The Trial

Written in 1914 but not released until 1925 - one year after Kafka's death - The Trial is the horrific story of a respected bank officer, who is abruptly and inexplicably imprisoned and forced to defend himself against an unknown accusation.

In this gloomy and terrifying dystopian fiction, Kafka constructs a nightmare bureaucracy that ensnares his character in an illegal conviction. On his 30th birthday, the main character, Joseph K, gets jailed for an unidentified offense. He is never informed of what he's been accused of - and has no notion about what he did wrong. As he strives to establish his innocence, Joseph struggles against the intangible Law and the invulnerable Court, and his life is irrevocably altered.

The Trial has reverberated with terrifying reality for generations of readers - whether interpreted as an existential story, a parable, or a premonition of the excesses of contemporary bureaucracy intertwined with the lunacy of totalitarianism.

Author: Franz Kafka

Year of Release: 1925

Goodreads Score: 3.96 stars (from 269,764 reviews)