Wedding Preparations in the Country, and Other Posthumous Prose Writings

London: Secker and Warburg. Very Good in Fair dj. 1954. First Edition Thus. Hardcover. [light shelfwear, minor fading to cloth at spine ends, age-toning to edges of text block; the jacket is a bit tattered, with small tears and a bit of paper loss at all corners and at ends of spine, shallow chipping at top edge of rear panel, spine panel sun-browned, general light soiling and handling wear]. "This important new collection from the Kafka manuscripts housed in the Schocken Library at Jerusalem, under the editorship of Max Brod, contains at least two pieces of major interest. 'Wedding Preparations,' the title story, was never completed, but it significant in showing Kafka at the outset of his literary career, already a master of language, but still uncertain how best to handle his material. .... Even more important, because fundamental to any understanding of Kafka, is the 'Letter to My [sic] Father,' printed in full for the first time. Written at the age of 36, it can surely be called unique in world literature, a classic example of the complex relationship between artist son and businessman father. This remarkable document, of which hitherto only tantalising fragments have appeared in English, together with the recently published 'Letters to Milena,' throws new light on the inner workings of Kafka's fantastic mind. In addition, a large number of short pieces, stories and fragments from the notebooks appear for the first time, and a few (newly translated) which were originally printed in 'The Great Wall of China.'" Contents: "Wedding Preparations in the Country"; "Reflections on Sin, Suffering, Hope, and the True Way"; "The Eight Octavo Note-books"; "Letter to His Father"; "Fragments from Note-books and Loose Pages"; "Paralipomena"; Notes (by Max Brod). .