Investigations of a Dog

Who is Investigations of a Dog told by? A dog, apparently — a dog who has spent his life in philosophical inquiry, trying to understand the world through the framework of dog knowledge, dog science, and the unquestioned assumptions of dog society. And why does the food always fall from above? Why does no dog ever acknowledge this obvious fact? What is the source of nourishment, and why is it surrounded by silence?

Kafka’s late story — one of his most loved and most sustained — is simultaneously a precise satire of intellectual inquiry, a meditation on the limits of any bounded system of knowledge, and a deeply affecting portrait of a mind that cannot stop asking questions everyone else has learned to leave alone. Its combination of deadpan comedy and metaphysical seriousness is pure Kafka.

This Penguin Little Black Classic offers the ideal introduction to Kafka’s short fiction — a story of complete formal perfection that rewards rereading and repays a lifetime of thought. If you have never read Kafka, start here. Published by Penguin.