Other stories by this author feature a torture machine that writes a prisoner's sentence on their skin and a man whose professional starving is no longer appreciated by the public.
This author claimed to be influenced by a life of Alexander the Great in which "crocodiles who with their urine burned down trees." In one story by this author, a doctor receives a horse from a mysterious groom and is instantly transported to the patient's courtyard. Other stories by this author feature a torture machine that writes a prisoner's sentence on their skin and a man whose professional starving is no longer appreciated by the public. His most famous story ends when its protagonist is killed by an apple which his father lodges in his thorax. For 10 points, name this German-language author who wrote "The Metamorphosis" and "The Trial."
This author claimed to be influenced by a life of Alexander the Great in which "crocodiles who with their urine burned down trees."
Franz Kafka