Dhaka, June 15 -- Franz Kafka's Letter to the Father (1953) is one of the most harrowing pieces of introspection in the Western canon. Kafka wrote the letter in 1919, when he was 36 years old and his father, Hermann, was 65 years old. Kafka did not post the letter, nor did he intend to publish it. Franz was a sensitive child, whereas his father was a large, dominating, and successful man. The stage for conflict, misunderstanding, and trauma was set. The letter, we suspect, was not meant to be a literary achievement, but rather a kind of reckoning, the author's attempt to explain his suffering to himself. Any attempt to speculate any further about Kafka's intentions will likely remain fruitless. Was he looking to achieve catharsis, seek ve...