Project Umbrella Translation
ALEX'S NOTES / KAFKA
The life of Gregor, featured in Kafka’s "The Metamorphosis", seems to totally symbolize Kafka himself prior to his death.
As if to compensate for the mundane life he led at his steady job, he wrote endlessly about madness and loneliness.
In addition, his insanity-filled works were rarely understood by those around him, and I wonder if that must've left him isolated from his friends and family.
He fell ill before long and spent time in a hospital bed with pain as his only companion, day after day, staving off the fear of death, the fear of loneliness, and the fear of incomprehension.
However, I’m certain that the emotions born from these fears were the driving force that helped him construct the worlds in his works, rich in madness and calm analysis.
That's right. Fear stems from our survival instincts and is a standard by which our vitality can be measured.
Although he wrote many works, most of them were never published during his lifetime.
As such, he entrusted a few friends with disposing of all his works upon his death.
He wished to have them burned in true hellfire.
Fascinated by the power in his works, however, his friends left them for future generations to enjoy.
Now these works enchant us with a vitality that transcends time itself, written in the name of bequeathed terror.
Franz Kafka…
A name that has acquired the eternal power of immortality through his mad and lonely works, spelled out in fear.
Fear is infectious.
In this hell we call reality.
I will rise again.
With the power of eternal immortality in my hands…
The life of Gregor, featured in Kafka’s "The Metamorphosis", seems to totally symbolize Kafka himself prior to his death.
As if to compensate for the mundane life he led at his steady job, he wrote endlessly about madness and loneliness.
In addition, his insanity-filled works were rarely understood by those around him, and I wonder if that must've left him isolated from his friends and family.
He fell ill before long and spent time in a hospital bed with pain as his only companion, day after day, staving off the fear of death, the fear of loneliness, and the fear of incomprehension.
However, I’m certain that the emotions born from these fears were the driving force that helped him construct the worlds in his works, rich in madness and calm analysis.
That's right. Fear stems from our survival instincts and is a standard by which our vitality can be measured.
Although he wrote many works, most of them were never published during his lifetime.
As such, he entrusted a few friends with disposing of all his works upon his death.
He wished to have them burned in true hellfire.
Fascinated by the power in his works, however, his friends left them for future generations to enjoy.
Now these works enchant us with a vitality that transcends time itself, written in the name of bequeathed terror.
Franz Kafka…
A name that has acquired the eternal power of immortality through his mad and lonely works, spelled out in fear.
Fear is infectious.
In this hell we call reality.
I will rise again.
With the power of eternal immortality in my hands…
Official Japanese Transcript
アレックスの覚書／カフカ
カフカの「変身」に登場するグレーゴルの人生は、まるで生前のカフカ自身を象徴するかのようだ。
堅実な仕事場に勤める平凡な毎日を補うかのように狂気と孤独に溢れた作品をあてもなく書き綴る生活。
その上、狂気に満ちた作品群が、周囲に理解されることは少なく、友人、家族とも孤立した存在だったのではないだろうか。
やがて病に倒れ、病室で苦痛を友に過ごした時間は、死への恐怖、無理解への恐怖、孤立への恐怖と戦う日々だったのではないだろうか。
しかし、それらの恐怖から生まれた感情こそが、作品世界を濃厚な狂気と冷静な分析で、構築する原動力となったことは、確かだろう。
そう。恐怖とは、人の生存本能から発生し、その生命力を測る基準となるモノなのだ。
数多くの作品と紡ぎながらも生前には、そのほとんどが出版されることはなかった。
そんな彼は自分の死後、全ての作品を破棄することを数少ない友に託した。
現実という地獄の業火で焼き尽くせ、と。
しかし、友は作品の持つ力に魅せられ、後世の人間たちに残した。
そして、我々は、残された恐怖という名で綴られた作品が持つ生命力に時を超えて、魅せられる。
フランツ・カフカ…、
その名は、孤独と狂気が恐怖で綴られた作品によって、永遠不滅の力を手に入れた。
恐怖は感染する。
現実という名の地獄で。
再び蘇るのだ。
永遠不滅の力を手に…。
カフカの「変身」に登場するグレーゴルの人生は、まるで生前のカフカ自身を象徴するかのようだ。
堅実な仕事場に勤める平凡な毎日を補うかのように狂気と孤独に溢れた作品をあてもなく書き綴る生活。
その上、狂気に満ちた作品群が、周囲に理解されることは少なく、友人、家族とも孤立した存在だったのではないだろうか。
やがて病に倒れ、病室で苦痛を友に過ごした時間は、死への恐怖、無理解への恐怖、孤立への恐怖と戦う日々だったのではないだろうか。
しかし、それらの恐怖から生まれた感情こそが、作品世界を濃厚な狂気と冷静な分析で、構築する原動力となったことは、確かだろう。
そう。恐怖とは、人の生存本能から発生し、その生命力を測る基準となるモノなのだ。
数多くの作品と紡ぎながらも生前には、そのほとんどが出版されることはなかった。
そんな彼は自分の死後、全ての作品を破棄することを数少ない友に託した。
現実という地獄の業火で焼き尽くせ、と。
しかし、友は作品の持つ力に魅せられ、後世の人間たちに残した。
そして、我々は、残された恐怖という名で綴られた作品が持つ生命力に時を超えて、魅せられる。
フランツ・カフカ…、
その名は、孤独と狂気が恐怖で綴られた作品によって、永遠不滅の力を手に入れた。
恐怖は感染する。
現実という名の地獄で。
再び蘇るのだ。
永遠不滅の力を手に…。
Official English Transcript
"Due to errors or changes in localization, the following may contain inconsistencies with the official Japanese text."
