The Trial Paperback – October 14, 2020

Back in university, I had a part-time job at a research center. It was nothing glamorous: I conducted surveys over the phone. Some studies were nation-wide, others were only in Long Island. A few were directed towards small businesses. There I would sit in my little half-cubicle, with a headset on, manipulating a multiple-choice click screen.During the small business studies, a definite pattern would emerge. I would call, spend a few minutes navigating the badly recorded voice menu, and then reach a secretary. Then my menu instructed me to ask for the president, vice-president, or manager. “Oh, sure,” the receptionist would say, “regarding?” I would explain that I was conducting a study. “Oh…” their voice would trail off, “let me check if he’s here.” Then would follow three to five minutes of being on hold. Finally, she would pick up: “Sorry, he’s out of the office.” “When will he be back?” would be my next question. “I’m not sure…” “Okay, I’ll call back tomorrow,” I would say, and the call would end.Now imagine this process repeating again and again. As the study went on, I would be returning calls to dozens of small businesses where the owners were always mysteriously away. I had no choice what to say—it was all on the menu—and no choice who to call—the computer did that. By the end, I felt like I was getting to know some of these secretaries. They would recognize my voice, and their announcement of the boss’s absence would be given with a strain of annoyance, or exhaustion, or pity. I would grow adept at navigating particular voice menus, and remembered the particular sounds of being on hold at certain businesses. It was strait out of this novel.When I picked up The Trial, I was expecting it to be great. I had read Kafka’s short stories—many times, actually—and he has long been one of my favorite writers. But by no means did I expect to be so disturbed. Maybe it was because I was groggy, because I hadn’t eaten yet, or because I was on a train surrounded by strangers. But by the time I reached my destination, I was completely unnerved. For a few moments, I even managed to convince myself that this actually was a nightmare. No book could do this.What will follow in this already-too-long review will be some interpretation and analysis. But it should be remarked that, whatever conclusions you or I may draw, interpretation is a second-level activity. In Kafka's own words: “You shouldn’t pay too much attention to people’s opinions. The text cannot be altered, and the various opinions are often no more than an expression of despair over it.” Attempts to understand Kafka should not entail a rationalizing away of his power. This is a constant danger in literary criticism, where the words sit mutely on the page, and passages can be pasted together at the analyst’s behest. This is mere illusion. If someone were to tell you that Picasso’s Guernica is about the Spanish Civil War, you may appreciate the information; but by no means should this information come between you and the visceral experience of standing in front of the painting. Just so with literature.To repeat something that I once remarked of Dostoyevsky, Kafka is a great writer, but a bad novelist. His books do not have even remotely believable characters, character development, or a plot in any traditional sense. Placing The Trial alongside Jane Eyre or Lolita will make this abundantly clear. Rather, Kafka's stories are somewhere in-between dream and allegory. Symbolism is heavy, and Kafka seems to be more intent on establishing a particular visceral feeling than in telling a story. The characters are tools, not peopleSo the question naturally arises: what does the story represent? Like any good work of art, any strict, one-sided reading is insufficient. Great art is multivalent—it means different things to different people. The Trial may have meant only one thing to Kafka (I doubt it), but once a book (or symphony, or painting) is out in the world, all bets are off.The broadest possible interpretation of The Trial is as an allegory of life. And isn’t this exactly what happens? You wake up one day, someone announces that you’re alive. But no one seems to be able to tell you why or how or what for. You don’t know when it will end or what you should do about it. You try to ignore the question, but the more you evade it, the more it comes back to haunt you. You ask your friends for advice. They tell you that they don’t really know, but you’d better hire a lawyer. Then you die like a dog.Another interpretation is based on Freud. Extraordinary feelings of guilt is characteristic of Kafka’s work, and several of his short stories (“The Judgment,” “The Metamorphosis”) portray Kafka’s own unhealthy relationship with his father. Moreover, the nightmarish, nonsensical quality of his books, and his fascination with symbols and allegories, cannot help but remind one of Freud’s work on dreams. If I was a proper Freudian, I would say that The Trial is an expression of Kafka’s extraordinary guilt at his patricidal fantasies.A different take would group this book along with Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 as a satire of bureaucracy. And, in the right light, parts of this book are hilarious. Kafka’s humor is right on. He perfectly captures the inefficiency of organizations in helping you, but their horrifying efficiency when screwing you over. And as my experience in phone surveys goes to show, this is more relevant than ever.If we dip into Kafka’s biography, we can read this book as a depiction of the anguish caused by his relationship with Felice Bauer. (For those who don’t know, Kafka was engaged with her twice, and twice broke it off. Imagine dating Kafka. Poor woman.) This would explain the odd current of sexuality that undergirds this novel.Here is one idea that I’ve been playing with. I can’t help but see The Trial as a response to Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment. As their names suggest, they deal with similar themes: guilt, depression, alienation, the legal system, etc. But they couldn’t end more differently. Mulling this over, I was considering whether this had anything to do with the respective faiths of their authors. Dostoyevsky found Jesus during his imprisonment, and never turned back. His novels, however dark, always offer a glimmer of the hope of salvation. Of course, Kafka’s universe is devoid of hope. Kafka was from a Jewish family, and was interested in Judaism throughout his life. Is this book Crime and Punishment without a Messiah?I can go on and on, but I’ll leave it at that. There can be no one answer, and the book will mean something different to all who read it. And what does that say about Kafka?

