evidence: Bohemian writer (1883–1924) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Franz Kafka[lower-alpha 2] (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague. He wrote in German and is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic.[4] It typically features isolated protagonists facing bizarre or surrealistic predicaments and incomprehensible socio-bureaucratic powers. It has been interpreted as exploring themes of alienation, existential anxiety, guilt, and absurdity.[5] His best known works include the novella The Metamorphosis and novels The Trial and The Castle. The term Kafkaesque has entered English to describe absurd situations like those depicted in his writing.[6] [...] Kafka grew up in Prague as a German-speaking Jew.[129] He was deeply fascinated by the Jews of Eastern Europe, who he thought possessed an intensity of spiritual life that was absent from Jews in the West. His diary contains many references to Yiddish writers.[130] Yet he was at times alienated from Judaism and Jewish life. On 8 January 1914, he wrote in his diary: