- Forum posts: 79
Jan 20, 2017, 2:31:18 PM via Website
Jan 20, 2017 2:31:18 PM via Website
This story shares the atmosphere of works like "Metamorphosis" or "America" that have made Kafka an undisputed classic among the writers of the 20th Century.
The reader will find here all the ingredients that are usual in Kafka: a tight structure, where everything happens with the fatality of dreams and is always a bit strange. The struggle of the individual vs society, a society full of complex rules, dehumanized and surrendered to its own bureaucracy. The sparse but crucial narrative details that make the story both tangible and rich in interpretations.
A Traveler who's visiting a Penal Colony is "invited" to witness the execution of a prisoner, which is usually carried along through a convoluted machine that takes 12 hours to complete its mission. The Officer who acts as a host does not spare him any detail about the workings of the machine, of which he is the proud caretaker, or the history of executions and previous rulers in the island. Unavoidably, the Traveler will find himself tangled in the internal politics and struggles of power existing in the colony.
In a tense, gradual atmosphere, Kafka explores matters so current to us as the finality of technology, its use or abuse, the application of justice, or the utility of punishment. In addition, surprisingly, this short story contains perhaps the most frenetic action scene in the whole production of the author.
The app offers off line versions of both the book and the audiobook, which you can even use in a simultaneous way for a better reading experience, and also access to different audio versions that you can download.
This translation, which has been prepared by Ian Johnston of Malaspina University-College, Nanaimo, BC, Canada, is in the public domain and may be used by anyone, in whole or in part, without permission and without charge, provided the source is acknowledged, released October 2003. The original text can be found at: http://www.kafka.org/index.php?aid=167
The audio version was read by Dominic Vinyard for LibriVox, and belongs to Public Domain.
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