The Trial

Une mise en abîme d'une absurdité administrative de haut vol. Du jour au lendemain Josef K. se retrouve accusé d'une faute dont il ne sait même pas la contenance et confronté un procès qui s'enfonce à chaque pas de plus en plus dans l'absurde.

On sent dans tout le récit l'impuissance terrible d'un homme pris dans une machine administrative monstrueuse dont il ne peut appréhender absolument rien. Au travers du récit, on peut entrevoir une critique de beaucoup de systèmes politiques totalitaires, capables de soudainement priver un homme de toute liberté sans jamais avoir à se justifier, mais aussi une métaphore parfois religieuse d'un homme coincé dans un Purgatoire à chercher en vain une faute qu'il n'a pas commise. Mais aussi une ironie cinglante destinée aux pontes enjolivant le vide de grands mots et d'immenses tournures pour faire croire à la contenance et à leur propre importance.

Ou simplement une démonstration par l'absurde de la violence de certaines administrations ne fonctionnant que pour et par elles mêmes, totalement indifférentes au sort des innocents pris dans leurs rouages.

(strong 8/10)
What can be said about this novel that hasn't been said already? I am ashamed to say that the first time I heard about Kafka was through Murakami (Kafka On The Shore) and not due to any of his hitherto unknown literary accomplishments. We had a copy in our family since decades – so naturally one day the urge struck me to pick it up, and I did.

The Trial is quite the surreal novel, truth be told. We are told that there is a person called Josef K., who is arrested for no apparent reason at all – he is a pretentious banker and is quite a vapid person – but one who has committed no wrong. When does his case start? Why is he presumed guilty in the first place? When will his ‘advocate' actually start doing work? Above all, does the work he's doing for the case have any influence on the outcome? Or is this work all just for nothing?

This novel is eerily reminiscent of today's convoluted legal system, what with its endless hierarchy, siloization, the ‘guilty-until-presumed-innocence', show trials, and little to no effect of evidence on the case. In one scene, Josef meets a fellow client of his advocate – who is made to sleep in the attic of his advocate's house and forced to read Latin – in order to ‘appreciate what the advocate is doing for his client'. It is utterly depressing to wade through, all the more so when you realize that it has been more than a century since the novel was penned – and all the obstacles to justice are still there, as it is.

While somewhat slow at parts, and not at all helped by the confusing and abrupt ending (from which various conclusions can be drawn, none of them clearing your confusion in the least), The Trial is a masterpiece which has to be read to be believed.

Editor : So Franz, How how difficult should this book be to read?

Franz : Yes

Was reading this book easy?
Lol. Nope.

Nonetheless, I was a little familiar with his writing style from reading the metamorphosis, earlier in the year.
But this? Damn!
Felt like it dragged on for ages, despite having 250 pages.
Maybe its because of the fact that the readers aren't being told what the protagonist was being accused of. Maybe to make us understand the perspective of the protagonist? The frustration?
We'll never know.

This book really tested my will power. There were times during reading this book, that I would get physically repulsed. Then again, that could be because of the crowded train journey.

You know how, when you're reading some difficult text, and the environment in which you're reading it doesn't make the job any easier? Yeah, perhaps I need to read this again in a calmer setting. Just to get tortured again? Sure.

Sorry, but not reading another Kafka book, ever.

Thought about giving this 4 stars because it's unfinished. But the fact that it's unfinished didn't detract from my enjoyment... and I don't think it detracted from the meaning either. It was a near perfect book and the only thing I thought about it being unfinished after I read the last page was “I can only imagine how incredible this book would be had he finished it.”

It was bizarre. So much of this flew way over my head (I've been a bit of an unfocused reader recently).

That said, I'm really glad I read this. Kafka paints with such a complexity of greys - it felt like Camus at times, and then like Bulgakov at others. Some beautifully written scenes (the painter, the church).

It's nice to read some other reviews where people were saying that they too thought they knew what was going on and then it was like the book was saying ‘you know nothing' and realise we're all in the same boat.

Thanks Franz