Kafka and Dostoyevsky : The Shaping of Influence

This book evaluates the importance of Dostoyevskys life and imaginative fiction as a stimulus to Kafkas own writing. Dostoyevskian material is situated within detailed readings of particular works. The principle sources discussed are The Double, Notes from Underground, Crime and Punishment, and Dostoyevskys (auto) biography. It is argued that Kafkas use of Dostoyevsky is driven by antagonism as much as by admiration.