The Trial

A man is arrested without explanation and must navigate a bewildering legal system to clear his name.

3.9/5 Goodreads · 415,678 ratings

276 pages

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Bookroo's summary

Josef K., a bank officer, finds his life upended when he's arrested without explanation. As he struggles to understand the charges against him, he becomes entangled in a surreal and oppressive legal system. With no information and mounting paranoia, Josef's quest for justice becomes a nightmarish journey through the absurdities of bureaucracy. Will he uncover the truth, or is he doomed to be crushed by the very system meant to protect him? Kafka's haunting tale explores the chilling power of authority and the individual's fight for clarity in a world devoid of reason.

From the publisher

Written in 1914, The Trial is one of the most important novels of the twentieth century: the terrifying tale of Josef K., a respectable bank officer who is suddenly and inexplicably arrested and must defend himself against a charge about which he can get no information. Whether read as an existential tale, a parable, or a prophecy of the excesses of modern bureaucracy wedded to the madness of totalitarianism, Kafka’s nightmare has resonated with chilling truth for generations of readers. This new edition is based upon the work of an international team of experts who have restored the text, the sequence of chapters, and their division to create a version that is as close as possible to the way the author left it. In his brilliant translation, Breon Mitchell masterfully reproduces the distinctive poetics of Kafka’s prose, revealing a novel that is as full of energy and power as it was when it was first written.

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