i will be voting for byron, dont worry

arent we onto Emily now though?

God I love her

Yep, tomorrow's is a doozy...

Kafka vs. Dickinson in a contest to see who can depress you more! ;)

(And as much as I love Emily, I have to take Kafka all the way...even without his arguably being the Greatest Jewish Fiction Writer of the modern era, I think he's been far more influential--he's an adjective unto himself, Kafkaesque--and really reflected both his own time and the era we live in now with his writing.)

If Byron edges out Vergil, I may have to throw a temper tantrum. Dude's already beat four people and he hasn't made it out of the first round.

Also, Kafka.

We'll get to that when we get to that.

In the mean time, I vote Dickenson (if we're voting already?)

*meantime

dickinson. i make my case:

"Nature" is what we see—
The Hill—the Afternoon—
Squirrel—Eclipse— the Bumble bee—
Nay—Nature is Heaven—
Nature is what we hear—
The Bobolink—the Sea—
Thunder—the Cricket—
Nay—Nature is Harmony—
Nature is what we know—
Yet have no art to say—
So impotent Our Wisdom is
To her Simplicity.

-------------

"Hope" is the thing with feathers—
That perches in the soul—
And sings the tune without the words—
And never stops—at all—

And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard—
And sore must be the storm—
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm—

I've heard it in the chillest land—
And on the strangest Sea—
Yet, never, in Extremity,
It asked a crumb—of Me.

------------------

A something in a summer's Day
As slow her flambeaux burn away
Which solemnizes me.

A something in a summer's noon—
A depth—an Azure—a perfume—
Transcending ecstasy.

And still within a summer's night
A something so transporting bright
I clap my hands to see—

Then veil my too inspecting face
Lets such a subtle—shimmering grace
Flutter too far for me—

The wizard fingers never rest—
The purple brook within the breast
Still chafes it narrow bed—

Still rears the East her amber Flag—
Guides still the sun along the Crag
His Caravan of Red—

So looking on—the night—the morn
Conclude the wonder gay—
And I meet, coming thro' the dews
Another summer's Day!

i mean that is just pure mastery right there

kafka all the fricking way! to those who like A Country Doctor: i recommend you to watch this animation of the story, i have never seen a film which meets his style of writing better: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDjmW-gIsKs

kafka: 3
dickinson: 2

Why isn't Jesus an author he wrote the only book that matters.

you sure, 2nd? i'm pretty sure neale donald walsh wrote this: http://www.amazon.com/Only-Thing-That-Matters-Conversations/dp/1401942369/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1397733941&sr=1-1&keywords=the+only+thing+that+matters

kafka

I vote Kafka, unless mine's already been counted in the count already posted.

And while we're posting things about them, since Emily has some material here...

Three different translations of one of the most famous first sentences to any short story/novelette--

"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect."

"One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin."

"When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin."

http://franzkafkastories.com/translations.php

I'll ask our German aficionados which they feel captures the spirit of Kafka's original prose best (I think the first version I read had it translated "hideous bug" at the end.)

I'm proud to own a copy of Kafka's "Das Urteil" and other stories in the original German...it's a 1950s copy published in Hamburg.

Oldest books I own--

A collection of Shakespear (leaves off the last "e") plays (Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice, Hamlet) in a tiny leather-bound breast-pocket-sized book from 1910, and a copy of John Milton's poetry from 1874.

Oldest books we own?

Dickinson is ridiculously overrated. Kafka.

i counted yours obi.
kafka: 5
dickinson: 2

and for the translations: they're all rather awful (i don't know if you could find a better one, though), but the third is the best one in my opinion.. the problem is: "ungeheuer" means both horrible and big, and it also plays one the word "Ungeheuer", which means monster. so even though monstrous isn't perfect, i don't think it gets any better.

and obviously, any translation is bad :)

traduttore, traditore

Kafka.

Dickinson

Stop voting twice. #fuckthucy

You already voted, didn't you, Thucy?

And while I'm voting Kafka, I don't think Dickinson's overrated...

A good American poet and a notable female author--that's a fair rap for her.

Keep in mind she didn't even write for an audience... Amazing to consider that

Interestingly enough, though, most of Kafka's famous works were published after his death, too--and he, like she, is suspected to have possibly had some kind of nervosa...

Alas, they were made for each other, just separated by time and space!

Yeah but I bet he meant to get them published. That's far from clear with Dickinson

i'm not so sure that kafka really did mean for most of them to get published you know... you should check out the kafka museum in prague if you ever get a chance

Prague seems very far away atm but maybe one day

it's a beautiful city, i recommend a visit