The Trial by Franz Kafka Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Trial
Book Review: the system sucks
Summary: 5 Stars
A must read for anyone that's had to deal with (DA's and defense) lawyers concerned more about their paycheck than actually implementing justice. The (Hapsburg?) machine Kafka describes is still in effect today: an assembly line mentality towards the accused, where their rights get whittled away in passive aggressive fashion. In The Castle, K is trying to make his way INTO society. In The Trial, he's being kicked in the opposite direction, OUT, the govt officials are attempting to dump him and flush him. A great anti-establishment novel. Very funny, very entertaining.Book Review: very antiestablishment
Summary: 5 Stars
One morning you wake up to discover something very strange. You find strange men in your room who've come to arrest you. The men procede to interrogate you and give no information on the reason you've been arrested and bound for trial. This is what happens to the protagonist (Josef K.) of this novel. The best way to read this novel is to put yourself into the shoes of Josef K., not just an observer. Otherwise, the story may very well frustrate you to the point where you will not finish. The paragraphs are extremely long; one of the longest paragraphs is about 11.5 pages. The book focuses on Josef K. who is on a qwest to understand his situation properly. In his qwest, he has a few love interests but they are all met with frustration and despair much like everything else he tries. The more K. tries to understand and probe for information, the more he becomes tangled up in a senseless bureaucracy. For most of the book, K. is very calm and collected. He stays calm under situations that would cause most people to lose their patience and give up. Although some frustation in reading this novel is natural, one's focus is always better when calm. So it will behoove one to take a break from reading and come back later if frustration becomes too great.
Book Review: why to buy THE TRIAL
Summary: 5 Stars
I had read a lot of Kafka's short stories, but THE TRIAL was the first of his books I tackled. I just recently finished it, and I've been laying awake at night contemplating it ever since. If there's supposed to be any deep philosophical meaning to the book, I guess I just don't see it. I think Kafka writes about his own life and feelings in a symbolic way, and that's what the novel really is, a metaphor.The novel starts out slow, the first hundred pages are kind of boring. But when the story's protagonist, K., starts really learning about the court he must fight his legal battle against, the novel gets intense. Of course, the more K. (and the reader) learn about the case, the more hopeless it seems.
THE TRIAL is like "1984" with the strangeness of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". The court K. must face is supreme and untouchable, and the only way to avoid condemnation is to stay on the good side of the perverse, unjust, yet powerful judges. If you're able to put yourself in K.'s position while reading this book, you'll find it extremely frightening.
This book gets five stars because of how well it creates an engaging world where there is no hope of salvation, and that's the most terrifying thing ever.
Book Review: ~ * ° * ~
Summary: 5 Stars
usually, i come to amazon.com to look up books and read people's reviews for them. this was the case before i picked _the trial_ by kafka.
i think the disparity in the reviews is what drew me to the book.. and now, i must say, it's utterly beautiful.
the story itself is summed up within a parable in the story--which i mention only because it adds to the overall brilliance..
the story pulls you in so deep that you become the main character--K.--however, as you will find out when you read it (because i KNOW you will--you MUST), kafka writes his novels with only himself in mind, so K. is kafka. you become K. .. you become kafka.
out of all the books i've read, this is one of the few that forces the reader to see the writer's world by trapping him in the writer's vortex.
see if you can get out.