Have you ever used a word, assuming everyone knew what you meant and been shocked when they didn’t? I have. In all the many, many drafts of How To Climb The Eiffel Tower, Lara Blaine, the MC, describes the Ellery Cancer Center as ‘Kafkaesque’.
The main character’s use of the term ‘Kafkaesque’ in the first paragraph of the novel launched many a critique group argument. Some people felt it was too obscure a reference and would turn readers off. Others felt it was a word that Lara would use because she is exceedingly well-read and would definitely have read Franz Kafka’s work. At the beginning of the novel, Lara sees the world as a dark, hopeless place that acts upon her, rather than a place she can effectively act on. It felt natural to me for Lara to use the term when describing the hospital. At one point, I thought about taking the term out, along with some later references to Alice In Wonderland, until I ran into a writer I hadn’t seen in five or six years. He didn’t remember my name; he remembered my book and the character who thought a hospital was Kafkaesque. The word stayed.
Have you ever used a word in your writing that felt natural to you, but perplexed other people? What do you do when you encounter new words? Do you look them up or just read on?
In preparing this blog post, I did a little digging on the internet for a good definition of the term and found this wonderful description from Frederick R. Karl, author of an exhaustive critical biography of Franz Kafka. – “What’s Kafkaesque . . . is when you enter a surreal world in which all your control patterns, all your plans, the whole way in which you have configured your own behavior, begins to fall to pieces, when you find yourself against a force that does not lend itself to the way you perceive the world.
You don’t give up, you don’t lie down and die. What you do is struggle against this with all of your equipment, with whatever you have. But of course you don’t stand a chance. That’s Kafkaesque.” (source)
Scribbling In The Storage Room 
I’m glad you kept the word. We read so that we can discover something new. I only know of Kafka because of the MA I’m doing and glad of it. We shouldn’t talk down to our readers but if the context requires certain words then I think we should go for it!
I’m glad you kept the word too. We read to experience new things and learn. My goodness, I hate all the dumbing down! When coming across some words we might not recognize, we should be able to figure out what’s meant by the sentence or scene. At other times, we might have to grab a dictionary. I’m afraid readers are getting lazier and lazier. Great post. I enjoyed it.
Thanks, Jess. When I encounter words I don’t know, I usually can figure out what they mean from the context, even if I don’t glean their exact definition. In this case, referring to a hospital voicemail system as Kafkaesque, the reader should have been able to understand that the message was confusing and illogical while also showing them that Lara is well read. Then again, her opinion of a voicemail is not pivotal to the plot so if the reader misses that, I doesn’t take anything away from the story.
I love learning new words when reading. I even keep a small dictionary on my bedside table if I need to look something up. Never remove or apologize for a really good word!
Thanks, I love a new word too.
I love these type of references. If I didn’t know what it meant, i would look it up. I may be weird like that, though. There is this line in the movie American President when Sydney explains to a security guard how she is having a Capresque moment when she visits the white house for the first time and her colleague was like, he doesn’t know what that means and the guard was like, yeah, Frank Capra, It’s a wonderful life, I get it. You never know what people are going to know.
I liked that moment in American President too. Sometimes making a cultural reference can be a shorthand way of explaining things.
My two cents: When I’m reading a book, I don’t want to stop to look up a word (unless its a textbook or other non-entertainment material). It pulls me out of the story and that’s definitely not a good thing. This is not usually a problem if I’ve picked up a book at my particular reading level. Furthermore, IF I had a higher vocabulary than most (I don’t, unfortunately), I would WANT to read something consistently delivering that higher level of reading. The trouble of choosing a standout word in the text of an otherwise consistent reading-level book is it stops the reader momentarily, and in that moment, they may or MAY NOT understand, they may or MAY NOT look it up, they may or MAY NOT get back to the reading and/or finish the book if you’ve barely kept them on the line until then . . . and that would be a shame and maybe a risk you, as the writer, are not willing to take. That said, referencing KAFKA is more about your assumptions about the knowledge base of your intended audience. Only YOU know your audience that well. Your writing group comrades may or may not. Know your audience. Know yourself. If you do that well, then trust your own judgment (gut?).
You make a good point, Sue. I worried about pulling the reader out of the story and reworked the sentence so the reader would not feel a need to stop to go look up the word. if they haven’t read (or read about) Kafka’s novels, the reader could just read over it. If they are familiar with his books (specifically The Trial), they would get an insight into the way Lara thinks.
You mentioned knowing your audience. I find this a tricky thing. When I was writing this book, I pictured my audience as being a woman that reads for entertainment, as well as enrichment. She is probably not very young. She is probably in a book club or likes to talk about books with her friends.
It sounds like you chose the best solution. I came across this recently myself and chose to keep the word–despite some writer group objections–but rephrased to suggest its meaning relative to my story. I tried not to insult the intelligence of my readers who might have already understood but help my dear readers who might not ‘get it.’ Everyone is now happy and I got to use my word. 🙂
Good job keeping the word. If someone doesn’t know, then it should be a learning opportunity!
It depends on why you use the word. If it is the most effective way to communicate your idea, then it’s ok to use. That’s a question only you can answer. I don’t know too many people that turn to fiction for the chance to improve their vocabulary, especially in such an obscure manner.
So glad you kept the references in your book – especially the Alice and Wonderland reference (because Alice and Wonderland!!).
I didn’t know what Kafkaesque meant just now but I got a feel for it from the context of the situation you mentioned, before you gave the full definition. I think removing something for fear of readers not understanding would be a huge shame – it would mean dumbing down your writing, in a way, to pander to the reader. Which isn’t right because as writers we should trust that our readers are smart enough to work things out. Or if not to refer to the internet / dictionary.
But also because no doubt the mention of Kafkaesque will have taught something new to those (like me) who didn’t know about it. And that is one of the things I love the most about books – when I’m confronted with a word or concept that is foreign to me. I bought a clunky, enormous dictionary (despite VERY limited shelf space in our little apartment) mainly because I love looking things up in it (Kafkaesque was in it btw!)
What Fran Clark said above. Cool K-post 🙂
I love this word! I used it in a post on the eve of Nanowrimo last year. I’m glad you ignored the advice of the critique group (which is proof they’re not always right). If a reader comes across a word they don’t know they should celebrate the fact that its an opportunity to learn something, to expand their vocabulary. Great post. 🙂
Thanks, Melissa. I love that word too. It sums up the feeling of being a cog in bureaucratic machine so well.
Yes, I know that feeling all too well.