SOURCE: “Kafka's Friend, Max Brod: The Work of a Mediator,” in German Life and Letters, Vol. 4, 1950, pp. 46-50.

In the following essay, Weltmann discusses Brod's ability to bridge differences in his writing and philosophy.

Max Brod is chiefly known in this country as the editor of Kafka's works. ‘Dr.’ Max Brod, as he is called whenever his name is mentioned, is, however, a great writer in his own right and an independent philosopher, too. As his philosophy has not been shaped into a ‘system’ and a considerable part of his philosophical thought is enshrouded in his fiction, posterity will have to decide—and decide it will—which is the greater. Already one of his first novels, Schloss Nornepygge (1908) has a characteristic sub-title pointing to a philosophical meaning: ‘Roman des Indifferenten.’

He was born at Prague sixty-six years ago. Since 1939 he has been working in Tel-Aviv as the literary...