The Trial (Modern Voices) |
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Franz Kafka, Zadie Smith
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Pages: 200 (Paperback)
ISBN: 1843914018
Pub: Hesperus Press Ltd
Pub date: 2005-04-29
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 296020
Reader Reviews:
A book that puts other authors on trial - to equal it (3/3 people found this helpful)
Hesperus Press has developed a name for publishing classics, both famous and obscure, in fine quality paperback format, with introductions by well-known modern writers. This new translation of The Trial (tr. Richard Stokes) is an excellent addition to the range and is a pleasure to own and read. Book lovers will appreciate the high quality paper and type-setting, quite apart from the fine translation and the informative introduction by Zadie Smith.
However, irrespective of the excellent presenation, this novel is an essential read in itself. As you read it you will recognise echoes of so many books that came after it later in the 20th century, and were so obviously influenced. For myself, my thoughts kept turning to Kazuo Ishiguro's The Unconsoled, which takes Kafka's dreamlike (nightmarish!) narrative and develops it into a considerably wider scoped, but still derivatative, novel of his own.
Joseph K is above all "ordinary man", subject to the capricious whims of a state justice system whose agendas are hidden and fluid, allowing its officers to descent on citizens and arrest them for no apparent reason. It is the slowness of the process which dominates the book - Joseph K is arrested but free to go about his daily life, going to work and mixing with friends, but with the knowledge of his impending trial hanging over him. Slowly, his plight effects more and more of his life, and his attempts to find out what he is accused of turn into a cruel and unresolvable obsession. The book is about guilt, for are we are all ultimately living with the knowledge that somewhere in our lives there will be areas where we have fallen short of the mark and deserve retribution.
This is a compelling novel, surely a landmark of the 20th century, a must-read for anyone who hasn't had the pleasure already. Hesperus have done us all a favour in publishing such an excellent version of The Trial at a realistic price.
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Amazon.co.uk places this book into the following categories:
Books -> Subjects -> Fiction -> Authors, A-Z -> S -> Smith, Zadie
Books -> Subjects -> Fiction -> General
Books -> Subjects -> Fiction -> General AAS
Books -> Refinements -> Language (feature_browse-bin) -> English
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