The Trial is Franz Kafa’s novel originally published posthumously in 1925. The book tells of Josef K who is accused of a crime by two government men who appear in his rooming house one morning, the crime is never revealed. Josef then meets several people who appear in his life to help but he never gets anywhere, never fully understands what he’s been accused of or how to clear his name.
The Kafka world in The Trial is a dream like fog. It always seems dark, everything happens in the shadows. Confusing scenes of going to court located in an apartment, being let in by a woman who is not part of the court. Towards the end of the novel, he visits a church and is lectured by the priest who knows all about him and his case. The man who he was supposed meet there never appears. The surreal story illustrates the red tape of bureaucracy, the facelessness of the system, not knowing who to talk to. A century later, The Trial is still an intriguing read, one where very little is ever truly revealed.
8/10
The Light Appears 