The Trial: Franz Kafka (Macmillan Collector's Library, 241) Hardcover – 1 Oct. 2020

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!

Going by the translations of the novel I have read so far (I have three translations of this great novel: the Wordsworth, the Oxford World's Classics and the original Muir translation) the Wordsworth is the most readable and up to date. I'd avoid the Oxford translation; I couldn't get through it. The fluency of the translation is of some importance. Compare the following same sentence as translated by each:1) K. was informed by telephone that next Sunday a short enquiry into his case would take place. (The Muirs)2) K. had been informed by telephone that a brief investigation into his case would be held the following Sunday. (John Williams, Wordsworth)3) K. had been informed by telephone that a short hearing IN HIS AFFAIR would take place the next Sunday. (Mike Mitchel, Oxford)The first two sentences work, the third is blunted by its clumsiness. Sentence version 3 is not idiomatic English, it sounds 'foreign', which can't be the intention.The Oxford version lacks an idiom .... Another example: "Some had brought cusions, which they placed on their heads so as not to hurt them as they pressed them against the ceiling." The reader needs to work out what these people are trying not to hurt - their heads or the cushions, so the joke is lost ... Kafka wanted a comic effect but this translation's vagueness dissipates it.I do not speak German nor have I the new penguin edition but the Oxford version stuggles to capture Kafka's grace and energy as a writer. The Williams version is the better of these two.

I felt very stressed reading this book. The trial seemed to go on forever but the ending still seemed so abrupt.

Present. Condition great, delivery efficient.

I studied Kafka's Metamorphosis at university and loved the concept and the writing, but had never read The Trial. I gave up a quarter of the way through, but tried again, only to have to give up for good half-way through, as it's just the dullest book I've ever read (and I've read a lot!). The story plods along page after page with no variety of pace or emotion. It's pages of boring descriptions and paragraphs that never seem to end, but also don't even manage to say anything at all! Joseph K is a terrible character and I couldn't warm to him or his 'trial' (whatever it was... we never find out as far as I can tell). He meets lots of other awful characters in depressing locations, none of whom we care about particularly. Perhaps I missed the whole point of the book (or perhaps not), but sadly this one wasn't for me. Luckily I'd got it for next to nothing on my Kindle.

I finished this book both wondering just what the hell I had read as well as also oddly craving more. Kafka creates a dark and absurd atmosphere that can be at sometimes confusing but also gripping. I became bogged down in lengthy descriptions of the details of jurisprudence but I think this is to add to the overall atmosphere of the book. I never felt compelled to stop reading this book but I imagine some may be but to them I say keep going! Overall it is very interesting, I haven't read many books like it and there were many elements that I adored. This being said, there were also others that I did not like that made me look forward to finishing the book (hence the 4 stars).

Poor version of the book. The quality is bad and the font is tiny.