Wish I could give this one a 3.75. Wasn't nearly as good as The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony, but Calasso really does have a fantastic way with words. ( )

Wow! A better analysis of Kafka than Benjamin and Adorno? I may not have thought it was possible, but here's the ever-intriguing Roberto Calasso to prove me wrong. Calasso's 'K' focuses mainly on Kafka's two unfinished masterpieces, 'The Castle' and 'The Trial' but he also touches on Kafka's short stories (among them 'In the Penal Colony' and 'The Metamorphosis') as well as 'Amerika' and Kafka's personal letters and journal entries. Unlike Benjamin and Adorno (both of whom seem rather uptight when confronted by the flagrantly sexual and often sexually exploited females of Kafka's imagination), Calasso is not afraid to examine the sexual aspects of these two novels, nor is he spooked by the numinous quality, the unfathomable strangeness of Kafka's literary world. While well aware of Kafka's relationship with his father, his ethnicity, his love affairs, his mental state, Calasso never reduces Kafka's art to quotidian motives or simple answers. He embraces the mystery that lies behind all of Kafka's work and he invites the intelligent reader to do the same. Very highly recommended ( )