About:
Einstein in Kafkaland: How Albert Fell Down the Rabbit Hole and Came Up With the Universe by Ken Krimstein is a graphic novel taking place in Prague, 1911-1912 following the upward momentum of Albert Einstein and Franz Kafka. Mr. Krimstein is an award-winning cartoonist from the New Yorker.
- 224 pages
- Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
- Language : English
- ISBN-10 : 1635579538
My rating for Einstein in Kafkaland – 4
Buy Einstein in Kafkaland from Amazon.com*
More Books by Ken Krimstein*
Thoughts:
The first thing that jumped at me in this graphic novel is the art. It’s not stylish, or even finished, as the ones I enjoy, but more raw as if in a dream state. The pace is not face, nor was it slow and the narrative was both mysterious and reflective.
The narrator of Einstein in Kafkaland by Ken Krimstein is told by a famous skeleton residing on the Prague clock. The introduction itself is about 20 pages, and then we get almost 80 pages about Einstein, including an bizarre talk-show style interview of Einstein’s wife, Mileva Marić, by the skeleton about their first daughter who the couple gave up for adoption.
While the book does introduce Kafka’s influence on literature the main story still involves Einstein, Kafka’s influence, cockroaches aside, is how the surrealism is presented. The physicist meets his god, Euclid, duels with his rival scientist, and more all in a dreamlike state. And yes, there are plenty of references to Lewis Caroll’s classic as the title suggests.
Much like theoretical physics, the book is abstract in text and art. This is not a light read and took me some time to finish it. This is an informative, reflective, yet bizarre book which takes concentration to read, but I thought that Einstein by Walter Issacson explained the science better, even though I admit I still barely understand it.
I especially enjoyed that Prague is also a character in this graphic novel, and sometimes steals the focus from Einstein, Kafka, and the skeleton. This graphic novel is not for everyone, but it’s put together very nicely and explains the science well. The jokes mostly fell flat (I was hoping for Yiddish style jokes) and it shows well how Einstein became a superstar, but I felt that it lacked to explain why Kafka became a literary sensation.
Synopsis:
Albert Einstein moved to Prague, Czech Republic with his family in 1911 which sets him on a path to create the General Theory of Relativity. This time was known as Einstein’s “lost year”, nevertheless it was an important time in the physicist’s life.
Franz Kafka, unknown insurance salesman, wrote The Judgement during that period. His path with the soon-to-be-famous Einstein crossed in ways which are unique as the two men are.
Buy Einstein in Kafkaland from Amazon.com*
More Books by Ken Krimstein*
Zohar — Man of la Book
Disclaimer: I got this book for free
*Amazon links point to an affiliate account, the money is usually spent on books
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