The Trial

I’ve only read a little Kafka—if you study German in college, like I did, you can’t help but read him—but the combination of our recent trip to Prague and the frequent references to him in Jane Smiley’s 13 Ways of Looking at the Novel bumped him up my TBR. One day Josef K. is a respectable banker. The next he is arrested for reasons he’s never given. He’s imprisoned and awaits a trial that may never come. We are plunged into his existential dread as Kafka shows the inhumanity of totalitarianism. Kafka’s known for his insightful yet absurdist commentary on modern life; I’ve heard The Trial is emblematic of his mature work.