Wednesday 16 January 2019

Review of 'The Trial' by Franz Kafka

Review of 'The Trial' by Frank Kafka

Kafka is an author I really struggle with, but I think that's part of the aura of his works (right?). I first came across his work when I had to read The Metamorphosis in my first year at uni. It was nightmarish and pretty horrifying, BUT, has stuck in my mind so well that I can still imagine a cockroach-esque man chilling (fretting) in his bedroom. 

The Trial wasn't any more comforting, or easy to get through. But, it was a true modernist novel, and it was something that I imagine could have been written today, or any other time in history. The fact that it almost sat outside of my own concept of time made it simultaneously excellent and even more confusing.

The Trial commences with Josef K. being arrested on his thirtieth birthday, despite having done nothing wrong. The book then follows his case both in and outside of the courthouse, exploring how the justice system works (or doesn't). As the book goes on and Josef panics more, it gets more convoluted until we are in a nightmarish state of reality, trapped in maze-like buildings and plot lines that trail off into oblivion. The prosecutor for the case is inaccessible both to the reader and Josef, creating an omniscient power that can't be touched.

Although I found it tough to get through, I am glad I read this. I've been making my (slow) way through a number of European classic novels over the past few months, and it's interesting to see how things progressed to a place where Kafka can write something like this. He absolutely nailed writing as though you're in a nightmare: you know the ones where you're in a building you open a door and wow all of a sudden you're walking into a meadow where a living room should have been? Those kind of twisted, vivid dreams are kind of what the book feels most like for me. 

Looking back over the book, one thing that really stands out is that this could describe a modern trial, where the prosecutor has almost become an overpowering and invisible figure through the media. Big trials invade every aspect of the defendant's life, and every single act is scrutinised by hundreds of people before the defendant is anywhere near a court.

If you've read and enjoyed any of Kafka's short stories, or any of James Joyce's works, then I would definitely recommend reading this as a foundational work.

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