What a read.
The Gen Z in me wants to say "Bro was the original incel." All jokes aside, despite its obviously somewhat dated writing style, this text feels very intimate, in a way that fills me both with dread and with immeasurable compassion for this broken man that was Franz Kafka. Aside from the harrowing nature of the relationship with his father that this lengthy letter goes into, it is also a very interesting insight into how the world worked a century ago, be it in terms of family life in all its facets, religion, work, social norms, or how mental illness was viewed. This is definitely going to sit with me.