عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Varieties

Kafka Letter, in Which he Says he Can No Longer Write, Goes to Auction

FILE PHOTO: Tourists look at a statue of famous German-language writer Franz Kafka in central Prague July 3, 2013, on the day marking the 130th anniversary of his birth in Prague./File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Tourists look at a statue of famous German-language writer Franz Kafka in central Prague July 3, 2013, on the day marking the 130th anniversary of his birth in Prague./File Photo
TT
TT

Kafka Letter, in Which he Says he Can No Longer Write, Goes to Auction

FILE PHOTO: Tourists look at a statue of famous German-language writer Franz Kafka in central Prague July 3, 2013, on the day marking the 130th anniversary of his birth in Prague./File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Tourists look at a statue of famous German-language writer Franz Kafka in central Prague July 3, 2013, on the day marking the 130th anniversary of his birth in Prague./File Photo

A letter from Franz Kafka in which he tells a friend he can no longer write is being offered at auction 100 years after his death, with an estimate of up to $114,000, Reuters reported.
Kafka, one of the 20th century's greatest writers, known for works such as "The Trial" and "The Metamorphosis", wrote the letter to Austrian poet and publisher Albert Ehrenstein, in what is believed to be a response for a request to contribute to literary journal "Die Gefährten".
In the one-page letter in German and signed just "Kafka", the Prague-born novelist says he has not written anything in three years.
It is believed to have been written around April-June 1920 from a sanatorium in Merano in northern Italy, according to auction house Sotheby's. Kafka was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1917, which he does not discuss in the letter, Reuters said.
"When worries have penetrated to a certain layer of inner existence, writing and complaining obviously cease, indeed my resistance was not too strong," Kafta wrote, according to a translation.
Sotheby's is offering the letter in its "Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern" sale, running June 26 - July 11, with a price estimate of 70,000 pounds - 90,000 pounds ($88,445 - $113,715).
"It is a very poignant letter written towards the end of his life, where he expresses his despair at writing again and his feelings of... of writer's block," Gabriel Heaton, specialist in books and manuscripts at Sotheby's, told Reuters.
"He's physically very, very weak and he's beginning, however, this very intense correspondence with Milena (Pollakova-Jesenska), this great love of his last years, which would spark renewed creativity. So although he's here in despair, he's actually on the verge of one final bout of wonderful, wonderful writing."
Kafka went on to write "The Castle" and "A Hunger Artist". He died on June 3, 1924, aged 40.
Ehrenstein eventually sent the letter to artist Dolly Perutz. It is being sold with the envelope Ehrenstein used.

Most Viewed

 
 
Varieties

Russian ‘Spy Whale’ in Norway Wasn’t Shot Dead, Likely Died of Infection

FILE - In this photo taken in April 2019 a beluga whale found in Arctic Norway is fed. (Jorgen Ree Wiig, Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries via AP)
FILE - In this photo taken in April 2019 a beluga whale found in Arctic Norway is fed. (Jorgen Ree Wiig, Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries via AP)
TT
TT

Russian ‘Spy Whale’ in Norway Wasn’t Shot Dead, Likely Died of Infection

FILE - In this photo taken in April 2019 a beluga whale found in Arctic Norway is fed. (Jorgen Ree Wiig, Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries via AP)
FILE - In this photo taken in April 2019 a beluga whale found in Arctic Norway is fed. (Jorgen Ree Wiig, Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries via AP)

A beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited speculation that it was a Russian spy, was not shot to death as claimed by animal rights groups but died of a bacterial infection, Norwegian police said Friday.
A final autopsy by Norway's Veterinary Institute “concludes that the probable cause of death was bacterial infection -- possibly as a result of a wound in the mouth from a stuck stick,” Amund Preede Revheim, head of the North Sea and Environment section of the police in south-western Norway said.
“There have been no findings from the autopsy that indicate that the whale has been shot,” he stressed, adding that the autopsy had been “made difficult by the fact that many of the whale’s organs were very rotten.” As there was no indication of foul play, there was no reason to start a criminal investigation into its death, The Associated Press quoted Preede Revheim as saying.
The tame beluga, which was first spotted in 2019 not far from Russian waters with a harness reading “Equipment St. Petersburg,” had been nicknamed "Hvaldimir,” combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It was found floating in a southern Norway bay on Aug. 31.
In September, animal advocate groups OneWhale and NOAH filed a police report saying that the animal’s wounds suggested it was intentionally killed.
They pointed at several wounds found on the animal’s skin, including what was interpreted as a bullet hole.
“Assessments made by the Veterinary Institute and the police’s forensic technicians are that these are not gunshot wounds. X-rays of the chest and head were carried out without any projectiles or other metal fragments being detected,” police said in a statement.
Earlier, police had described a stick about 35 centimeters (14 inches) long and 3 centimeters (1 inch) wide which was found wedged in the animal’s mouth, its stomach was empty and its organs had broken down, police said. No further details were given.
The 4.2-meter (14-foot) long and 1,225-kilogram (2,700-pound) whale was first spotted by fishermen not far from the Arctic town of Hammerfest.
Its harness, along with what appeared to be a mount for a small camera, led to media speculation that it was a “spy whale.” Experts say the Russian navy is known to have trained whales for military purposes. Media reports also have speculated that the whale might have been trained as a therapy animal.
There was no immediate reaction from OneWhale or NOAH.