Reviews

The Trial by Franz Kafka

finlaycordiner's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

saulle's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

phenomal. the feeling of hopelesness is ubiquituous. it is so interesting to read a book that feels so relevant to what the world looks like nowadays

taschamay's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging slow-paced

3.0

Honestly think I am maybe not smart enough to fully understand this book

aidas's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

vikramx's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

I would presume this would be the book that literature scholars look back at , when the term “Kafkaseque” was coined - the story ( probably a dream I think ) of Josef K the protagonist of the novel is accused of a “crime” and under goes a “trail” by an outlandish “judiciary” system which begins to affect every aspect of his life and eventually taking over his life , so very agonizing and tortuously to his end .

I almost gave up in the middle , as it novel seems directionless and bizarre until you begins to peel the layers ; Kafka exposes the horrors of bureaucracy , red-tape involved behind monolithic top - down managerial structures inside organizations purely meant to break individualism & free spirit .

Another aspect which Kafka divulges deeply into is the nature of guilt , Josef even though innocent ( we don’t know what he’s guilty of in the first place ! ) , goes out of the way to try to clear himself . I believe this would be the standard but intriguing reaction when an average joe is vindicated by a people he knows ; logic goes out of the window , rather he tries to defend himself even though he knows that he’s innocent .

Reminds me one of Ayn Rand’s rather devious psychological machinations - how to convince your adversary that suicide is an virtue ( in this case using guilt ) .

bede03's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

l0nve's review against another edition

Go to review page

2.0

I'll be completely honest, I was looking forward to this read considering how the metamorphosis quickly became one of my favorites. However, The Trial felt slow and disappointing, the ending wasn't worth me pushing myself to finish the book. 2 stars because of the message it attempts to send, 2 stars because in my opinion, it wasn't delivered well enough.

blaxploitations's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

anthonysimon99's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

eb00kie's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Did it sap my will to live? Sure. Did it tap-dance over my East-European memories singing "why do you hit yourself"? Sure. Would it recommend it? If you haven't lived through post-communist cultures, this might be just dystopian rather than actually painful so - go for it.