2013/05/19 - 04:07 Sought out by leading avant-garde publishers,
Kafka reluctantly published a few of his writings during his
lifetime. These publications include two sections (1909) from
Beschreibung eines Kampfes (1936; Description of a Struggle);
Betrachtung (1913; Meditation), a collection of short prose
pieces; and other works representative of Kafka's maturity as an
artist--The Judgment, a long story written in 1912; two further
long stories, Die Verwandlung (1915; Metamorphosis) and In der
Strafkolonie (1919; In the Penal Colony); and a collection of
short prose, Ein Landarzt (1919; A Country Doctor). Ein
Hungerkünstler (1924; A Hunger Artist), four stories exhibiting
the concision and lucidity characteristic of Kafka's late style,
had been prepared by the author but did not appear until after
his death. In fact, misgivings about his work caused Kafka
before his death to request that all of his unpublished
manuscripts be destroyed; his literary executor, Max Brod,
disregarded his instructions. Brod pub