encounter ever. I am among the people who started with Proust without finishing it. I like Kafka, but think I was put of by Proust's long sentences thinking nothing really happened. But I will give it another try now that I am motivated again.

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    When reading proust, lock yourself for a few months, or move to a secluded countryside and don't have your smart phone next to you. After reading it, you notice the smallest things around you. It sharpens your senses.

  • @viktoriaregis6645

    @viktoriaregis6645

    Жыл бұрын

    @@Fiction_Beast thank you for your advice. I will follow it.

  • @rahuljha5615
    @rahuljha56152 жыл бұрын

    Brother you really nailed it again 🙏🏻🙌🏻

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    Thank you so much 😀

  • @jonathanmccullough2058
    @jonathanmccullough20588 ай бұрын

    Dude your videos are amazing

  • @josephnunes868
    @josephnunes8682 жыл бұрын

    Kafka will always be my favorite

  • @mohammadaminsarabi6207
    @mohammadaminsarabi62072 жыл бұрын

    Bravo brother... Keep making these valuable contents.🌷👏

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    Thank you so much 😀

  • @hallowman65
    @hallowman653 ай бұрын

    I had read Kafka before; I was amazed as well as inspired by those stories. And, lately, I've come to read the Proust and read Swann's Way. It's bit of slow--pacing compared to Kafka. But I must admit it's quite unique experienced reading his book. Reading first 30 pages of Swann's Way is the best sensual feeling I have ever got of all my life. I felt that I wish I could write down those feeling, but I couldn't.

  • @alfredflorin4419
    @alfredflorin44192 жыл бұрын

    Amazing work! Thank you! ❤️

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    Thanks!

  • @geraldmeehan8942
    @geraldmeehan89422 жыл бұрын

    Very impressive the quality of writing from these 2 in such few years

  • @stevenhuang3635
    @stevenhuang3635 Жыл бұрын

    Thank you for your very entertaining yet informative video. What excellent and tremendous research you have done, I can't appreciate it more for that. Could you do a video about the differences and similarities between Proust, Virginia Woolf, and James Joyce? All of them are regarded as important figures in 20th-century literature and the leaders of the Stream of consciousness. It would be very interesting to see a comparison between these three.

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    Жыл бұрын

    Thank you! Really appreciate you watching my content.

  • @shahilagh
    @shahilagh9 күн бұрын

    Thank you so much

  • @sarahwestmusic
    @sarahwestmusic2 ай бұрын

    Astounding!

  • @abdulachik
    @abdulachik Жыл бұрын

    thank you, starting proust NOWWWW

  • @BCBell-fj2ht
    @BCBell-fj2ht2 жыл бұрын

    Prisoners of Spacetime. One of my less literary comparisons has always been between Hemingway and Hammett. Yes, Hammett was genre, but he was writing about his old job. Both pioneered the short, sharp sentence at about the same time.

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    Proust was obssessed with time and Kafka wrote about being stuck in a place. i resonate more with Proust. Yes, in the grand scheme of things, spacetime is a single entity.

  • @BCBell-fj2ht

    @BCBell-fj2ht

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@Fiction_Beast With both authors, it is a fear of constriction. Part of the human condition.

  • @DarkAngelEU
    @DarkAngelEU2 жыл бұрын

    If you're interested in these writers, I suggest you watch Little Miss Sunshine. The movie changed my life as a teenager.

  • @jarx7500
    @jarx7500 Жыл бұрын

    Matt I really hope you get more into Laszlo Krasznahorkai's works because he is such a hypnotic author in a sense which he combines the best of Kafka and Proust where he includes bleak but realistic surroundings in his novels but it somehow quietly pushes some hope in good digestion because of the wisdom of his storytelling, also his themes seem to be very Dostoevskian while his plot seems to be in the tradition of Gogol, he seems to be under the cloak of Gogol, but is one of the most original authors of our contemporary ages and I hope you check his novels out, he got me interested in Hungarian Literature, in my opinion Satantango is the best starting point for him.

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    Жыл бұрын

    I’m on it. I’ll try to get my hands on some of his books. Thanks for recommending.

  • @miladjalali6779
    @miladjalali677911 ай бұрын

    good job

  • @user-yu3rn4mi7z
    @user-yu3rn4mi7z2 жыл бұрын

    Have you ever read Stefan Zweig? I highly recomend his book "Schachnovelle" (Chess Novel)

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    Yes I read it a few weeks ago. I enjoyed it.

  • @nathanielziering
    @nathanielziering11 ай бұрын

    What author best represents Space-Time? HG Wells, Arthur C Clarke?

  • @Barnabas94
    @Barnabas942 жыл бұрын

    If someone wants to work up to reading In Search of Lost Time where could one start in order to get a taste of Proust before taking the leap. I have a ways to go still but I have to tackle some of the behemoths at some point.

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    read chapter one of Swann's Way (vol 1) which is about 50 pages, force yourself if you have to. Then you know whether you like it or not. I got a big video summary coming in case you're interested.

  • @themessageinabottle9574
    @themessageinabottle95742 жыл бұрын

    @Fiction Beast , I think you are from Turkey. I would appreciate it if you would tell us a little about Orhan Pomuk and Yusuf Atilgan

  • @gronedure2245
    @gronedure22452 жыл бұрын

    This video would be a banger

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    Thank you!

  • @medi2149
    @medi21492 жыл бұрын

    Epic rap battle

  • @gordongibson3326
    @gordongibson3326 Жыл бұрын

    Great literature cannot be reduced to an either/or - it is an AND ALSO...

