The Trial by Franz Kafka
The book revolves around a bank clerk who wakes one morning to find himself under arrest for an unspecified crime. Despite not being detained, he is subjected to the psychological torment of a bizarre and nightmarish judicial process. The story is a critique of bureaucracy, exploring themes of guilt, alienation and the inefficiency of the justice system.
The 38th greatest book of all time
- Published
- 1925
- Nationality
- Czech
- Type
- Fiction
- Pages
- 200-300
- Words
- 80,000
- Original Language
- German
If you're interested in seeing the ranking details on this book go here
This book is on the following lists:
- 2nd on 100 Best Novels, in Translation, Since 1900 (CounterPunch)
- 2nd on Best German Novels of the Twentieth Century (Wikipedia)
- 2nd on In Which These Are the 100 Greatest Novels (ThisRecording.com)
- 3rd on Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century (Le Monde)
- 3rd on The 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century (Folha de São Paulo)
- 3rd on The Greatest 20th Century Novels (Waterstone)
- 4th on Robert McCrum's top 10 books of the twentieth century (The Guardian)
- 5th on Biblioteca (Argentina)
- 5th on El Pais Favorite Books of 100 Spanish Authors (El Pais)
- 13th on Kanon na koniec wieku (Canon at the end of the century) (Rzeczpospolita (newspaper))
- 15th on 100 Essential Books (Bravo! Magazine)
- 20th on The 100 Greatest Novels (greatbooksguide.com)
- 21st on Waterstone's Books of the Century (LibraryThing)
- 38th on The Top 10: The Greatest Books of All Time (The Top 10 (Book))
- 39th on The 100 Best Books of World Literature (ABC.es)
- 41st on The 500 best books of all time from Culture Café users (Culture Café)
- 46th on The Novel 100: A Ranking of the Greatest Novels of All Time (The Novel 100)
- 49th on The 100 Greatest Novels of All Time: The List (The Observer)
- 76th on The Telegraph’s 100 Novels Everyone Should Read (Telegraph)
- 83rd on Pour une Bibliothèque Idéale (Raymond Queneau)
- 111th on Our Users' Favorite Books of All Time (The Greatest Books Users)
- The Bigger Read List (English PEN)
- The 100 Best Books in the World (AbeBooks.de (in German))
- How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Reading List (Thomas C. Foster)
- 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (The Book)
- Masterpieces of World Literature (Frank N. Magill)
- Der Kanon (The Canon) (Der Kanon)
- Horror: The 100 Best Books ("Horror: The 100 Best Books" Book by Stephen Jones (Editor) and Kim Newman (Editor))
- The New Lifetime Reading Plan (The New Lifetime Reading Plan)
- The 100 Most Influential Books Ever Written (Martin Seymour-Smith)
- Harold Bloom's The Western Canon (The Western Canon (Book) by Harold Bloom)
- 100 Most Influential Books of the Century (Boston Public Library)
- Daily Telegraph's 100 Books of the Century, 1900-1999 (Daily Telegraph)
- William H. F. Lamont’s 100 Best Novels (1947) (archive.org)
- 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read (The Guardian)
- The Well-Educated Mind (Book)
- 200 Books That Shaped 200 Years of Literature (The Center for Fiction)
- Top 100 Works in World Literature (Norwegian Book Clubs, with the Norwegian Nobel Institute)