The Trial

By: Franz Kafka

Narrated by: George Guidall

Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

If Max Brod had obeyed Franz Kafka's dying request, Kafka's unpublished manuscripts would have been burned, unread. Fortunately, Brod ignored his friend's wishes and published The Trial, which became the author's most famous work. Now Kafka's enigmatic novel regains its humor and stylistic elegance in a new translation based on the restored original manuscript.

Thirty-year-old Josef K., a financial officer in a European city bank, is suddenly arrested. He is subjected to hearings, questioning, and visits from officials. Defending his innocence against charges that are never explained to him, he watches his life dissolve into absurdity. Whether read as an existential tale or a parable, this haunting story stands out as one of the great novels of our time.

Breon Mitchell, a professor of Germanic Studies and Comparative Literature at Indiana University, has received national awards for his literary translations. The renewed energy and power of this classic work are complemented by veteran narrator George Guidall's superb performance.

Public Domain (P)2000 Recorded Books

An "important" work

I missed this classic in my formal education, so since the reviews were so good and I knew the narrator was excellent, I took the plunge. Important, yes, and I understand why, at times the flow and dialogue sucked me in. But thank God I do not have to write a paper on this. It was too heavy and I wasnt in the mood to think that hard, especially not ready to follow that closely the parable chapter with the priest. OK, maybe I didnt appreciate just how "important" this book really is, but I am not going back to re-read it. Cliff note this one.

meh.

couldn't finish. didn't like it. just could not follow what was happening. don't know if this one would be better if I read on my own vs audible...but I'm not finishing this.

Life Is Surreal

Reading Kafka changed my life. I did a 180 from a Boston College conservative to an NYU radical. K's books and short stories, along with news events in the late '60s, convinced me that the state has its own agenda and the hard working individual isn't part of it. As hard as I worked to graduate in the class of 1966, the government said to me -- "Fine. You learned all about Voltaire, Jefferson and Thomas Paine. Now go over to the other side of the world and kill gooks, because rich corporate oligarchs don't like the wealth being shared." That's Kafkaesque. How many authors have eponyms as descriptive?

K's common thread is the plight of the individual on the steps of government offices. K never even learned what his crime was, and later in "The Castle", the seat of power, K learns that all entrances are closed. Klamm, the all-powerful autocrat, who controls everything that goes on, is aptly named: he doesn't say a word in 500 pages. He just pulls the strings of power. In the '50s when I read the book, I was reminded me of a disturbing movie I'd seen as a kid -- "Invaders from Mars." The all-powerful head (literally) Martian was an octopus head floating in a fish bowl. It would merely silently point one of its tentacles at one of its slaves and the individual would jump as if in a trance to fulfill the command.

Thirty years later, poet Allan Ginsberg would pick up the theme in his poem "Howl." "What sphinx of cement and aluminum bashed open their skulls and ate up their brains and imagination?" So now, as a watch California burning down, I think of the sinister power of mind control. George Carlin would pick up the theme again fifty years after that: "They don't care about you. They don't care about you. They don't care about you!" He asked, what kind of people would destroy and desecrate such a beautiful countryside and replace it with billboards supermarkets and shopping malls? As a writer I think I know: a brainwashed people.

Being Polish, I always enjoyed an old Polish poem: I'm a fly helplessly caught in a spider web of red tape and bureaucracy. I thought I was a butterfly.

By the author of Saving Gaia, Pot Stories, and Mirror Reversal.

Excellent

Classic book with a great narrator. I hadn't realized that the book was so funny.

Harder to Listen than to Read

Had a tough time with the narrator but he grew on me. this is such a complex book that can be tricky to listen to without a copy of the book itself. i would recommend reading it or doing both.

Enjoyable with Time

I've enjoyed Kafka's work before so I decided to listen to this audiobook.
The performance by George Guidall isn't my favorite. It is hard to understand at points and feels slightly slow when listening at regular speed. It fits the tone of the book but was slightly disappointing nonetheless.
The story is what I would consider the epitome of Kafka's work as it exemplifies his love for emphasizing the absurdity of modern society. The idea of being persecuted for a crime you are not aware of is an incredibly Neo-modern idea which bridges the spectrum of time.

Mindblown

This audiobook is such an awesome mindblowing journey. The plot is very well crafted, the performance is very good, which overall kept me totally addicted to the audiobook until it was finished. Awesome!!!

Not a great translation

George Guidall, as usual, is outstanding, however, the story is not what i expected and found it... well... boring. Perhaps it is not an accurate translation... It's difficult to know how it might differ in the original German. I chose this translation for the narrator.

Franz Kafka's Best Novel

The Trial is the best novel that Franz Kafka has written. Originally written in High German, Kafka's expressions are typically unique in its linguistic style and in its theatrical display of the different characters in the novel. It is an expression of the strong "world" of Kafka and of his creativity in writing his novel, albeit unfinished but excellent and entertaining indeed.

The Trial

Fantastic!! The narration fits the story perfectly. I would highly recommend. Looking forward to more like it.