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    Жыл бұрын

    Hopefully people learn about both. That’s my aim.

  • @gordonpepper1400
    @gordonpepper1400 Жыл бұрын

    Really good comparison but he didn't need to go to GoodReads - just use your own thoughts and this would have been even better.

  • @rv.9658
    @rv.96582 жыл бұрын

    I'd love to see a Kafka vs Lovecraft video too

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    Tell me more

  • @johnmartintaylor9674
    @johnmartintaylor96742 жыл бұрын

    John Milton vs William Shakespeare

  • @chessverse6279
    @chessverse6279 Жыл бұрын

    "Time and space are the same." ❤ Einstein

  • @fasted8468
    @fasted8468 Жыл бұрын

    If there's one thing to learn from them it's that infant genital mutilation negatively effects them in a way proportional to the intelligence of the victim. We know so little of non verbal communication that we belittle sex to a fun act

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    Жыл бұрын

    Not sure if there is any connection.

  • @josephnunes868
    @josephnunes8682 жыл бұрын

    There's no one like Kafka...proust I feel people have tried to copy....wolf and even Satre reminds me of proust at times but Kafka is so unique

  • @mindundi4162

    @mindundi4162

    2 жыл бұрын

    Bruno schulz is very similar to kafka. You should give him a try. Nikolai Gogol is often referenced as the “Russian kafka” (even though, the correct statement would it be kafka as the Czech Gogol) so, maybe you could give him a shot too. Personally, I never found those similarities in their respective styles, but maybe you could.

  • @josephnunes868

    @josephnunes868

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@mindundi4162 not in my opinion....Shultz is bizarre for the sake of being bizarre for the most part....Kafka has great insight on the reality of what it is to be human...Kafka I put next to the Bible and Shakespeare....Google is more Doestovesky and cumos...I've read and reread everything...there's overlaps but no one is like kafka

  • @TheChannelofaDisappointedMan

    @TheChannelofaDisappointedMan

    2 жыл бұрын

    Borges' essay, Kafka and his Precursors takes, as do I, the contrary view. Once Kafka emerges, one can go back and identify Kafkaesque elements in many texts. Dickens' Circumlocution Office in Little Dorrit and the opaque operations of the chancery court in Bleak House are two clear examples (Kafka is reputed to have enjoyed Dickens' novels).

  • @josephnunes868

    @josephnunes868

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan I'm no expert....it's probably the fact Kafka is what made me look at literature differently and start to see the art...but what you say is interesting...

  • @josephnunes868

    @josephnunes868

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan I own bleak house but it's so long I've been stalling

  • @frankcorona9534
    @frankcorona95342 жыл бұрын

    The more thought provoking question is: Who would win in a fist fight?

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    Kafka is a bit taller if that's an advantage. Both pretty weak physically.

  • @dylanreads652

    @dylanreads652

    10 ай бұрын

    @@Fiction_Beast You'd just need to punch Proust in the chest, he might just be defeated by his own asthma. Plus, my dad has always said "crazy beats strong"....so my money is on Kafka

  • @cappy2282
    @cappy22822 жыл бұрын

    We're definitely prisoners of something!? Time is very weird

  • @mental_time_travel
    @mental_time_travel11 ай бұрын

    13:27

  • @samsonwilkinson8090
    @samsonwilkinson80902 жыл бұрын

    Who's better? Since when was literature a competition? Huh? And 'eight years later' after Proust's birth in 1871 is 1879. Not 1883. Which is it?

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    I was too preoccupied with who is better question so I messed up the dates 🤥🥺

  • @ilovepavement1
    @ilovepavement17 ай бұрын

    Definitive proof that genius is natural born is found in the eyes of Baby Kafka.

  • @matsalvatore9074
    @matsalvatore9074 Жыл бұрын

    When Proust talks about the tea and cake, I feel like that was unnecessary rambling thats common in books as if an attempt to draw me in or to sound sophisticated but really just comes off to me as babbling fluff to fill space like when you would write a 5 page essay on a topic you couldn't get past one page on so you just fill it in with words that you don't need What am I missing 😕

  • @matsalvatore9074

    @matsalvatore9074

    Жыл бұрын

    Is it actually necessary when they try to give you a vivid image and sense? Do you feel that makes the stories better?

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    Жыл бұрын

    Proust takes to a place where time slows down. In a social media world, he does sound like full of fluff and rambly.

  • @markspano3468
    @markspano34682 жыл бұрын

    Are we prisoners of time or space? Yes

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    interestingly both were writing when Einstein was writing his papers on spacetime and relativity. I was trying to be clever with my title suggesting that Proust was a poet of time and K was a poet of tight spaces.

  • @markspano3468

    @markspano3468

    2 жыл бұрын

    Very tight spaces.

  • @becar9525
    @becar952511 ай бұрын

    Proust

  • @thetributary8089
    @thetributary80899 ай бұрын

    Nice, but can you not absolutely spoil the ending of the trial without warning? Spoiler alerts are really important.

  • @mortimer2469
    @mortimer2469 Жыл бұрын

    Proust wrote most famous novel... Hm... In opinion of critics maybe...

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    Жыл бұрын

    Yes

  • @danschneider7531
    @danschneider75314 ай бұрын

    Neither a poet, metaphorically or not.

  • @graybow2255
    @graybow22552 жыл бұрын

    Kafka is one of the most overrated writers.

  • @Fiction_Beast

    @Fiction_Beast

    2 жыл бұрын

    I thought so too

  • @timidlove

    @timidlove

    Жыл бұрын