The Trial

Rating:
Summary: The crime is that of existence?
Review: One gets the sense that Kafka is struggling with himself. Joseph K. is the only plausible or realistic character in the book. Suppose that K. is Kafka's visible "reality". Now suppose, that the other characters in the book are not other people, but rather extensions of himself (in the surreal sense). He seems to be fighting the natural current that drags many of us into nothingness. K often gets overpowered by laziness and hopelessness, only to be dragged out by these very characters that he encounters. He never makes much progress though, and he always cycles back into hopelessness, until the point where he lets go, well depicted by the conclusion of the book. Some might argue that he retains a small glimmer of hope up until the bitter end.

The charge placed on K. is never known, but perhaps the only guilt that he faces is his very existence, which can only be properly sentenced by death. Like the surrealists that have followed, Kafka keeps a common composure in his writing, yet you can feel his pain and frustration as a man suffocated by the institutions that govern our lives and the loneliness that we feel in an otherwise crowded world.

I highly recommend this book, and I would describe it more as thought provoking, than I would morbid or depressing.

Rating:
Summary: Ahead of his time
Review: I marvel at this effort, because there is an apparent analogy to the forces of oppression and totalitarianism in the life of the protagonist, Josef K., yet this novel was written years before the evil regimes of this century. Kafka's Jewish heritage makes it even more striking, and even though many ethnic groups suffered incomprehensibly during this era, it's almost as if this is a prophetic work. It's interesting to note that there is not one character in the book who really has any ability to choose- even the artist, living in a small studio that one would picture an individual of passion and creativity, is relegated to painting court judges. This seems to me a great parallel to so much genius which must have been crushed by brutality and oppression.
In a distant way this book brings to mind "The Stranger" by Camus, as the protagonist in that story arguably has no control over his actions- they are totally dictated by circumstances beyond his control.
I found this a much easier read than "Metamorphosis", perhaps because of the science-fiction like aspect of that book. There are certain novels which just have that visceral effect for whatever reason, and this is one of them. If you're looking for a philosophical novel which deals with the "why are we here" (the oldest question in history), as well as practical criticisms of things such as the judicial system , politics, and goverment, then I would highly recommend "The Trial."

Rating:
Summary: Extremely thought provoking....
Review: I won't bore you with the details of the plot, but simply tell you that this book will leave you thinking well after you finish it. The utter finality of the proceedings that involve Mr. K evoke images of Camus, but Kafka writes human interaction so much better and really has a feel for the subtleties of conversation. Stick with The Trial and it will reward you, trust me.

Rating:
Summary: The Trial: Was it Worth the Time?
Review: This book was ok, it wasn't a book that I actually wanted to read but a book in which it felt like the dentist was pulling my teeth out very slowly. There is numerous reasons for this but the main reason is that this book does not really go into detail about anything. It is like skimming the top off of your head. You are just able to see the surface but it is impossible to see anything else. But on the other hand this book is great for group reading. The reason I say this is because this book leaves you hanging the entire time and if you were to read it alone you would have trouble understanding. Another reason why this book is good is because it really does make you think. If you were put in his shoes how would you take it. This book makes you think of those kinds of things instead of telling you plain and simple how it goes. Also this book by Franz is well written and the vocabulary is not at all hard to understand.
If you enjoy reading books just to read this is good for you but if you do not like to read or like books in which they tell you everything I recommend that you not read this book.

Rating:
Summary: Not exactly coherent
Review: Yes, it's Kafka, which is nice--he's fun to read. Still, you can tell that he didn't quite get this up to snuff; it's just hard to tell where he's going with everything. It seems like each chapter is a short story, and if you go into it like that, then you might be happy with the entirety. If you go into it like a novel, you won't be happy with the overall picture, themes, and the like--just not really there.

Rating:
Summary: The Trial
Review: The story follows the tale of Joseph K who is awaken on his thirtieth birthday to be accused of a crime that is never told to him. The law court that K goes to be interviewed is hidden in the middle of hoses. Other accused mend spend days awaiting at the law court offices and never get a chance to address their cases. The cases are passed from one unknown judge to another with out any progress to resolve the issue.
At first K is determined to fix the false accusations. With time he learns that he cannot beat the system and that all of the energy was a waste of time because is aware that K has been accused and he is alienated form his society.
It wrecks his life to the point that he can no longer work and brings his status in the community to the ground. As with time goes by he learns to live with the fact that he became like one of the other guys just waiting in the law court.
After his whole ordeal K still was not cleared form the false accusation that ruined his life. At the end of the novel K was killed but I was reminded on how the novel started. He is killed which happen to look like the two guys that started the novel and that arrested K in the begging of the story. The story is intriguing and quite interesting if you understand what is going on during the story.

Rating:
Summary: Not my cup of tea...
Review: I picked up this book on my travel through Latin-Amercia a few years ago. Left it with a friend, and just recently got it back. I had been looking forward to read it for a long time, but I was not at all impressed. "The Trial" is a book that was just that, a trial, and it gave me nothing but frustration. What saved me for feeling that it had been a total waste of time, was that Kafka have created some interesting characters and the, at times, beautiful language. The rest gave me grey hair.

Try something else of Kafka's work. Other novels must be better than this one.

Rating:
Summary: A ground breaker
Review: To think Kafka actually wanted this work, along with his other then unpublished works, to be burnt!
A brilliant book that drives you nuts, not only because the reader never finds out the charges against the protagonist Josef K, but also because you cannot escape the feeling that there's nobody to trust. In every step of the way, K finds that he is being lied to or he is being led on by the actions of others, carefully orchestrated to make him compromise his own case, & thus, his life. The setting doesn't help matters either: very surreal is the only way to put the world in which Josef K lives.
Yet, this surreal world is what reflects very accurately what goes on in this world. Who do you trust? When can you trust someone, if at all, if ever? Who's judging you? Why?
Brilliant, is the only way to put it.

Rating:
Summary: It's true
Review: At first, I didn't really understand this book. A man is on trial. What is he charged with? We do not know. Neither does Joseph K. Ludicrous plot, I thought.

Then it stuck me, that each of us face the same situation in our lives. We face many a trial on unspecified charges. The society is one crazy conglomoration of oddities that all seem to bear down on us. We can put up a valiant fight against it, but with one fell sweep, it is all over.

The Trial is an chilling reminder to us all that we live in a world where the currents of lunacy sweeps away even the sanest man.

The bottom line is, we are all guilty by default.

Rating:
Summary: Utterly dissappointing!
Review: Perhaps there is too much hype surrounding the genius of Franz Kafka. This book talks about a stupid idiotic eloquent guy named K. Situations as experienced by him, such as constantly keeping faithfully to appointments, when he should try to report to the police or run away or do something else just illustrates how incredible the story is.

...It's as absurd as you could get.

The style of publishing by Schocken Books is weird. No one arranges the dialoque like they do. Very difficult for readers.

All said, if you still think this book is worth a star - because it's FK, at least a credit for his efforts - go ahead and be sorely disappointed.