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eliyyxy's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
velatrix's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
5.0
juliaellie's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
ruth_joy's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
3.5
I am glad I realised before I started that this book wasn't actually ever finished - that helped me sick with it more. It was a bit disjointed at times, which I suppose adds to the overall sense of confusion.
I really didn't like the main character and couldn't help but feel he had what was coming to him - I would have found it a much more disturbing read if he had been relatable or admirable.
I really didn't like the main character and couldn't help but feel he had what was coming to him - I would have found it a much more disturbing read if he had been relatable or admirable.
luism's review
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? Yes
4.0
stelhan's review against another edition
3.0
I’m Autistic so the events of this book are literally an every day experience. I love how horrified allistics are by the events in it though - it makes me laugh.
ripangelica's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
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.