It was quite a trial to read The Trial. I'm just glad to be done, basically. I'm sure you are all glad that I am finished, because if I have any regular readers, you probably don't want to read my complaints about this text for a third week in a row.
Anyway, as I was waiting to reserve judgment and complaint until the end of this text, I have successfully finished and feel no remorse in dragging it through the mud. Perhaps it is too existential for me; as a supplement to these texts, I have been reading an excess of medieval and 17th century literature, so this might have been a stretch to my literary mindset.
I understand that the text was intentionally disorienting to mirror the disorienting experience of the protagonist. The naming of the characters by their professions mimics the nature of being processed in a society based on procedure, where those with power rave about their connections and are long winded. However, it isn't disorienting enough that the reader is not given a place to figure themselves. That is, I think I would enjoy the text more if I was forced to discover the setting, characters, and events of my own free will, like a Faulkner novel, whereas in this text everything is laid out in plain view.
I won't comment on this novel any more, at risk of overhashing the same theme. My next novel is going to be Henry James' Turn of the Screw, which is not on my book list, but was recommended by a professor.
Comments