What better way to celebrate Franz Kafka's birthday than by bonding over daddy issues?

There has been a lot about Kafka's fictional writing and his personal sentiments that I have related to over the years and so I'm not surprised I was able to find a lot here as well. Kafka is a deeply sympathetic writer to me and he pours his heart out in this letter to his father.
It feels even more intimate considering how it was released against his explicit will after his death by his closest friend, like a lot of his texts were. It is a worthy part of his authorship though that's well worth a read even aside from the possibly voyeuristic aspect of invading the privacy of a recognizable writer.

I've seen people say that they're sad that Franz never actually sent the letter to his father to read though I honestly don't think that was ever the point. To me, Franz's letter reads more like an exercise in self-reflection. Less about the wrongdoings of the father, more about Kafka's way of dealing with it. Hell, towards the end he even imagines a possible response from his father and acknowledges his own conscious and unconscious parts in the conflict.
Although the letter does contain a lot of examples of his father's behavior that have affected him negatively throughout his life, Franz seems less interested in blaming his father but more in recognizing and untangling how their vastly different personalities did not match, to try to find peace with it. By doing so, he wrote what honestly reads as a very engaging sort-of essay that stands pretty well on its own just as a text. As in, it's not just interesting because it's about Kafka's life but it's simply a well-written thoughtful read about people. About family, expectations, regrets, and personal independence. By someone who found his strength in writing.