Does this constitute snobbery?

[Richard Barrett]

One important thing about Franz Kafka which I know thanks to Alan Bennett is that he had a Dick.
Or are we talking about the famous gridiron player Mike Kafka - or Alexandre Kafka the renowned Brazilian economist?

Or for that matter Haruki Murakami's novel Kafka on the Shore? (the Kafka of the title isn't the well-known* author of that name)

It's often struck me how little English-speaking readers know of literature in other languages, no doubt mainly because English-language literature is so much more voluminous than others, but also no doubt because of British people being so monoglot, which is a shame, for the monoglots I mean, I'm not being snobbish. I guess the teaching of European languages in the UK might well diminish further in the future.

* except by ignoramuses, apparently

[richardfinegold]

Most of my colleagues are completely ignorant of Classical Music, let alone contemporary composition. Now, having said that, I am currently fortunate enough to be sharing an office space with 3 others who do have a knowledge of music, one of whom voraciously attends every Opera and Concert in town, and it really makes for a very pleasant work environment, as we now play the local Classical FM station in the background and regularly comment on the selections.










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[french frank]

Getting back to what constitutes snobbery: working (as I did) in fields where I was surprised if anyone had heard about them, I feel that one can be surprised at ignorance of certain kinds in certain individuals, but snobbery involves being judgemental about it. Someone Didn't Know Something. Amazing!

[eighthobstruction]

Getting back to what constitutes snobbery: working (as I did) in fields where I was surprised if anyone had heard about them, I feel that one can be surprised at ignorance of certain kinds in certain individuals, but snobbery involves being judgemental about it. Someone Didn't Know Something. Amazing!

....funnily enough tho', a few weeks ago I met a woman in her late 70's at least, and within 2-3 minutes we were quite naturally talking about Martin Buber -I am Thou....turns out her father was in charge of the burial of the Christians from the King Davids Hotel in Jurusalem 1946....

....The other strand of snobbery/hypocracy/negligent ignorance - is the guarding, being secretive about a book or something you have done which others might look down on....

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

....The other strand of snobbery/hypocracy/negligent ignorance - is the guarding, being secretive about a book or something you have done which others might look down on....

If this is a reference to the aesthetic films I made in my 20s, I TOLD YOU ABOUT THAT IN CONFIDENCE!!!

[eighthobstruction]

Getting back to what constitutes snobbery: working (as I did) in fields where I was surprised if anyone had heard about them, I feel that one can be surprised at ignorance of certain kinds in certain individuals, but snobbery involves being judgemental about it. Someone Didn't Know Something. Amazing!

I might google a few ancient Welsh things - just to astound you....

....if you can stand being astouinded....I'd hate to disturb your reticence....

[eighthobstruction]

If this is a reference to the aesthetic films I made in my 20s, I TOLD YOU ABOUT THAT IN CONFIDENCE!!!

....sorry

[Dave2002]

I think that somebody who hasn't heard of Kafka is to be congratulated, as he or she will probably have thereby avoided wasting valuable

The OP wants the lady to metamorphise into something she perhaps doesn't want to be. He on the other hand wants to put her through the trial of learning - maybe he lives in an ivory castle?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

A snob is someone who disagrees with Suzy Klein and Clemency Burton-Hill.

[cloughie]

Of course I’ve heard of Kafka - it is an excellent track on Manhattan Transfer’s Mecca for Moderns album.

[french frank]

I think that somebody who hasn't heard of Kafka is to be congratulated, as he or she will probably have thereby avoided wasting valuable time

Much the same as Holmes's reply to Watson on being informed of the Copernican theory of the solar system - namely, that he would do his best to forget it.

[Petrushka]

I read 'The Trial' sometime in my teens (despite never having had a university education) but I think I can be 100% confident that none of my work colleagues will have even heard of him and remain entirely ignorant of classical music. I, on the other hand, know nothing whatsoever about pop music, or the reality TV shows that constitute most of the office conversation.

Am I snobbish if I know that they are, in Bernard Levin's memorable phrase 'merely scrabbling at the foothills of pleasure'?

As it happens two of my closer friends will be certain to have heard of Kafka (one is a retired librarian) and may even have read him. I'll ask the question.

[pastoralguy]

I am COMPLETELY ignorant of mathematics. In my defence, my maths teacher at school was also the deputy headmaster. This meant that our maths lessons were constantly interrupted by pupils requesting permission slips and other sundry matters. Alas, our lessons suffered by this and I for one found this subject to be a complete mystery.

I managed to scrap by until I became a junior house master in a public school in charge of the 12 to 13 year olds. Of course, I had to supervise prep and started to get mathematic questions, none of which I had a hope of answering. The boys soon latched on to this and loved seeing me squirm. Fortunately, my playing career started to pick up at this time so I was able to leave.

I'm appalled by my numerical ignorance but, alas, I've never really had the inclination to return to night school to rectify this deficiency.

[LMcD]

BBC Radio Lincolnshire has just reported a surge in reservation requests placed with the library in Cleethorpes for anything by Frank Capra. Apparently, unlike FK, he had a Wonderful Life.

[pastoralguy]

BBC Radio Lincolnshire has just reported a surge in reservation requests placed with the library in Cleethorpes for anything by Frank Capra. Apparently, unlike FK, he had a Wonderful Life.