The Trial

Reconstructed from an unfinished, disorganized manuscript, The Trial traces the story of Joseph K, a man who is arrested on the night of his thirtieth birthday but refused any explanation as to what crime he has committed. Like all of Kafka's writing, the novel is characterized by a mystifying surrealism that reflects real-life anxieties about a world rendered incomprehensible, oppressive and alienating. As the protagonist struggles against a faceless omnipotent bureaucracy, the novel raises questions about the nature of totalitarian authority and the futility of resistance.