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athousandgreatbooks's review against another edition
5.0
It would have been so pointless to kill himself that, even if he had wanted to, the pointlessness would have made him unable.
Joseph K., a respectable bank officer, is one day suddenly and inexplicably arrested. He is called to defend himself against a charge about which he can get no information. The arrest itself is of a dubious nature for he is allowed to walk freely but is required to attend the proceedings of his trial whenever summoned.
Along the way, he meets people who too have been accused as he and, from them, pieces together whatever information he can get about the workings of the Courts of Law. Everyone he meets seems to know something about these Courts, and of the Judges that preside there. But the labyrinthine proceedings of his trial, the interminable hierarchies of the Courts, and the vague workings of the Law betray nothing of how he, or anyone once accused, could be acquitted. There is neither escape nor any reprieve for the accused and, because he is unable to prove his innocence to the unknown charge, he is pulled to his case by an inner sense of perceived guilt.
The Trial is a terrifying tale of the horrors of modern bureaucracy and existential despair, its nightmarish vision laid out in a narrative with no clear beginning, middle, or end, with long-winded and extremely vivid descriptions that lock the reader’s theater of imagination to the anxiety and dread that they evoke. Indeed, the novel could go on and on and was given an ending only for a sense of closure, nothing more.
The truncated ending is a little unfortunate but I don’t see how else it could have terminated, given the theme and structure of the story. I am at least glad that the manuscript of the Trial was not burnt as was requested by Kafka before his death, and we have with us his mad, unrelenting genius.
Joseph K., a respectable bank officer, is one day suddenly and inexplicably arrested. He is called to defend himself against a charge about which he can get no information. The arrest itself is of a dubious nature for he is allowed to walk freely but is required to attend the proceedings of his trial whenever summoned.
Along the way, he meets people who too have been accused as he and, from them, pieces together whatever information he can get about the workings of the Courts of Law. Everyone he meets seems to know something about these Courts, and of the Judges that preside there. But the labyrinthine proceedings of his trial, the interminable hierarchies of the Courts, and the vague workings of the Law betray nothing of how he, or anyone once accused, could be acquitted. There is neither escape nor any reprieve for the accused and, because he is unable to prove his innocence to the unknown charge, he is pulled to his case by an inner sense of perceived guilt.
The Trial is a terrifying tale of the horrors of modern bureaucracy and existential despair, its nightmarish vision laid out in a narrative with no clear beginning, middle, or end, with long-winded and extremely vivid descriptions that lock the reader’s theater of imagination to the anxiety and dread that they evoke. Indeed, the novel could go on and on and was given an ending only for a sense of closure, nothing more.
The truncated ending is a little unfortunate but I don’t see how else it could have terminated, given the theme and structure of the story. I am at least glad that the manuscript of the Trial was not burnt as was requested by Kafka before his death, and we have with us his mad, unrelenting genius.
dorotkacita's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
i didn't really enjoy it ngl but it's deep
valeatsbooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
gabigabica's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
ahmed_suliman's review against another edition
1.0
A book I can recommend to my worst enemy.
I'm totally against the Author's absurd attempt to portray life as a trial, presence is punishment and the end is execution, Like there's nothing ever the man can live for. Indeed the Author's is the one who had executed himself. There are motives that a person must have, even if they are not by the order of religions, there are human motives, the connections between you and people around; families and friend, even strangers and nature. I remember the way Viktor Frankl used to manage his psycatrically ill patient in his book "A man's searching for a meaning" with helping them to think about their motives in life when he asks "Why you haven't commit a suicide till now?" and the motives are those who are the answers carry their names. even if it was oneself. otherwise he needs some medications to control his brain chemicals or electroconvulsive therapy not a Literary criticism. every breath in this life is a bless, and melancholy exaggeration does not make a philosopher from a man
I'm totally against the Author's absurd attempt to portray life as a trial, presence is punishment and the end is execution, Like there's nothing ever the man can live for. Indeed the Author's is the one who had executed himself. There are motives that a person must have, even if they are not by the order of religions, there are human motives, the connections between you and people around; families and friend, even strangers and nature. I remember the way Viktor Frankl used to manage his psycatrically ill patient in his book "A man's searching for a meaning" with helping them to think about their motives in life when he asks "Why you haven't commit a suicide till now?" and the motives are those who are the answers carry their names. even if it was oneself. otherwise he needs some medications to control his brain chemicals or electroconvulsive therapy not a Literary criticism. every breath in this life is a bless, and melancholy exaggeration does not make a philosopher from a man
elikat20's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
softmellow's review against another edition
2.0
surrealistic, dry and confusing. 2.5
Fangirled too hard on metamorphosis and although they're on the same vain of existentialism, this one felt like an endless nightmare.
Fangirled too hard on metamorphosis and although they're on the same vain of existentialism, this one felt like an endless nightmare.
connorofcameron's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Funny, how strange it is in parts. Not as good as the metamorphosis in my opinion but still pretty great
thesholmes's review against another edition
4.25
[To heckler] Hey, I don’t come down to where you work and expose the bureaucratic machine in which you’re embedded as the dehumanizing monolith it is.