tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023956444265128672.post7194360774897942324..comments2024-03-28T00:47:44.556+08:00Comments on The Reading Life: The Trial by Franz Kafka (written in 1915, first published in 1924)Mel uhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08714473754458914681noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023956444265128672.post-79765118436017475522014-11-22T19:41:21.225+08:002014-11-22T19:41:21.225+08:00I first read The Trial when I was in my teens and ...I first read The Trial when I was in my teens and again ten years later. I ought to revisit it one day, and your review is a good reminder. JacquiWinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16220597283351925721noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023956444265128672.post-46083968479922913192014-11-21T06:43:32.786+08:002014-11-21T06:43:32.786+08:00Hi Mel. I have read The Castle and Amerika and sev...Hi Mel. I have read <i>The Castle</i> and <i>Amerika</i> and several short stories but all quite a while ago. I picked up a copy of <i>The Castle</i> from the library about a year ago with the intention of re-reading it but for some reason wasn't in the mood for it. I think I may read it soon though.Jonathanhttps://bulbynorman.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023956444265128672.post-81183196524463629532014-11-20T18:45:34.195+08:002014-11-20T18:45:34.195+08:00Jonathan - have you also read The Castle?Jonathan - have you also read The Castle?Mel uhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08714473754458914681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023956444265128672.post-60975608913506626812014-11-20T18:43:37.106+08:002014-11-20T18:43:37.106+08:00Suko. Glad you have read The Trial. Suko. Glad you have read The Trial. Mel uhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08714473754458914681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023956444265128672.post-89804815280219676642014-11-20T18:43:02.117+08:002014-11-20T18:43:02.117+08:00Scott G. F. Bailey - very interesting to learn Ka...Scott G. F. Bailey - very interesting to learn Kafka write it to be at least partially a comedy. Thanks for the help on the meaning of the young girls.Mel uhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08714473754458914681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023956444265128672.post-57073471844025932742014-11-20T18:39:23.381+08:002014-11-20T18:39:23.381+08:00Topazshell - thanks for your commet. I suggest yo...Topazshell - thanks for your commet. I suggest you start Kafka with the short story "The Penal Colony"<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Mel uhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08714473754458914681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023956444265128672.post-12670693375857439172014-11-20T00:52:00.243+08:002014-11-20T00:52:00.243+08:00The Trial was the first proper adult book that I r...<i>The Trial</i> was the first proper adult book that I read so I have fond memories of it. I must have read it about three times but I haven't read it for quite a while so maybe it's time for a re-read. Potential readers should not be put off by it; it's dark but thoroughly enjoyable.Jonathanhttps://bulbynorman.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023956444265128672.post-45830317228250053812014-11-18T07:02:35.199+08:002014-11-18T07:02:35.199+08:00I've read The Trial, so I guess I have read so...I've read <i>The Trial</i>, so I guess I have read some German literature. Very interesting post (and comments) today! Sukohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11893742747135555499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023956444265128672.post-39241846502541524432014-11-18T02:57:45.933+08:002014-11-18T02:57:45.933+08:00The Trial is funny; I'm sure it was meant to b...<i>The Trial</i> is funny; I'm sure it was meant to be a comedy. Kafka read excerpts of it to his writer friends, playing it for laughs.<br /><br />I'm coming to think of the whole thing as a metaphor for life, and the difficulty of avoiding guilt. Kafka was a lawyer, and on aspect of law in the Austro-Hungarian Empire was the <i>character</i> of the accused, not just the particular crime he's alleged to have committed. So guilt could be an aspect of self rather than a state vis-a-vis the law, if you see what I mean. We are all guilty, of one thing or another, and we will either be punished for that or not by the trial which is life. The metaphor of the courts and the proceedings are brilliant, I agree.<br /><br />As I remember the book, Josef K sees every woman he encounters through a lens of hypersexuality, and all of this sexual current is presented by Kafka as something low and almost animal, always lust and never love, so the girls just entering adolescence would be little animals, depraved, and I think the hunchback is just to heighten the sense of depravity and inhuman-ness K associates with sexuality. So there's one way of looking at it. There's no consensus as far as I know about what the book "means."scott g.f.baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05726743149139510832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023956444265128672.post-7130335783044030112014-11-17T21:30:50.333+08:002014-11-17T21:30:50.333+08:00I always see Kafka's name. Didn't know any...I always see Kafka's name. Didn't know anything about him until reading your blog post.Teahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04246834295123351186noreply@blogger.com