As I regularly refer to Franz Kafka, this item on some of his unpublished papers got my attention this morning.

Part of Kafka’s genius was in seeing, and making the picture accessible to others, the crazy-making, and sometimes downright evil (e.g. Nazi), abuses to which bureaucracies so often are given. In doing so he has also imparted a measure of sanity to those caught up in the hidden and unresponsive machinations of one bureaucracy or another, by showing them (us; me!) that no, you aren’t alone, this happens to a lot of people, and it’s been happening for a long time, because the powers-that-be enjoy their power just a little too much. And sometimes a lot too much.

Read The Trial and The Castle if you haven’t already, and be astonished by how relevant they are to interfacing with present-day bureaucracies.

Along with the others mentioned in the CBC News article, I also hope these papers soon become available to researchers, and their content to the public.

Peace.

Deborah Alicen