FRANZ KAFKA CHALLENGE

"If one were only an Indian, instantly alert, and on a racing horse, leaning against the wind, kept on quivering jerkily over the quivering ground, until one shed one's spurs, for there needed to spurs, threw away the reins, for there needed no reins, and hardly saw that the land before one was smoothly shorn heath when horse's neck and head would already be gone."

?-Franz Kafka, The Wish to Be a Red Indian, in its entirety, translated by Willa and Edwin Muir. From Franz Kafka; The Complete Stories, 1971.

This brilliant short piece from 1913 is considered to be one of extremely few one-sentence short stories that is a full success. It has inspired other story writers, film writers, etc.

When I feel my own writing going to fat, I try to emulate the brevity and syntax of this Kafka work. I never succeed, of course. But I learn in the process.

For those of you who enjoy rich miniatures, you might be interested in NOVELS IN THREE LINES [an intentional absurdity but a wondrous way to get the feel of the novel structure] by Felix Fenelon, newly available in an NYRB Classic paperback. Great practice material--and built from actual events.