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The Trial audiobook cover art

  • The Trial

  • By: Franz Kafka
  • Narrated by: George Guidall
  • Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
  • Unabridged
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars 386
  • Performance
    4.5 out of 5 stars 261
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If Max Brod had obeyed Franz Kafka's dying request, Kafka's unpublished manuscripts would have been burned, unread.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.

  • 5 out of 5 stars

  • Excellent New Translation of a Classic Novel

  • By Michael on 08-12-12
The Metamorphosis and Other Stories audiobook cover art

  • The Metamorphosis and Other Stories

  • By: Franz Kafka
  • Narrated by: George Guidall
  • Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
  • Unabridged
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars 122
  • Performance
    4.5 out of 5 stars 109
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    4 out of 5 stars 107

In the bizarre world of Franz Kafka, salesmen turn into giant bugs, apes give lectures at college academies, and nightmares probe the mysteries of modern humanity’s unhappiness. More than any other modern writer in world literature, Kafka captures the loneliness and misery that fill the lives of 20th-century humanity.

  • 5 out of 5 stars

  • Excellent Translation, Excellent Narration!

  • By Ryan on 03-24-13
Fear and Trembling audiobook cover art

  • Fear and Trembling

  • By: Soren Kierkegaard
  • Narrated by: Mark Meadows
  • Length: 4 hrs and 40 mins
  • Unabridged
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars 4
  • Performance
    4.5 out of 5 stars 3
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    4.5 out of 5 stars 3

From the perspective of an unbeliever, Fear and Trembling explores the paradox of faith, the nature of Christianity, and the complexity of human emotion. Kierkegaard examines the biblical story of Abraham, who was instructed to sacrifice his son Isaac, and forces us to consider Abraham's state of mind. What drove Abraham, and what made him carry out such an absurd and extreme request from God? Kierkegaard argues that Abraham's agreement to sacrifice Isaac, and his suspension of reason, elevated him to the highest level of faith. 

A Hunger Artist audiobook cover art

  • A Hunger Artist

  • By: Franz Kafka
  • Narrated by: Cori Samuel
  • Length: 28 mins
  • Unabridged
  • Overall
    4.5 out of 5 stars 7
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars 7
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    4.5 out of 5 stars 7

A Hunger Artist. the last book Kafka prepared for publication, was printed after Kafka's death. The protagonist, a hunger artist who experiences the decline in appreciation of his craft, is an archetypical creation of Kafka: an individual marginalized and victimized by society at large.

Amerika audiobook cover art

  • Amerika

  • The Missing Person: A New Translation by Mark Harman Based on the Restored Text
  • By: Franz Kafka
  • Narrated by: George Guidall
  • Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
  • Unabridged
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars 48
  • Performance
    4.5 out of 5 stars 35
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars 34

A Brilliant new translation of the great writer's least Kafkaesque novel, based on a German-language text that was produced by a team of international scholars and that is more faithful to Kafka's original manuscript than anything we have had before. With the same expert balance of precision and nuance that marked his translation of Kafka's The Castle, the award-winning translator Mark Harman now restores the humor and particularity of language to Amerika.

  • 5 out of 5 stars

  • ha ha ha this is terrific

  • By tom on 01-29-14
Metamorphosis audiobook cover art

  • Metamorphosis

  • A BBC Radio 4 Reading
  • By: Franz Kafka
  • Narrated by: Benedict Cumberbatch
  • Length: 1 hr and 38 mins
  • Abridged
  • Overall
    4.5 out of 5 stars 203
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars 185
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Benedict Cumberbatch reads the enduring classic of Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis. Gregor Samsa wakes to discover that he has turned into a large, monstrous insect-like creature. He attempts to adjust to his new condition as he deals with being burdensome to his parents and sister, who are repelled by the horrible creature he has become. First published in 1915, Kafka's darkly comic novella explores concepts such as the absurdity of life, alienation and the disconnect between mind and body.

  • 4 out of 5 stars

  • Very Sad

  • By ilene on 02-05-18

Publisher's Summary

This new edition of Kafka's terrifying and comic masterpiece is the product of an international team of experts who used Kafka's original text and notes to render this story as close to the author's vision as possible. Kafka's final novel tells the haunting tale of a man's relentless struggle with authority in order to gain entrance to the Castle.

The story of K - the unwanted land surveyor who is never to be admitted to the Castle and yet cannot go home - seems to depict, like a dream from the deepest recesses of consciousness, an inexplicable truth about the nature of existence. A perpetual human condition lies at the heart of this labyrinthine world: dualities of certainty and doubt, hope and fear, reason and nonsense, harmony and disintegration. An unfinished novel that feels strangely complete, The Castle uses absurd fantasy to reveal a profound truth.
©1998 Schocken Books, Inc. (P)1998 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic Reviews

"To read Kafka is always a surprising encounter. It shocks literary conventions and takes you with a jolt to the depths of the soul....The new translation by Harman restores Kafka to Kafka." ( Los Angeles Times Book Review)
"A necessary acquisition for anyone interested in Kafka." ( Library Journal)

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Stephen
  • PROVO, UT, United States
  • 12-19-12

Wonderful reading (but will strange interruptions)

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. Because it captures the rhythms of Kafka's prose nicely.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No

Any additional comments?

For some reason, Howard's reading was periodically (rarely but recurring) interrupted by another voice (or Howard's voice on a different day and under different conditions). It sounded as though someone had come along after the initial recording and inserted new material. I found these interjections strange and frustrating. It seemed far less than professional to me.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

High Comedy Despite Spotty Narration

Any additional comments?

It is true that the narrator's voice appears to be edited-over occasionally for no discernible reason. I did not find this to be as much of a problem as most listeners did according to the reviews. I want to say though - having sampled the other readings - I still think this is the best recording. Howard's quick pace not only shortens the listening time (substantially), but also keeps the reading lively and imbues portions of it a degree of comedy that is hard to overstate.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful