The Trial A New Translation Based on the Restored Text

reread for class discussion was super fun actually

Booooring. I think I’m a masochistic for finishing this book.

i dont think this book is my cup of tea....

Tedious and winding, but deftly navigates its admittedly boring subject matter with witty and clever bureaucratic satire. Actually hilarious, laughed out loud a few times. Kinda like a warped Office Space for our great great grandparents’ generation. I wish Kafka had the balls to finish it. Could’ve been one of the greatest novels ever written.

Tips: •Si no lo lees desde el humor te va a parecer insufrible. •Sentir que es lo más opresivo y sofocante que leíste y querer hacer otra cosa cada vez que lo abrís: es parte del proceso. Se lee lento, no queda otra. •Si la pasas mal, es parte, a fin de cuentas el chabón te está diciendo que somos todos víctimas de un sistema de mierda que creemos entender y no entendemos pero nos gusta decir que sí para basurear a los otros en un intento desesperado de que nadie nos pisotee a nosotros. Kafka se cagaba de risa escribiendo sus historias y nosotros ahora lloramos porque tuvo razón: todo es una mierda. Tipazo.

father kafka

Kafka is my new favorite!

oh fuck

I’m in the minority on this but I just couldn’t get into it. I love Kafka but this was just soooo boring, I can’t tolerate the main character. He doesn’t do anything I or anyone would do. Whatever it is I was supposed to get or something just went right over my head.

I can’t do it guys. If I need to finish another masterpiece of him I think we all can agree to put me on psych ward.

Kafka’s mind sure is something

I think a lot of this flew over my head a bit (it didn't help that it took me 4 months to get through reading on & off) but what I did get was a wonderful mix of absurdist, occasionally funny, confusing and thought-provoking. Fortunately not actually about The Law but some really interesting themes of guilt/innocence, reputation, logic and reason were running throughout. I'm also obsessed with Kafka's style of writing - I don't know whether it has to do with the book being in translation but it reminds me of other European authors like Camus, equally reminiscent of Kurt Vonnegut and Joseph Heller (or more likely Vonnegut and Heller were inspired by the Europeans...). The language is just so matter-of-fact but has this underlying ironic tone that makes it so entertaining - so I do want to discover more of his work! The trial will also definitely be worth a reread at some point although I think I want something a bit less wordy for now.

i guess although you don’t know why things are the way they are, you can still enjoy a good meal and company. not knowing a higher purpose doesn’t stop you from enjoying the moment

Alterna momentos de auténtica genialidad con otros que son un verdadero truño.

i have never been more glad to have read a book in my life

Cult successfully scams manwhore finance bro + the version I read had excerpts from kafka’s diaries at the end

I get it now, I totally get it.

Bit disappointed with this book, mostly because it's super raw and unfinished. Some chapters and pages could've been dropped cold without any influence on the story (like the one where he seduces his roommate). There's also one chapter that's just not finished at all. Despite these flaws, the message is still there: humanity builds gigantic inhuman bureaucracies that crush human souls into submission. This is a timeless danger, and I believe a reason Kafka's book still has remained so appealing (in a depressing sort of way) is that the book's universe reads as something that could happen in the next 10 years.

Szczerze nie spodziewałam się, że kończąc tą książkę będę jak małe dziecko. Sposób w jaki Kafka używa słów by storzyć magiczną i tajemniczą atmosferę jest powalający. Uważam, że jest to dzieło warte przeczytania.

The lack of information the story gives the reader is really confusing, maddening and irritating. It left me in a terrible mood, I was sad, angry, and most of all I wanted to slap some of the characters. The book is neither a smash nor pass, but somewhere in between, in my opinion.

dnf at 80%, read the rest from summarized notes this worsened my physical and mental condition at the moment (literally was giving me headaches from time to time I pick it up) never seen this type of approach before. everything is merged into a single paragraph: thoughts, actual narration, dialogues/conversations? I don't understand? if it was actually written like this in its original language then it's terrible. also, since it's an unfinished novel the main subject is mostly still filled with unresolved issues so, meh excerpt: p. 42 "What has happened to me is only a single instance and as such of no great importance, ... but it is representative of a misguided policy which is being directed against many other people as well. It is for these that I take up my stand here, not for myself."

josef k king of overthinking

"No," "Do not have to admit that everything he says is true, just accept it as a necessity."