The Trial

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Hesperus, 2005 - Fiction - 212 pages
Following on from the success of Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (with a foreword by Martin Jarvis), here is a new translation of one of the most popular works from German Literature: part dream, part satire, Kafka's The Trial is a brilliant evocation of bureaucracy gone mad, and a terrifyingly psychological study of the neurosis and paranoia that lie within the heart of an ordinary man. is not revealed to him, neither is the date of his trial. Despite his now criminal status, he is, however, granted the right to continue as normal, on the condition that he report to court on a regular basis. And so begins Josef K.'s new life. But as time passes, and as nothing is resolved, his fate, like the world around him, becomes increasingly uncertain. Stifled by the helplessness of his situation, he makes a desperate bid to regain control - little knowing that this can lead only to tragedy. state the case as clearly as it can be stated. All the humour of Kafka lies here, in the logical pursuit of absurd arguments.' - from the Foreword by Zadie Smith

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About the author (2005)

Franz Kafka -- July 3, 1883 - June 3, 1924 Franz Kafka was born to middle-class Jewish parents in Prague, Czechoslovakia on July 3, 1883. He received a law degree at the University of Prague. After performing an obligatory year of unpaid service as law clerk for the civil and criminal courts, he obtained a position in the workman's compensation division of the Austrian government. Always neurotic, insecure, and filled with a sense of inadequacy, his writing is a search for personal fulfillment and understanding. He wrote very slowly and deliberately, publishing very little in his lifetime. At his death he asked a close friend to burn his remaining manuscripts, but the friend refused the request. Instead the friend arranged for publication Kafka's longer stories, which have since brought him worldwide fame and have influenced many contemporary writers. His works include The Metamorphosis, The Castle, The Trial, and Amerika. Kafka was diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) in August 1917. As his disease progressed, his throat became affected by the TB and he could not eat regularly because it was painful. He died from starvation in a sanatorium in Kierling, near Vienna, after admitting himself for treatment there on April 10, 1924. He died on June 3 at the age of 40.

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