Sunday 21 October 2012

Weekend Reflections: at one with a Kafkaesque bridge


An ancient bridge on the Bridgewater Canal heading towards Daresbury takes a long hard look at itself in the early morning misty waters.

One of many mind blowing Franz Kafka short stories was about a bridge. There's an extract below, and you can read and watch an animation at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPxvNmbTWnU 

"I was stiff and cold, I was a bridge, I lay over a ravine. My toes on one side, my fingers clutching the other, I had clamped myself fast into the crumbling clay... I heard the sound of a human step!.. Straighten yourself, bridge, make ready, railless beams, to hold up the passenger entrusted to you...

He came, he tapped me with the iron point of his stick... But then – I was just following him in thought over mountain and valley – he jumped with both feet on the middle of my body. I shuddered with wild pain, not knowing what was happening. Who was it? A child? A dream? A wayfarer? A suicide? A tempter? A destroyer? 

And I turned so as to see him. A bridge to turn around! I had not yet turned quiet around when I already began to fall, I fell and in a moment I was torn and transpierced by the sharp rocks which had always gazed up at me so peacefully from the rushing water."

Linking with other Weekend Reflections postings and also with Sunday Bridges .

18 comments:

  1. Lovely, lovely photo! Can't say Kafka is tops on my list for reading material, but each to his (or her) own.

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  2. Magnificent image, you got such a perfect reflection.The bridge is beautiful, a romantic place!
    Léia

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  3. The thumbnail of this beautiful shot caught my eye in my reader and I had to come over to see it. Simply gorgeous and great capture of a moment.

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  4. A simple bridge made BIGtime in this photo.

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  5. Lovely. The touch of mist is mysterious.

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  6. I am agreeing with Lydia above. The thumbnail really does your photograph justice and I certainly wasn't disappointed when I saw the enlarged shot. Lovely, Chrissy.

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  7. Absolutely stunning, Chrissy! I also love the connection to the Kafka short story. I hadn't thought of that in years! Perfect for this photo!

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  8. The mist under the bridge gives quite an atmosphere to the picture.

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  9. Oh, your bridge is so joyful... standing proudly in the sun, perfectly reflected. What a contrast to Kafka's bridge's sad demise! :-)

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  10. Daresbury makes me think of Alice rather than Kafka but why not? Dodgson was a mathemetician and in touch with symettry as well as illusion and allusion.

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  11. This is really nice Chrissy. I have been enjoying London a lot! Thank you for your comments.

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  12. Very impressive. I was amazed when I saw the perfect circle.

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  13. Worth getting up early for this one Chrissy, great shot!

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  14. I love mist on the water in the morning. Lovely shot!

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  15. Wow - what a post! Picture & literature are wonderful!

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