Book Review: The Trial
I’ll be honest here - I’m not 100% sure what the heck I just read. It was a mix of abstract realism and absurdism. I understand that this is meant to be a modern classic and a groundbreaking look into the philosophy of humanity in all its gory horror. But lord, what on Earth?! In a nutshell, imagine you have been accused of a crime and are arrested. No one reads you your rights, no one tells you what you are being arrested and charged for. Everybody speaks in riddles, and the more you hunt for answers… You are left with more questions than answers and stuck in an endless cycle of anxiety. So when I say ‘what the heck did I just read’ it's more about the injustice of the plot and what happened to Josef K.
This is a book I really wanted to get into and enjoy, and find some deep meaning in it. But I’ll be honest, I didn't enjoy it. I found my attention drifting off whilst I was trying to get through this book. I am somewhat surprised I didn't pull a DNF on this one, but because it is so short, I was determined. Now, if we get into the nitty gritty of the book, there are some interesting points that filtered into my brain when my attention wasn’t drifting elsewhere.
Let’s talk about the way the judicial system is set up in this imagined dystopian world. The judicial offices seem to be unofficially official and pretty much everywhere. It gave a ‘Big Brother’ à la 1984 atmosphere, which was deeply unsettling. The judicial system seemed to be random and unofficial, with advocates, lawyers, and judges intent on drowning you in procedures, paperwork, and years of legal formalities and jargon that will leave you reeling.
I think another interesting point is just how Kafka exposes everything wrong with society. Because, true this book was written a long time ago, there are echoes of it that are still true today. There are awful moments of sexual assault and manipulation of women and abuse of power over them. I do not think that Kafka intended to write a book with such ardent feminist themes. But he damn well did. Truth be told, it was horrifying how normalised it was in the book and how the judicial system was set up to fail these women. Isn't it funny how art still imitates life?
All in all, this book does have its moments, but I didn’t think it was as momentous as it was hyped up to be. But that is the problem with hype, it builds expectations only for your ideas to fail to meet them. That isn’t to say that Kafka isn't a good writer - he is, he jas literary fiction down to a T. But I am just not sure if I am the right audience for this book.