The fortress

There is also in the main square a church, and its largest part is surrounded by an old cemetery, which in turn is enclosed by a high wall, only a few boys could climb it, and even they failed, curiosity was not what drove them to do so, for the cemetery no longer held secrets for them. They had entered it several times before through its iron gate, but they sought to conquer it from above the high and smooth wall. One day before noon - the silent and empty square was overflowing with sunlight - K succeeded in a way that was astonishing, in a place where he had previously failed many times, in climbing it on the first attempt, and between his teeth, a small flag. The pieces of stones were still falling beneath him when he climbed the wall, planted the flag in a crack, and the wind spread the cloth. He looked down and around him, as well as from over his shoulder to the horizon, then to the crosses embedded in the ground; no one now here was bigger than him. In the familiar novel, one remains within the scope of the story, and does not demand an explanation after finishing reading it, and a writer like Kafka writes about simple matters, in fact, about land plots, for example, and yet all this is characterized by an enchanting beauty that captivates the reader in some way, because it has a special significant meaning. - Alfred Doblin If I wanted to draw my literary family tree, I would put Gogol, Kafka, and Cervantes on it, but if I wanted to choose my favorite writer, I would immediately say Kafka, for he is one of the most important writers in the history of literature, and for me, he is considered the greatest novelist of the twentieth century. - José Saramago