Quote by Alan Bennett
Kafka could never have written as he did had he lived in a house. His writing is that of someone whose whole life was spent in apartments, with lifts, stairwells, muffled voices behind closed doors, and sounds through walls. Put him in a nice detached villa and he'd never have written a word.
Summary
This quote suggests that Kafka's writing style and themes were influenced by his experience of living in confined urban spaces, such as apartments with their distinctive ambience. The anonymity, isolation, and distortion of reality often associated with apartment living shaped his unique literary voice. The quote implies that a comfortable detached villa, lacking the urban intensity and sensory stimulation, would have hindered Kafka's ability to produce the profound and introspective works that he is known for.
By Alan Bennett