bab reviewed Trial by Franz Kafka
Review of 'Trial' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
What the fuck
hardcover, 296 pages
Published Oct. 6, 2020 by Macmillan Collector's Library.
The Trial
by Franz Kafka
4 stars
(9 reviews)
The Trial (German: Der Process) is a novel by Franz Kafka about a character named Josef K., who awakens one morning and, for reasons never revealed, is arrested and prosecuted for an unspecified crime. According to Kafka's friend Max Brod, the author never finished the novel and wrote in his will that it was to be destroyed. After his death, Brod went against Kafka's wishes and edited The Trial into what he felt was a coherent novel and had it published in 1925.
DaveNash3 reviewed Trial by Franz Kafka
Review of 'Trial' on 'Storygraph'
4 stars
There are at least 2 levels that you can read this Trial. First it is an absurd satire of bureaucratic legal system. Not so interesting. Second it is about guilt. Guilt of religious nature. K is guilty of what he doesn't know. So how can he prove or atone? The guilt/trial overtakes his whole life.
The best chapter is Cathedral, the penultimate chapter. I understand that much of this is Jewish theology/morality/pessimism and it's ironic to use a christian cathedral and Crucifixes - an atonement and hope.
Not sure if it was the old translation, but I felt like I was reading a children's version of a classic. The characters were 2D. It was a dry read and a turnoff. However, I will go over the conversation K has with the priest. I guess the rest is necessary to build to that. The novel was unfinished so with that in …
There are at least 2 levels that you can read this Trial. First it is an absurd satire of bureaucratic legal system. Not so interesting. Second it is about guilt. Guilt of religious nature. K is guilty of what he doesn't know. So how can he prove or atone? The guilt/trial overtakes his whole life.
The best chapter is Cathedral, the penultimate chapter. I understand that much of this is Jewish theology/morality/pessimism and it's ironic to use a christian cathedral and Crucifixes - an atonement and hope.
Not sure if it was the old translation, but I felt like I was reading a children's version of a classic. The characters were 2D. It was a dry read and a turnoff. However, I will go over the conversation K has with the priest. I guess the rest is necessary to build to that. The novel was unfinished so with that in mind the end wasn't that bad.
