The Castle by Franz Kafka
This novel presents the story of a man who arrives in a village and struggles to gain access to the mysterious authorities who govern it from a castle. The protagonist, a surveyor, faces the constant frustration of his efforts to make contact with the elusive authorities and integrate into village society. The book explores themes of alienation, bureaucracy, the seemingly endless frustrations of man's attempts to stand against the system, and the futile pursuit of an unobtainable goal.
The 87th greatest book of all time
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- Published
- 1926
- Nationality
- Czech
- Length
- Short
- Pages
- 200-300
- Original Language
- German
- Avg User Rating
-
(3.9)
- Alternate Titles
-
- Das Schloss
- Das Schloß
- El Castillo
- Il Castello
- Le Château
If you're interested in seeing the ranking details on this book go here
This book is on the following 19 lists:
- 6th on Biblioteca (Argentina)
- 6th on The 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century (Folha de São Paulo)
- 49th on In Which These Are the 100 Greatest Novels (ThisRecording.com)
- 54th on 100 Books of Classical and Modern Foreign Literature (The Union of Russian Writers)
- 97th on The 500 best books of all time from Culture Café users (Culture Café)
- 123rd on El Pais Favorite Books of 100 Spanish Authors (El Pais)
- 153rd on The Complete 500: OCLC (OCLC)
- 166th on Our Users' Honorable Mention Favorite Books of All Time (The Greatest Books Users)
- 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read (The Guardian)
- 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (The Book)
- Best German Novels of the Twentieth Century (Wikipedia)
- Books of the Century (The Age (Newspaper))
- Books that Shaped the Century (LOGOS 20th Century Books Project)
- Finest Works of Fiction (Martin Seymour-Smith and Editors)
- Harold Bloom's The Western Canon (The Western Canon (Book) by Harold Bloom)
- Masterpieces of World Literature (Frank N. Magill)
- The New Lifetime Reading Plan (The New Lifetime Reading Plan)
- Top 100 Works in World Literature (Norwegian Book Clubs, with the Norwegian Nobel Institute)
- ZEIT-Bibliothek der 100 Bücher (Die Zeit)