Scan barcode
A review by wuthrinheights
Letters to Felice by Franz Kafka
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
What a book. My copy had a little over 800 pages and it was such a heavy book (figuratively and literally). But not once did I regret getting a copy. This was beautiful.
From his early years of knowing Felice and groveling at her feet, pouncing at the mailman for her letters, and rubbing her letters to his face (to get as close to her as possible), to the all-too-real commitment of being engaged to her making him spiral, it was a lot.
In the first half of the book, he was more lighthearted. All he wanted was to get to know every single part of her (from asking her many, many questions to scrutinising every picture sent by her). But as they grew closer and the relationship became more serious, he grew more frightened.
Suddenly his flaws were blown up like a film on a movie screen. His derailing health, his inadequacy, his worries and quirks. He was so worried that Felice will shirk away from him, and her parents wouldn't allow him to marry her (which, he felt was valid).
But everyone loved him. Felice, her parents, his parents, etc. Julie Kafka (Franz's mum) was adorable. Her letters to Felice (and to Felice's mum) were included. From there, you could see how sweet and caring she was. And she was completely supportive of their relationship.
From his early years of knowing Felice and groveling at her feet, pouncing at the mailman for her letters, and rubbing her letters to his face (to get as close to her as possible), to the all-too-real commitment of being engaged to her making him spiral, it was a lot.
In the first half of the book, he was more lighthearted. All he wanted was to get to know every single part of her (from asking her many, many questions to scrutinising every picture sent by her). But as they grew closer and the relationship became more serious, he grew more frightened.
Suddenly his flaws were blown up like a film on a movie screen. His derailing health, his inadequacy, his worries and quirks. He was so worried that Felice will shirk away from him, and her parents wouldn't allow him to marry her (which, he felt was valid).
But everyone loved him. Felice, her parents, his parents, etc. Julie Kafka (Franz's mum) was adorable. Her letters to Felice (and to Felice's mum) were included. From there, you could see how sweet and caring she was. And she was completely supportive of their relationship.
This mammoth of a book was a lot to take in, but I loved it very much. It is possible that I found hundreds of favourite quotes within these letters. Letters to Felice was much better than Letters to Milena. The last few pages made me teary eyed when he broke the news of his tuberculosis and how he feared that his last letters to her would be
"Poor dear Felice" -- were the last words I wrote; is this to be the closing phrase to all my letters? It's not a knife that stabs only forward but one that wheels around and stabs back as well.
Franz
I am amazed that Felice kept all the letters he sent. Their love must've been incredibly intense. I could see so much of myself in Franz (the good and the bad), that reading these made me feel like I could've written all that in another life. And no matter how many times I feel so frustrated by him, I had to step back and think "perhaps the reason why you are so angry is because you see so much of yourself in him." Rest well, Kafka. This was life-altering.