A review by sonnetson
The Trial: A New Translation Based on the Restored Text by Franz Kafka

challenging dark funny mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

4.25

It's incredible what Kafka was able to pull off in these unfinished novels. His imaginative capacity is unreal, as is his ability to pinpoint existential terror without directly comment on it. There's something poetic and dreamlike about the worlds Kafka constructs and the characters he pushes through them. Everyone seems to understand what is going on except for K. and the reader—even if what is understood is that it can't be understood. I think that's the brilliance of Kafka's novels, and The Trial in particular: he manages to graft the experience of the character exploring these impossible scenarios onto the reader. As K. searches, so do we.