Was it possible for K. to just not go to trial?Nobody was really forcing him to go as far as I'm concerned, but maybe I am wrong. What is /lit/'s analysis on this fantastic novel?
I think he was considering fleeing or something. I dont even remember why he didn't.
We are all on trial, OP.
>>7614663
The process of the trial was part of the trial.
You cannot escape the trial.
>>7614663
Well yeah it's possible, that's the point of the whole novel.
Currently studying everything Kafka ever wrote, reading some weird Diary passages where he talks about how much his mailman has ruined his life.
The Trial is a masterpiece, I can't think of a modernist novel that deals with alienation any better. Quentin's storyline in The Sound and the Fury and Absalom, Absalom! maybe but I think K.'s self-destruction is much more interesting.
>>7614675
Thanks for reminding me I have to finish his journal.
I still have like 300 pages left, and I may have to go back at the beginning.
>>7614663
Yes, but he couldn't. He had to go. He had to be innocent. Nobody forced him to go. They knew he would.
>>7614663
You could, but it would probably hurt your chances of winning your case
>>7614680
I think my favorite thing about his journal is that he'll go on like 5-10 page tirades about something totally mundane and then right in between passages he'll sneak in some really great aphorisms like "Today I woke to the joy of imagining a knife twisting in my heart."
>>7614663
everyone was in on it, and I think he had a deep and profound respect for the law, so he had to abide to the circumstances of the trial until he got to the bottom of it, which he never does
also, that part when he's at work and opens the door to find the two men being punished is pretty fucking disturbing
>>7614781
And why hurt your chances? There's so many easy ways to win. Just none that work well.
>>7614798
>"Today I woke to the joy of imagining a knife twisting in my heart."
It's beautiful, and it was even more when I read it (I was going through some rough times, for some reason it feels nice reading things like this).
I liked it so much that I added to my own journal (and it is just one of the many quotes I have added)
The one I copied has a slightly different translation
>«This morning, for the first time in a long time, the joy again of imagining a knife twisted in my heart»
>Kafka. November 2, 1911.
>>7614827
There are that many work well, but those are the ones you'll never know.
>>7614798
Not to be a douche, but that's not an aphorism.
>>7614828
Yeah I was paraphrasing that's the actual quote, couldn't remember it exactly/read it in German, but yeah I'm just getting through it. It's pretty fun to read it in tandem with his collected short stories because there's a few that are just moved straight out of the journal into a short story.
Best paragraph long Kafka story (that isn't Poseidon), is definitely Trees
>>7614842
yeah you're actually right, I was originally just going to end the post with "aphorisms" but I came back and added the quote after leaving for a minute
>>7614663
The trial doesn't exist without K. You don't know what pushes K to just go with it, in the beginning. But as the process went on, i realised that K must have felt guilty of something, it's especially apparent when he meets that judge's maid. That is why he can't escape.
