Edwin Muir

One of the great works of the twentieth century, Kafka's The Trial has been read as a study of political power, a pessimistic religious parable, or a crime novel where the accused man is himself the problem. In it, a man wakes up one morning to find himself under arrest for an offence which is never explained. Faced with this ambiguous but threatening situation, Josef K. gradually succumbs to its psychological pressure. One of the iconic figures of...

Kafka's novel follows the misadventures of 16-year-old Karl Rossman, a European boy whose parents ship him off to America after he is seduced by a servant girl. On arrival, Karl finds an America only Kafka could have envisioned--and the still hopeful youth is soon set upon by odd circumstance and suspect traveling companions.