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The Castle

by Franz Kafka, Mark Harman (Translator)

3.95 · rating details · 2,817 ratings · 202 reviews

Arriving in a village to take up the position of land surveyor for the mysterious lord of a castle, the character known as K. finds himself in a bitter and baffling struggle to contact his new employer and go about his duties. As the villagers and the Castle officials block his efforts at every turn, K.’s consuming quest–quite possibly a self-imposed one–to penetrate the i...more

Paperback, 352 pages

Published December 15th 1998 by Schocken (first published 1926)

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Jun 28, 2007

George rated it

Recommends it for: everyone

I'm re-reading The Castle 10 years later with older, more patient eyes and it's proving to be a wonderful time, especially with the new translation.

"The Eighth Chapter" of The Castle is, perhaps, some of the most beautifully composed writing in all of modern literature. The new translation adds a dreamy, sudden stillness and frightening sense of desolate open space in Kafka's work which is better known for his breathless, claustophobic style of writing and description...more

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Apr 29, 2010

Troy rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: re-read, fiction

“...there are things that are wrecked on nothing but themselves.”

‘The Castle’ is a difficult read. I find so not in the sense in which some other readers have suggested the novel is a slog; personally, I find Kafka’s superficial perfunctoriness mesmerising and his expansiveness is only seemingly so (in fact these elements are crucial to Kafka’s voice and vision and thus add to the power of the novel). What I do believe makes ‘The Castle’ difficult is the adverse interfere...more

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Oct 13, 2008

Sonky rated it

Recommends it for: 19th-Century Czech and German editors

Recommended to Sonky by: It is society's fault as a hole.

Honestly, I quit.

It was too, how do I say it?...Kafkaesque. But am I greater than the writer himself? No. Kafka quit too and just as mid-sentence as I, only later in the text. Evidently, he died of tedium. Thank God I stopped before Kafka's work killed me too.

I was not enriched by the petty squabbles of German? Czech? villagers and the gyrating evasions of bureaucrats worshiped in detail by said squabbling villagers. I didn't like the protagonist; I couldn't even admire K...more

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Jan 31, 2009

L.S. rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 2009

The book starts with K. arriving in the village near the castle. I found the first 40 pages a bit annoying because I was expecting him to get to the castle and let the story begin. But only when I finally understood that he is never to get to that castle I could finally enjoy the book. I think that the story could go on forever. It is said that the book is not finished. Maybe. But it is like it was left like that. After finishing it I had an odd reaction: I thought that I should re-read it at on...more

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Mar 06, 2007

Cody rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: modernism, eastern-europe, favorites

I had the esteemed (and terrifying?) pleasure of reading this after having traveled to Prague. The landscape of Městská čast Praha 1, encompassing the Jewish quarter, Josefov, and the Prague Castle, illuminated this text tremndously; a perfectly example of mise en scene. Upon a return to Prague this past year, I couldn't shake many of these mortifying images from my head, even when confronted with the recent massive influx of tourists, which are, sadly, rapidly changing the dynamics of the cit...more

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Jun 28, 2008

Nick Black rated it

· review of another edition

Had Kafka lived to finish and edit this, it would be remembered as his greatest novel and one of the absolute masterworks of the Western canon. Le sigh, his death left a great cultural artiface incomplete and is a tremendous loss to us all.

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Jan 31, 2012

miaaa rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: ophelia-s-library, fictions-others

Two things:

One, this is one unfinished book. So of course there are some inconsistencies. But even if Kafka finished it, you think it would be less complicated? We can keep dreaming the world would be a peace altar.

Two, again Kafka lowered himself, put the whole world burden on his main characters, humiliated him, belittled him. It leaves you pulling your hairs off feeling -first sorry then irked- to K.

Somehow I am sure, Lamya is quite annoyed herself for sugg...more

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Jun 23, 2011

Nicholas Karpuk rated it

· review of another edition

I think my reaction to the ending was roughly, "What? Really? Damn it!"

It ends in mid-sentence, and unlike Amerika, there's not a damn bit of closure. Most of the plot threads were left open, and it feels like most of the third act had been left undone.

I guess I didn't understand the level of completion, The Trial and Amerika giving me a sense that it might be mostly done, with a few holes and missing pieces.

Nope, it's a big damn tease.

...moreI think my reaction to the ending was roughly, "What? Really? Damn it!"

It ends in mid-sentence, and unlike Amerika, there's not a damn bit of closure. Most of the plot threads were left open, and it feels like most of the third act had been left undone.

I guess I didn't understand the level of completion, The Trial and Amerika giving me a sense that it might be mostly done, with a few holes and missing pieces.

Nope, it's a big damn tease.

And insult to injury, it feels like the least well edited book of Kafka's writing. Entire chapters break the "show don't tell rule", feeling more like a summary than a proper chapter. It feels like they were written quickly, with great intensity, and never revised for flow or accessibility.

And it's a shame, because there are some great ideas here. Previous books always gave off the impression that the protagonist was innocent, suffering at the hands of an unfair bureacracy. In contrast, K. is kind of a dick. He hits people when he gets impatient, he acts like a child when things don't go his way, and he's not above using people to get what he wants.

It's a more mature statement on the concept of what's Kafkaesque. Bureacracies don't just fail because they're a bad idea. the failures of a bloated system come from the laziness, impatience, ineptitude, and arrogance of those involved. K is just as much a problem as everyone he encounters, and collectively they paint a picture of why bureaucracies fail. Too much corruption sends society screeching to a halt.

But at times it's a pain to read. Conversations are often circuitous, several area contradict each other in ways that seem like a continuity error rather than clever writing. Multiple pages go by with one character going on a needless rant. On a structural level it's just broken.

