ravenspike's Full Review: Franz Kafka, George Steiner, Willa Muir, Breon Mit...
While some would say this book is about the ultimate struggle between man and the general confusion of the world I think this goes much deeper. Written in a time of war and strife (1914-15) I think that this book was more personal than esoteric. We have a character who, for no reason he can fathom, must stand trial for certain crimes. No matter what he does he cannot find out what there crimes are. Those in authority refuse to tell him, his lawyer, the one who should be on his side, does nothing for his case and gives him the run around, and he goes from event to event with growing annoyance and frustration.
Imagine for a minute what war is like to the average person. Through no fault of your own your country is being invaded, shelled, and bombed. People are dying that have never given offense. Because you are just a little person you have no power to make decisions, nor is anyone in power going to listen to you because you are so insignificant. Those that are suppose to help you, your officials and priests, are working with the people in charge to make sure you follow the right way of thinking. In the end your world is destroyed and you killed for something you didn't start, had no control over, and could never effect.
This book is about the human struggle with situations out of our control, which turns out to be almost every situation if you think about it. K is everyman, going about his life in extreme circumstances, trying to figure out what is going on, yet never really grasping the situation because he is not in a position to see the entire picture and no one will either give him the information or allow him to find the place himself.
Hauntingly beautiful, frightening in its implications, powerful in its stark narrative, this is a book that cannot be missed.
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