{"id":44473,"date":"2018-09-18T11:12:13","date_gmt":"2018-09-18T15:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/?p=44473"},"modified":"2018-09-13T16:59:16","modified_gmt":"2018-09-13T20:59:16","slug":"kafkaesque-fourteen-stories-by-peter-kuper-in-booklist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/kafkaesque-fourteen-stories-by-peter-kuper-in-booklist\/","title":{"rendered":"Kafkaesque: Fourteen Stories by Peter Kuper [in Booklist]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Eisner-winning Peter Kuper\u2019s career of \u201ctranslating Kafka into comics\u201d began in 1995, when his initial collection of nine shorts hit shelves, with Give It Up!<\/em> He adds another five here, scrambles the previous order, and includes his \u201cKuperesque\u201d foreword, emphasizing how, since Kafka\u2019s death at 40, in 1924, \u201cour world increasingly reflects the adjective \u2018Kafkaesque\u2019\u201d \u2013 nightmarish, oppressive, surreal.<\/p>\n

Kuper employs \u201cscratch board, a chalk-covered paper that can be inked and scratched to approximate woodcuts\u201d to evoke the German expressionism of Kafka\u2019s time; the effect of etching images out of black background undoubtedly heightens a sense of surreal entrapment.<\/p>\n

Using Kafka\u2019s texts \u201cas an anchor,\u201d Kuper alchemizes \u201cBefore the Law\u201d (originally from The Trial<\/em>) into a contemporary parable on racism; \u201cThe Burrow\u201d becomes a warning against paranoid consumerism; police brutality literally looms in \u201cGive It Up!\u201d and \u201cThe Trees\u201d; unchecked power rules in \u201cThe Helmsman.\u201d<\/p>\n

In distilling Kafka\u2019s timeless themes, Kuper creates stark panels of disturbing truth and powerful warning. While Kafka aficionados will savor enhanced perception, readers without prior knowledge will nevertheless appreciate Kuper\u2019s unflinching interpretations.<\/p>\n

Review<\/strong>: “Fiction: Graphic Novels,” Booklist<\/em>, September 15, 2018<\/a><\/p>\n

Readers<\/strong>: Young Adult, Adult<\/p>\n

Published<\/strong>: 2018<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eisner-winning Peter Kuper\u2019s career of \u201ctranslating Kafka into comics\u201d began in 1995, when his initial collection of nine shorts hit shelves, with Give It Up! He adds another five here, scrambles the previous order, and includes his \u201cKuperesque\u201d foreword, emphasizing how, since Kafka\u2019s death at…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44480,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,23,6,73,60,6535,7,31],"tags":[89,6608,6668,8076,242,51,8077,8078,28,29],"class_list":["post-44473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adult-readers","category-european","category-fiction","category-graphic-novel-manga-manwha","category-nonethnic-specific","category-repost","category-short-stories","category-young-adult-readers","tag-anthology-collection","tag-bookdragon","tag-booklist","tag-franz-kafka","tag-horror-ghost-story","tag-identity","tag-kafkaesque","tag-peter-kuper","tag-politics","tag-race-racism"],"yoast_head":"\nKafkaesque: Fourteen Stories by Peter Kuper [in Booklist] - BookDragon<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/kafkaesque-fourteen-stories-by-peter-kuper-in-booklist\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kafkaesque: Fourteen Stories by Peter Kuper [in Booklist] - BookDragon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Eisner-winning Peter Kuper\u2019s career of \u201ctranslating Kafka into comics\u201d began in 1995, when his initial collection of nine shorts hit shelves, with Give It Up! 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