I decided to give this classic a read given my interest overall in the Everyman's Library collection. These books come with an insightful introduction (which you are really going to find helpful with Kafka), as well as a biographical timeline of the author's life and work. In short, you get a handsome and durable hardcover edition - at the same time you get the information to have the work and the author's inspiration for the work placed into a broader context. If you're going to read something, buy a nice quality edition like this and learn a little along the way.I'll warn you right now - Kafka's not an easy read, and you don't get a Deep Literature merit badge or anything for gutting it out through this book. There are parts that are insightful, parts that are weird, parts that are downright boring. But if you have to pick a Kafka novel this is actually a great place to start - the plot is pretty understandable, the feelings are relatable for those who have to deal with bureaucratic absurdity and frustration on a daily basis, the book is not all that long. You will definitely find the introduction to be helpful in explaining Kafka and his writing style, which will help you here as you wade into the shallow end of this particular author, so I'd strongly endorse this Everyman's Library hardcover edition.

This has got to be one of the strangest books I've ever read. Is it a bad dream or is it the angst we all feel over our misdeeds. There were times I wanted to stop reading because it didn't seem to make sense. Now I'm quite sure it is not supposed to make sense. I'm not sure I would recommend this book to anyone a although the writing has a certain sort of genius to it. The book certainly evokes a number of feelings we don't normally like feeling.

Excellent, easy read. Very philosophical and thought provoking. I got the book after seeing the movie on TCM. Then, after reading the book I had to see the movie again -- got it here on Amazon. Both the book and the movie leave you with many unanswered questions, but that seems to be the case after doing some research on the net. Looks like there are as many interpretations of this book as there are people on the planet. And, FYI, one of the chapters is unfinished and Orson Welles changed the end of the book in the movie, although the book and the movie compliment each other very well. I recommend both together and the order you enjoy them won't make a difference. Oh, yes. the punctuation is horrible. Dialogue is not separated into paragraphs and the main character, K., is always followed by a period so while you may think you are at the end of a sentence you are probably not. While this can be a bit confusing it's not that hard to negotiate.

beklendiği gibi

He makes you think. It might not be his intention but that's the effect I have from a piece that should have never been seen.

Era un regalo y le encantó. Llegó en perfecto estado.

The product came as it was, the pages are good and so is the print. The last page was slightly ripped at the center but perfectly intact, which was okay for me, plus I didn't want to wait more to read it.Kafka's The trial is a story of a man named Joseph K who is waiting for a judgement. The judgment which he is unaware of, he doesn't knows why he has to for through it, he keeps wanting for the trial to be over throughout the story.Alber Camus said about Kafka's work "It is the fate and perhaps the greatest of this work that offers everything and confirm nothing.”This book goes through the similar Metamorphosis.

It is not necessary to accept everything as true, one must only accept it as necessaryNothing speaks a more profound truth than a pristine metaphor…Funny, us, worming through the world ascribing meaning, logic and order to the dumb, blind forces of void. It’s all one can do to maintain sanity in the absurd reality of existence, but what is it worth? Are we trees in gale force winds fighting back with fists we do not possess? Is life the love of a cold, cruel former lover bating us on while only concerned with themselves? What use is logic in an illogical prison where the opinion of the masses reigns supreme? Franz Kafka’s The Trial is the world we all live in, unlocked through layers of allegory to expose the beast hidden from plain sight. On the surface it is an exquisite examination of bureaucracy and bourgeoisie with a Law system so complex and far-reaching that even key members are unable to unravel it’s complicated clockwork. However, this story of a trial—one that never occurs other than an arrest and a solitary conference that goes nowhere—over an unmentioned crime serves as a brutal allegory for our existence within a judgemental societal paradigm under the watch of a God who dishes out hellfire to the guilty. This is a world where man’s noose is only a doorway. The Trial is not for the faint of heart or fragile psyche yet, while the bleakness is laid on thick, it is also permeated with a marvelous sense of humor and a fluid prose that keeps the pages flipping and the reading hours pushing forward towards dawn. This is a dark comedy of the human comedy, full of the freeing chortles of gallow humor. Kafka’s nightmarish vision is the heartbeat of our own existence, chronicling the frustrations of futility when applying logic to the reality of the absurd, yet factual, nature of life.Someone must have slandered Josef K., for one morning, without having done anything wrong, he was arrested.Seriously this is a book everyone should read. It teaches us about life in so many ways!