What's Important

The introduction of the most recent translation of Meyrink's Golem reminds us that the author brilliantly reproduced the atmosphere of 19th Century Prague. Kafka agreed. The introducer goes on to say, however, that 'if this were all it did, then the novel could only have limited interest for us today. More importantly, The Golem was an assault on the values of the bourgeoisie of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in its last days.'

What an extraordinary thing to say. Do even the great grandchildren of the Austro-Hungarian aristocrats care about the socio-politics of the day? But who among us would not like to have walked among the stalls of the alchemists and Jewish magicians in the Jewish Quarter of Prague, or met an eastern girl in a tryst in view of Charles Bridge or Hradcany Castle as the dusk gathered and lamps were lit.

How and why do academics learn the inability to read?  

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