I'd only ever read (but enjoyed) 'Metamorphosis' by Franz Kafta, so while l have got time on my hands due to being off work, l got stuck into 'The Trial', one of his uncompleted novels. I'd heard a lot about it and knew the basic premise of the story, but it did surprise me. Joseph K is arrested on his 30th birthday, but not charged. He then spends the rest of the novel trying to find out what his charges are, how to get help, and what is the best way of bringing it to a conclusion. Along the way he meets lawyers, painters, girls and priests, but is still non the wiser when he is taken out again on the eve of his 31st birthday.
There was some repetition about the trial that l found boring, and the end of the book was a bit sudden, but there was plenty of other stuff contained within to keep me interested and occupied. At one stage l thought it all may be in K's imagination, and he was just going mad and fantasizing some events, as they were certainly illusory and semiotic. Other parts certainly seemed to be religious (and confusing) metaphor's, (especially the part in the cathedral), but more than likely it (to me) represents guilt about past actions, how to acknowledge and deal with it, and how to repent or pay for it ("Like a dog").
Then again, what the hell do l know? I'm just a drunken opinionated fool.
toodle pip
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