Einstein in Kafkaland: How Albert Fell Down the Rabbit Hole and Came Up with the Universe

Einstein in Kafkaland: How Albert Fell Down the Rabbit Hole and Came Up with the Universe by Ken Krimstein

Based on the title alone, I wanted to love this graphic novel. Tying together Einstein and Kafka had a lot of potential. They both had lived in Prague around the same time. They were both Jews that revolutionized their fields despite spending times working in tedious jobs (insurance salesman or patent clerk.) The graphic novel didn't quite live up to its potential. It focussed on Einstein and how he further developed his theory of relativity while on sojourn in Prague in 1911. The area was part of the Austria-Hungarian empire at the time. There was an intellectual climate in place. Einstein had various foils that would help him refine his theories. He also had family challenges - they would much rather be back in Zurich. The book buts a lot of these things together, but does not quite deliver. It is a few isolated life vignettes that don't come together to form a complete narrative, nor completely show development of relativity. Kafka is there, but in a bit role. There is also the ghost of Euclid and a narrator skeleton. The illustration style is also a bit surrealistic. It just doesn't quite make it.