Franz Kafka's A Country Doctor is a collection of short stories that feel like dreams you can't shake. The title story, and many others here, drop you into situations that start just on the wrong side of normal and then spiral into the deeply strange.

The Story

In A Country Doctor, a doctor needs to reach a gravely ill patient ten miles away on a brutal winter night. With his horse dead, he's stranded. Out of nowhere, a groom and two colossal horses erupt from a long-abandoned pigsty. They get him there in an instant, but the groom stays behind, threatening the doctor's maid. The patient, a young boy, has a wound that shouldn't exist. The villagers strip the doctor and force him into bed with the boy in a bizarre ritual. All the while, the doctor is haunted by the knowledge of what's happening back at his home. He's trapped, racing against a clock that makes no sense, trying to fulfill a duty that feels meaningless.

Why You Should Read It

This isn't a book you read for a tidy plot. You read it for the feeling. Kafka captures that specific anxiety of modern life better than anyone: the frustration of systems that don't work, the guilt of failing responsibilities you never asked for, and the eerie sense that the world operates on rules you'll never understand. The characters aren't people you get to know; they're vehicles for this profound unease. You don't just watch the country doctor—you feel his helpless panic. It's like the literary version of that dream where you're trying to run but your legs won't move.

Final Verdict

This book is perfect for anyone who likes their fiction to leave a mark. If you enjoy stories that are puzzling, atmospheric, and a little bit haunting, this is for you. It's also great for busy readers because you can consume these bizarre little tales in bite-sized pieces. Don't go in looking for answers or happy endings. Go in ready to be unsettled, to sit with the weirdness, and to recognize a piece of your own hidden frustrations in the doctor's impossible night. It's a classic for a reason—it sticks with you.