Franz Kafka died about a year-and-a-half before even the forerunner to RTÉ aired its first broadcast in Athlone.
But his writing appears to have laid the template for the way at least some decisions were made in RTÉ in the years that followed.
In his novel The Castle, the central character K finds himself adrift in a confusing place where there are official decisions, and non-official ones, along with written decisions and non-written ones.
Multiple inquiries are always at work in an "administrative apparatus" that could take years to make a call on something, or do so in a flash.
It's fair to say Kafka's invented world was a confusing one, and that was the word the normally unflaggingly certain Alan Kelly used to sum-up this controversy this morning.
After three weeks of explanations, he confessed to "being more confused than ever".
The questions are clear enough though and chief among them is: will Ryan Tubridy return to RTÉ?
On the last day of the Dáil term, politicians want to know will he be back on the radio before the House returns in September?
Director General Kevin Bakhurst will take some time, but not a very long time, to decide.
He will, he says, do what is best for the licence payer and RTÉ, and will talk to "senior people" in radio before making his decision.
There has been no contact between RTÉ and Ryan Tubridy since the presenter spoke in Leinster House on Tuesday about "seven mistruths".
But his latest invoice remains unpaid and the legal opinion in RTÉ is that, as things stand, he is out of contract.
That would suggest the pathway to any reconciliation is far from smooth right now.
There is that offer by Ryan Tubridy to pay back €150,000, which is something Kevin Bakhurst said he would welcome.
He pointed out that while it is not legally required there are "moral" considerations here too.
That seems to be a clear hint that the money must be handed over if a return to the airwaves is to materalise.
The words exchanged between Ryan Tubridy's side and RTÉ have unquestionably been quarrelsome in recent days.
Noel Kelly spoke of "a lot of lies" earlier in the week and today RTÉ's Interim Deputy Director General Adrian Lynch ferociously contested this.
He argues that Ryan Tubridy would not have signed his main RTÉ TV and radio contract in 2020 if the side agreement with Renault was not in place.
Plus he stated that Noel Kelly pursued payments of €150,000 from RTÉ, when he knew the Renault contract was no longer in place, thus RTÉ would have to pay the money.
Adrian Lynch would go on to reveal an email from 25 April 2022 where Noel Kelly asked Dee Forbes to "get Ger (Geraldine O'Leary, former Director of Commercial) to send me on the invoicing details".
Sometime later, two invoices worth €75,000 each and marked as 'consultancy fees', were paid via the barter account to Noel Kelly's CMS company.
That direct contact with Dee Forbes is interesting, because Noel Kelly did suggest on Tuesday that he would typically only have spoken to her surrounded by legal and finance people.
That all suggests something of a chasm exists between Ryan Tubridy and the new RTÉ "leadership team".
Despite the obvious rancour that is in the air now, a new slimmed-down contract for Ryan Tubridy and a return to his radio job is uncertain but not impossible.
But this saga is never without its sudden twists and the committee heard there are still "gaps in evidence and missing testimony".
After three weeks, it's all awkwardly inconclusive.
