Kafka's papers saved for the world!

On a lighter note from me (well, I think it's lighter, but then that assumes that you think that Kafka is light compared with, eg, Iran's nuclear programme), an Israeli court has finally (how many years has it been?) decided that the sisters don't have the right to hang on to Kafka's papers.

They decided that Max Brod's view, expressed in his will, that these papers should be on display, and that place should be Israel (given when Brod died, after the establishment of the State), is the right one.

All is not lost for the women who had the papers: any profits accruing from sale of images, etc, will go to one of them.

Given that Kafka was a literary surrealist, the decision (and the time taken to reach it) does him justice. Hopefully, the shade of Kafka will have forgiven Brod for not burning his papers, as instructed. We're certainly the richer for that.

By Brian Goldfarb.