Letters to Milena

Kafka never shows himself as clearly as he does in the 'Letters to Milena', which start out primarily as a business letter but quickly turn into a passionate &quote;letter love.&quote; Twenty-three-year-old Milena Jesenska was a talented and captivating woman. She was the only person to be able to distinguish both the complexity of Kafka's persona and his intricate genius as his translator from Czech. In Kafka's words, at thirty-six, she was &quote;a living fire, such as I have never seen.&quote; He shared the most personal side of himself to her. He entrusted her with the security of his diaries once the affair ended. One of the most important writers of the 20th century, according to critics, was Franz Kafka, a German-language author of novels and short tales. &quote;I m tired, can t think of anything and want only to lay my face in your lap, feel your hand on my head and remain like that through all eternity.&quote; Franz Kafka (Letters to Milena)