I’ve been waiting to read this book for a fairly long time, but haven’t stumbled across it at a used bookstore. I thought to myself that perhaps this is a good sign since people must be keeping their copies, right? So I finally buckled down and bought a version off of amazon to get my shipment up to the price so that I didn’t have to pay shipping (Work the system). The book came and it was 165 pages so I thought: This will be done in 3 days. Oh, was I wrong. This novel is dense! And I’m a person who loves Tolstoy, so you know this is saying something. It took me about 10 days to finish, and at the end I had lots of questions, comments, and thoughts concerning the material.

The Trial concerns a young man named K. who is accused of committing a crime and tells the tale of his accusations to judgement to journey through the courts system. Along the year long journey, he converses with varying people, those outside of the court system, and those deep within it. I would have to say that the exploration of characters that Kafka illustrates throughout his plot was my favorite part. Specifically, I loved the second to last chapter, in which K goes to a cathedral and has a conversation with a priest. The conversation is extremely interesting and the symbolism within each discussion topic that K and the priest talk about is eye-opening. Honestly, I did not understand the plot until I read the Cathedral scene. This was in a way the “ah-hah” moment in which I realized the demons that K was battling. The scene put the whole novel into perspective.

Now, I will say that this is the second Kafka book that I have read which I had to follow it with the spark notes version. I haven’t taken an English class is a while so choosing themes, symbols, and literary tools like that is a bit rusty to me; moreover, the last thing I want to do with a book I enjoy is dissect it. I want to enjoy what’s put in front of me. Kafka uses literary devices heavily, some extremely noticeable like the Cathedral scene, and some not to such a great extent. One item Spark Notes pointed out was the ending of the novel, in which the end is drastic and not drawn out as in the rest of the plot. Many of the sequences, Kafka drones on and on about settings, K’s thoughts that are completely different from the discussion topic, or description of settings. So, given this is stylistically Kafka’s intent throughout the novel, one would expect that the ending would also be slow and drawn out. But in reality, it’s one of the shortest chapters and quickly **Spoiler Alert** K is killed by henchmen by a knife to the heart. K’s stabbed, then dies, and the story ends. How about that for symbolism?!

Overall, it’s one of those books I feel like everyone should read. Some will like it more than others, but that’s the beauty of literature. I think if I was 16 reading it, I would have hated it, but I did enjoy it now. One can see the flaws in K’s systems, some perpetuated in today’s society, and others wouldn’t even have a chance at being present in today’s Courtrooms. Yet, this piece was written in a different time and era where perhaps some of these things were done. Or perhaps people feared some of these actions and Kafka made it noticeable. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a huge fan of the Courts but I do feel if there is an awakening that happens, that would really help the people identify where improvements can be made.