Franz Kafka, Amerika (The Man Who Disappeared), trans. from the German by Michael Hoffman (New York: New Directions, 2002).
Also from Amerika
An American writing desk
A Kafka highway
Tuesday, July 25, 2017
A Kafka bridge
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comments: 10
I'm not sure about his geography there. What Hudson River bridge would you take to go from New York City to Boston?
Do you think he was referring to a specific bridge? Or was he just winging it?
Elaine and I suspect that he was confusing Boston with Brooklyn. Othe things are off too (pounds instead of dollars). Strangely charming.
Also: if Brooklyn, it’d be the East River.
I assume he never visited the U.S.
That’s right. And he has San Francisco on the East Coast.
The Muirs' translation has "The bridge connecting New York with Brooklyn hung delicately over the East River, and if one half-shut one's eyes it seemed to tremble" (italics mine). I wonder if the Muirs corrected Kafka's geography. And is Karl then heading northeast out of the city?
Hoffman used a manuscript version. I think that Max Brod must have made the correction first — there’s a German text online with Brooklyn: “Die Brücke, die New York mit Brooklyn verbindet, hing zart über den East River, und sie erzitterte, wenn man die Augen klein machte.” And then there’s this one: “Die Brücke, die New York mit Boston verbindet hieng zart über den Hudson und sie erzitterte, wenn man die Augen klein machte.”
As for where Karl is headed, I’d say further and further into Kafka’s imaginary country. I think that’s the only answer.
In its Turkish translation it is written : "The bridge connecting New York to Brooklyn hung gracefully over the East River... "
That’s wonderful to know. You’d like reading this New York Times article: ”Take the New York-to-Boston Bridge.”
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