The History of Literature 725 The Trial by Franz Kafka (#21 GBOAT) | Edith Wharton and Patrick O'Brian (with Olivia Wolfgang-Smith) | An Uplifting Story
Aug 14, 2025
In this insightful discussion, novelist Olivia Wolfgang-Smith, author of 'Glassworks' and 'Mutual Interest,' shares her admiration for Edith Wharton and her enthusiasm for Patrick O'Brian’s naval novels. She dives into the themes of ambition and identity in her own work set in post-Gilded Age New York. The conversation also touches on Kafka's 'The Trial,' exploring its existential dread and absurdity. Moreover, Olivia emphasizes the evolving portrayals of queer identities and the significance of psychological connections in literature.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Nightmare Logic Beats Clear Causality
- Wilson argues Kafka's nightmare logic shows how systems can be both arbitrary and unstoppable.
- That ambiguity — malevolent agency or empty meaninglessness — heightens the novel's modern resonance.
Max Brod Saved Kafka's Legacy
- Jacke recounts Kafka's friend Max Brod rescuing Kafka's unpublished works from destruction and publishing The Trial after Kafka's death.
- This act preserved Kafka's legacy despite Kafka's instruction to destroy his manuscripts.
Half-Expressed Art Can Be Powerful
- Jacke defends the emotional power of unfinished, half-expressed writing against critics like Edmund Wilson.
- He suggests Kafka's 'gasp of a self-doubting soul' is precisely his artistic strength.
