Kafka vs Proust

In this video, I will talk about two of the most influential fiction writers of the 20th century, Franz Kafka and Marcel Proust. Marcel Proust’s masterpiece In Search of Lost Time is considered the best novel of the 20th century. Kafka’s short story the Metamorphosis and his novel, The Trial, were ground-breaking. Both lived in the same period, both with a Jewish background, both wrote about the human condition and both have given us literary terms, “kafkaesque” and “proustian”. I have talked about them extensively in separate videos, so in this video I will compare the two by talking about their lives, writings, styles, themes and finally what makes them great and how they are different. 

🕔Time Stamps🕔
00:00 Intro
00:48 Historical context
01:29 Biography
04:30 Influences
06:33 German vs French
08:12 Writing Career
13:27 Time vs Space
15:08 Characters
15:39 Writing Style
16:57 Pessimism vs optimism
18:17 Who is better?

Music:

#kafka
#proust
#kafkavsproust

[Fiction_Beast]

Let me know which other writers you want to me compare?

[Fuliginosus]

I've read Proust's novel three times over the past twenty years, and have thought about it almost every day. Nothing else can compare.

[cansueceklc]

I just found this channel 20 minutes ago and it officially is my favorite now. A huge admirerer of both. Reading the fifth volume of In Search of Lost Time and read anything published written by Kafka but never thought of viewing their work as a contiuning bridge from existencial pain to relief. Brilliant!

I would be forever grateful if you were to make a video about Kafka's letters. I think those effected me more deeply than his novels. Thank you!

[jahidhsn]

Well done. Very informative video. I know this channel is very underrated right now. But I hope it grows. Good luck.

[Noah-xgld]

This is cheesy but what I like most about Proust is the way he makes you appreciate details. As you get deeper into ISOLT your inner monologue starts to sound like the Narrator's (or Marcel's if you like). Kafka, though he's good, just makes me feel anxious lol. Great video!

[gracefitzgerald]

Im Already such a pessimist. I’m more than halfway through Proust. He makes my days more vibrant. The best way I can shallowly sum it up is “ it’s like in the movies and you’re bitten by a vampire, and you really see everything with more focus.’’ Love it!

[dilwashbabo]

what a tremendous research based work you have done with great enthusiasm in this short video. just loved it.. well done...

[sharontheodore]

It takes a true giant to analyse Two giant writers in just about 20 minutes.
It is a shame that they did not meet.
I think the reason that Kafka is more read could be due to that some of his output was turned into movies. The term Kafkaesque is so widely used which could draw large crowds to find out more about him especially since his books are short.
Beautiful summary.Thanks.

[viktoriaregis]

These are amongst the best literature analysis I've encounter ever. I am among the people who started with Proust without finishing it. I like Kafka, but think I was put of by Proust's long sentences thinking nothing really happened. But I will give it another try now that I am motivated again.

[Lea-cqlb]

Your channel is such a gem! As I'm a rather pessimistic person I avoided Proust a bit but now I'm tempted to read his work anyway.

[mohammadaminsarabi]

Bravo brother... Keep making these valuable contents.🌷👏

[rahuljha]

Brother you really nailed it again 🙏🏻🙌🏻

[Nytsik]

I had read Kafka before; I was amazed as well as inspired by those stories. And, lately, I've come to read the Proust and read Swann's Way. It's bit of slow--pacing compared to Kafka. But I must admit it's quite unique experienced reading his book. Reading first 30 pages of Swann's Way is the best sensual feeling I have ever got of all my life. I felt that I wish I could write down those feeling, but I couldn't.

[stevenhuang]

Thank you for your very entertaining yet informative video. What excellent and tremendous research you have done, I can't appreciate it more for that. Could you do a video about the differences and similarities between Proust， Virginia Woolf, and James Joyce? All of them are regarded as important figures in 20th-century literature and the leaders of the Stream of consciousness. It would be very interesting to see a comparison between these three.

[geraldmeehan]

Very impressive the quality of writing from these 2 in such few years

[DarkAngelEU]

If you're interested in these writers, I suggest you watch Little Miss Sunshine. The movie changed my life as a teenager.

[BCBell-fjht]

Prisoners of Spacetime. One of my less literary comparisons has always been between Hemingway and Hammett. Yes, Hammett was genre, but he was writing about his old job. Both pioneered the short, sharp sentence at about the same time.

[gordongibson]

Great literature cannot be reduced to an either/or - it is an AND ALSO...

[jarx]

Matt I really hope you get more into Laszlo Krasznahorkai's works because he is such a hypnotic author in a sense which he combines the best of Kafka and Proust where he includes bleak but realistic surroundings in his novels but it somehow quietly pushes some hope in good digestion because of the wisdom of his storytelling, also his themes seem to be very Dostoevskian while his plot seems to be in the tradition of Gogol, he seems to be under the cloak of Gogol, but is one of the most original authors of our contemporary ages and I hope you check his novels out, he got me interested in Hungarian Literature, in my opinion Satantango is the best starting point for him.

[fasted]

If there's one thing to learn from them it's that infant genital mutilation negatively effects them in a way proportional to the intelligence of the victim. We know so little of non verbal communication that we belittle sex to a fun act