It was after reading this diary that I discovered Strindberg, “The Brothers Karamazov”, the beloved story “The Death of Ivan Ilyich,” Flaubert’s “Sentimental Education,” the poet Mikhail Kuzmin, as well as Herzen. Without Kafka, I wouldn’t have read these books, without which I can’t imagine my days now. It was he who instilled in me a love for diaries, memoirs, and autobiographical books of various writers, philosophers, and historians, and more. He is a huge inspuration.

Therefore, this diary is very important, don’t doubt it for a moment — it is a must-read.

Any diary is always a crisis, always a projection of tension, an attempt to get rid of one’s experiences.

This diary is the most powerful of all that exist on our planet, the most sincere. I would compare these entries to walking on a tightrope stretched over an abyss. Kafka constantly keeps you in a state of intense tension; you always want to somehow distance yourself from this strange feeling of closeness to him, because, well, you understand, one cannot live like that. But at the same time, it’s impossible to distance yourself; he will stay in your mind forever.

JULY 1: TOO TIRED.

December 2014