num_pages: 340
description: Written in 1914 but not published until 1925, a year after Kafka’s death, The Trial is 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, The Trial has resonated with chilling truth for generations of readers.
language: English
title: The Trial
titlecomplete: The Trial
characters: Franz, Albert K., Leni, Titorelli, Herr Huld, Fräulein Elsa, Rudi Block, Willem, Karl K., Erna K., Fräulein Bürstner, Frau Grubach, Josef K.
genres: 20th Century, Literature, German Literature, Classics, Literary Fiction, Novels, Czech Literature, Philosophy, Fiction, Dystopia
ratings_count: 306458
awards: awardedAt: 915177600000
name: Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize
category: Breon Mitchell
publisher: Vintage Books