'... all the writings I may leave behind me...' (every word twisted in the hands of the spirits)

'dearest max, my last request is that all the writings  I may leave behind me (in bookcases and in drawers, in my rooms, in the office, or wherever any of them may have got to); everything in notebooks, manuscript sheets and letters, whether my own or other people's; everything finished or in rough draft which you may have in your possession or can get hold of in my name - shall be burned at once unread.' - letter franz kafka to max brod as reported in the translator edwin muir's introduction to the great wall of china (written 1933). 

'given its background, the directive in which kafka ordered the destruction of his literary remains is just as unfathomable, to be weighed just as carefully as the answers of the doorkeeper before the law... both the psychoanalytic and the theological interpretations equally miss the essential points.' - walter benjamin, franz kafka; on the tenth anniversary of his death in  illuminations (essay written 1934).

it is the anniversary of the  franz kafka's final diary entry (and we have just passed the centenary of his death). the last diary entry is uncharacteristically underwritten, it is unarmoured, it is not a parable. of course as his throat closed up kafka had to write more brief notes to his friends and carers (so far no one has published these) but the diary ends over a year before his death on 12th june 1923. 

'more and more fearful as I write. it is understandable.  every word twisted in the hands of the spirits - the twist of their hand is the characteristic gesture - becomes a spear turned against the speaker. most especially a remark like this.' 

kafka confronts what will happen to his words when they are truly gone from him. up until now he has been able to control them but when he is dead and gone he will no longer be able to do that. 

the question is how much does he really mean his 'burned at once unread' - is he instructing brod clearly or presenting him with an insoluble dilemma, a test he can pass only in disobedience/ a test he can only fail in disobedience. 

we have the novels, we have the aphorisms, we have the sketches, we have the great wall of china because brod was disobedient, because brod was the bad son, the bad employee, the bad friend. or is it that brod honoured kafka's secret intention.  

it's another bright and beautiful (if slightly cool) day in the valley. horsemouth has just been out watering the plants. francoise hardy has died (at least we are clear about what we can publish of her work without her displeasure from beyond the grave). 

today the delivery of the eggs to the crossroads (a t- junction really). later the recycling bin to be walked down the drive. tomorrow it starts raining again. horsemouth is slightly under-employed. yesterday a minor panic about some paperwork was resolved (and then softened with alcohol).