The Trial

Name: The Trial
ISBN: 9787201143705

Franz Kafka / 文泽尔Tianjin People's Publishing House · ChinaDec 2021

4.3

Word count: 176K words
Chapters: 12
ISBN: 9787201143705

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Summary

On the morning of his thirtieth birthday, Joseph K. is arrested by two strangers who burst into his home. Yet K. does not know what he is charged with, nor is he deprived of his personal freedom; he is merely required to appear for trial at regular intervals. Over the course of the year, K. runs himself ragged over this intractable lawsuit, seeking help from a painter, a businessman, a lawyer, a priest, and others, and acquiring a great deal of information about the court and the law. Yet the more K. learns, the more confused and helpless he feels. Until the night before his thirty-first birthday, when K. is arrested again and the trial comes to an end.

Editor's review

The Trial is one of Kafka's most representative novels, and Wen Ze'er's translation is notably careful in its handling of linguistic rhythm and terminology, making it suitable for readers who take modernist literature seriously. The novel's core lies not in "who is guilty" or "how the case can be won," but in K.'s gradual devouring by a strange and vast set of rules in a situation that seems free yet offers no escape. Kafka's calm, precise, even bureaucratic prose makes the absurd feel as natural as daily business, and readers sink deeper with K. into the speeches of the lawyer, the painter, and the priest. Two things are worth noting while reading: first, "trial" is both an external procedure and K.'s inner self-interrogation; second, the novel's unfinished state itself suspends any "ending." It is suited to quiet, uninterrupted reading time, not to be consumed as a plot-driven mystery. After finishing, readers may wish to revisit the opening and the parable told by the priest, and will find that the book's structure had planted its clues all along.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in modernist literature and absurdist fiction
Students seeking to understand Kafkaesque narrative and the theme of "nameless guilt"
Deep readers who enjoy hunting for metaphor and philosophical questions in a text
Those who need a novel suitable for book-club discussion that invites multiple interpretations

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting traditional detective deduction and a clear solution to the case
Readers of popular fiction who prefer brisk pacing and strong plot momentum
Readers impatient with unfinished works and open-ended structures

Reading tips

Read the main story through in one go first; avoid stopping to look up too much background, and preserve the feeling of being swept along by the absurd.
After finishing, reread Chapter Nine, "In the Cathedral," the dialogue between the priest and K.; it is the key passage for understanding the whole book.
Prepare a brief character chart recording the "entry points to the law" represented by the lawyer, the painter, the businessman, and the others.
If participating in a book club, discussion can center on two questions: "Is K. actually guilty?" and "Does the trial take place only within the mind?"

About the publisher

Tianjin People's Publishing House China · Founded in 1950

Tianjin People's Publishing House publishes across such fields as classic works, foreign literature, architecture, social culture and social sciences, with 749 relevant titles in the collection. In the areas of classics and scholarship, works such as Wang Guowei's Renjian Cihua and Fei Xiaotong's From the Soil and Fertility and Reproduction reflect a sustained attention to social culture and classic texts of thought. Architectural books are represented by Liang Sicheng's Annotated Yingzao Fashi and A History of Chinese Architecture, showing an emphasis on architectural heritage and building traditions. In foreign literature, translations of Sholokhov's And Quiet Flows the Don and Tolstoy's War and Peace and The Death of Ivan Ilyich, through the work of translators such as Li Gang and Yu Dawei, form a substantial series of translated works. Overall, the press combines classic texts, scholarly works and fine translations, with a publishing character oriented toward humanistic depth and the dissemination of knowledge.

版权信息
第一章被捕-与格鲁巴赫夫人的谈话-然后是布尔斯特纳小姐
第二章初次调查
第三章在空集会室内-大学生-办事处
第四章布尔斯特纳小姐的女性朋友
第五章打手
第六章叔叔-莱妮
第七章律师-工厂主-画家
第八章商人布洛克-解雇律师
第九章在大教堂
第十章结局
译后记末法的温床

FAQ

Can I read The Trial directly without having read other works by Kafka?

Yes. The book is an independent novel and does not require prior reading of other works. First-time Kafka readers may, however, find the calm narration and stalled plot disorienting; it is best to accept from the outset that "this is not a detective story" and focus on K.'s situation and the way those around him speak.

Why does the novel have no clear ending?

The Trial is a novel Kafka left unfinished during his lifetime; the existing chapter order and the treatment of the ending retain the character of an unpolished draft. The passage in which K. is executed on the night before his thirty-first birthday is usually regarded as the ending, but the book still leaves many threads undeveloped. This unfinished quality is itself one reason the work is so repeatedly discussed.

Is Wen Ze'er's translation difficult to read?

Wen Ze'er's translation strives to preserve the cold, bureaucratic texture of Kafka's narration; sentences are sometimes long, but the whole remains readable. If the opening is hard to get into, slow down and read it as "a record of being drawn in" rather than pressing ahead for speed.

Is this book suitable for high-school students?

High-school students with some foundation in literary reading can manage it, but they will need a teacher's or guide's assistance. The novel deals with abstract themes such as law, guilt, freedom, and institutions, and its narration deliberately lacks traditional plot support, so younger readers may easily be left baffled. If used as extracurricular reading, it is best accompanied by discussion.

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About the author

Franz Kafka Author · Austrian (born in Prague, Austria-Hungary) · 1883–1924

Franz Kafka (1883–1924) was an Austrian Jewish German-language novelist, born in Prague during the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He held a doctorate in law and worked for many years at an insurance company. He published little and remained largely unknown during his lifetime, though he kept writing in his spare time. His major works, including The Metamorphosis, The Trial and The Castle, are known for their absurd plots, alienated situations and labyrinthine bureaucracies, with protagonists often trapped in predicaments they cannot defend themselves against. After his death, his close friend Brod organized and published his manuscripts, and his standing gradually grew; he is now regarded as one of the founders of twentieth-century modernist literature. This site carries ten of his works, including The Castle, his diaries and the complete short fiction.

文泽尔 Author

Wen Ze'er is a relatively active translator and author in Chinese publishing circles; public information about him is limited, and no systematic account of his life has been disclosed. Judging from the eighteen works held in the library, his work centers on the translation of foreign literature, with some writing in biography and history, and German-language literature in particular. His representative translations include Kafka's complete short stories in Metamorphosis, Hesse's Steppenwolf, The Glass Bead Game and Beneath the Wheel, Zweig's The World of Yesterday: Memoirs of a European and Decisive Moments in History, as well as works related to Rilke and the biography Marie Antoinette. His translations are known for staying close to the original while remaining readable, balancing accessibility and scholarship, and offering Chinese readers a fairly complete introduction to modern German literature.