ALEX'S THOUGHTS ON KAFKA
As I read Kafka's "The Metamorphosis," I can't help but feel that's it's an autobiographical account of the author's life, with Gregor Samsa representing Kafka himself.
Kafka worked an ordinary job and lived a very mundane life. Despite this he wrote fantastic works filled with madness and despair. His writing was his outlet as he toiled away at everyday life. But his family and friends couldn't understand his works, couldn't relate to him. I'm sure he must have felt lonely, and isolated from the rest of the world.
Kafka would eventually fall ill and spend his final days wasting away in a hospital bed. When his body experienced agonizing pain, his mind was tormented by fear: The fear of death, fear of the unknown, and the fear of isolation. It is this fear, and the emotions born from it, that made Kafka's works so rich, as he could critically examine madness and suffering and make these concepts the driving fore behind his works.
Very few of Kafka's numerous works were published while he lived, and upon his death he left them to a friend with the instructions to burn them, unread. Fortunately that friend saw the value of Kafka's legacy and preserved them for the future, ignoring Kafka's final request. Even today, Kafka's works continue to enchant us with their vivid depictions of fear.
It is that fear that drives us. Compels us. Fear is born from human instinct, and it's the basic emotion that keeps us alive. The fear of death...the fear of failure...fear of isolation and loneliness. Fear is the most powerful motivator. Those who control fear, control life itself.
Though his life came to an abrupt end, Kafka's name lives on through his works on fear and madness. He has obtained the greatest power man can hope to achieve--immortality.
I, too, will harness the power of fear, and infect this hellish world with it. And in the process I will be resurrected as one who has mastered fear. While Kafka merely lives on through his work, my work will help me live on.
ALEX'S THOUGHTS ON KAFKA
As I read Kafka's "The Metamorphosis," I can't help but feel that's it's an autobiographical account of the author's life, with Gregor Samsa representing Kafka himself.
Kafka worked an ordinary job and lived a very mundane life. Despite this he wrote fantastic works filled with madness and despair. His writing was his outlet as he toiled away at everyday life. But his family and friends couldn't understand his works, couldn't relate to him. I'm sure he must have felt lonely, and isolated from the rest of the world.
Kafka would eventually fall ill and spend his final days wasting away in a hospital bed. When his body experienced agonizing pain, his mind was tormented by fear: The fear of death, fear of the unknown, and the fear of isolation. It is this fear, and the emotions born from it, that made Kafka's works so rich, as he could critically examine madness and suffering and make these concepts the driving fore behind his works.
Very few of Kafka's numerous works were published while he lived, and upon his death he left them to a friend with the instructions to burn them, unread. Fortunately that friend saw the value of Kafka's legacy and preserved them for the future, ignoring Kafka's final request. Even today, Kafka's works continue to enchant us with their vivid depictions of fear.
It is that fear that drives us. Compels us. Fear is born from human instinct, and it's the basic emotion that keeps us alive. The fear of death...the fear of failure...fear of isolation and loneliness. Fear is the most powerful motivator. Those who control fear, control life itself.
Though his life came to an abrupt end, Kafka's name lives on through his works on fear and madness. He has obtained the greatest power man can hope to achieve--immortality.
I, too, will harness the power of fear, and infect this hellish world with it. And in the process I will be resurrected as one who has mastered fear. While Kafka merely lives on through his work, my work will help me live on.