And it can never be fixed. The most any Kafka fan gets is those intense editions with all the scraps and original documents included, which seems like an elaborate form of self-abuse to wade through.

I'm glad I've finished reading Kafka's major works, because damn it am I frustrated.(less)

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Mar 05, 2011

Alessandro rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: confusing

The devil has a library. Alongside Necronomicon and Malleus Maleficarum, you can find a copy of Franz Kafka's The Castle. To read this is to know pain. This book is an ungodly torment. It doesn't even have proper paragraph division. There are paragraphs that contain chapters inside themselves. How much of a mind twist is that? Wall of text of death! The narrative unravels in a feverish and dream-like state and never breaks from it. Nevertheless, I manage to finish reading this sucker. Oh! I am t...moreThe devil has a library. Alongside Necronomicon and Malleus Maleficarum, you can find a copy of Franz Kafka's The Castle. To read this is to know pain. This book is an ungodly torment. It doesn't even have proper paragraph division. There are paragraphs that contain chapters inside themselves. How much of a mind twist is that? Wall of text of death! The narrative unravels in a feverish and dream-like state and never breaks from it. Nevertheless, I manage to finish reading this sucker. Oh! I am the baddest motherfucker alive and I wasn't going to give up just like that. While reading The Castle, I experienced nausea, boredom, anxiety, nervous breakdown and unsurpassed rage. I survived through it all. I half expected that, in the last chapter, Franz Kafka would reveal this book as being a big joke. He would congratulate the reader for reading thus far and offer his sincerest apologizes for such torture. It never happened. I hear he died before finishing The Castle. Maybe that was his intended ending.

Spoilers ahead! The Castle is an obvious commentary about bureaucracy and about an individual oppressed by society. Nonetheless, I cooked up my own interpretation of this bloody mess. The next paragraph exposes it.

The villagers and castle-officers share two common traits. First off, they both are proud of their station in life and job. Some of the villagers work at the most mundane jobs possible. Nevertheless, they are proud of it. The castle-officers are shamelessly inefficient and The Castle fails to provide solution to anything during the novel. Nonetheless, these officers regard themselves as semi-gods and are proud of it. The other common trait is that they all believe that life is out of control. They never act. Instead, they accept every circumstance and let every occurrence mold their lives without resistance. Except the disgraced family, but that’s precisely why they are disgusting to the villagers. Every time a villager reinterprets everything that happens to K as being profoundly and inexorable important to his or her own life, Kafka is pointing out that the commoners never act to fix their lives. They accept it as it is. I perceived this when Pepi (the most unimportant character imaginable) reviews everything that happened thus far from her point of view. Moreover, blamed K. for every affect it had in her life. She is just a passive victim. All the villagers and castle-folk are passive. As a foreigner, K. is different. First, K. does not have a clear job and that hurts his pride. In the first chapters, he is completely pissed off but the book never tells it to you straightaway. He is hurling snowballs at people to catch their attention. If that is not the action of an angry person, I do not know what it is. Second, and most important, K. is active. He acts and tries to solve his problem. That is completely alien to the villagers. Their only trade is the art of making excuses and empty (endless) arguments. That is the reason why the villagers consider K. as being childish and naive. Does he not know he is supposed to accept live as it is? When the narrative approaches its end, K. is reasoning like one of the villagers already. Body Snatcher style, he has been assimilated.
(less)

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Feb 26, 2011

Mad Dog rated it

"ALL YOU NEED IS ... ARGUMENT" might be an appropriate subtitle for this book. If you like arguing and confrontation (wrapped in an old-fashioned and 'creepy-absurd' shell), then this book is for you. The protagonist K is talkative, clever, egoistic, high-strung, brash, and goal-driven. He'll lie to get what he wants, and then argue that he is not 'technically' lying. Absurdity abounds: doors that are too small, kids taking a bath in a big tub in the kitchen (in front of a visitor), a ...more"ALL YOU NEED IS ... ARGUMENT" might be an appropriate subtitle for this book. If you like arguing and confrontation (wrapped in an old-fashioned and 'creepy-absurd' shell), then this book is for you. The protagonist K is talkative, clever, egoistic, high-strung, brash, and goal-driven. He'll lie to get what he wants, and then argue that he is not 'technically' lying. Absurdity abounds: doors that are too small, kids taking a bath in a big tub in the kitchen (in front of a visitor), a schoolroom doubling as a residence, etc. Heck, the book starts with K being mistakenly (or is it a mistake) called to 'the Village' to be a land surveyor as a result of bureacratic bungle. He is told (upon arrival) that a land surveyor is not needed. That begins K's darkly comic quest to reach 'the Castle' ('not so easy' to reach), which houses the officials that run 'the Village'. 'The Castle' and 'the Village' seem to exist in a remote European area that is isolated from the rest of the world.

K is ultimately a boring individual to me, as his relentless pursuit of self-interest is grating (and he is in every 'scene' in this book). Some might appreciate his different perspective and challenging of the 'goings on' in 'the Village', but ultimately he is predictably selfish in all situations. There may be nuances to his arguments, but there are no nuances to his character. He is not principled or compassionate. He just wants to get to 'the Castle'. If I want endless arguments, confrontation and self-pursuit, I can go spend some more time with my teenage boys.

Faring better with me is support character Olga. She was not in this book much, but she provided an pleasant alternative to K. She and K shared the same misery: being shunned by 'the Castle'. But she worked constructively (to gain influence with 'the Castle') and she worked in a friendly manner. And she worked to help her family (especially her brother). And she got some small results. She is self-effacing. She loves her family and her brother. For me, her presence and her story 'anchors' the book.

I really couldn't fit any specific metaphors to 'the Castle'(although I am sure that they exist and have been much discussed). I see 'the Castle' as representing this: the 'material place and position' that we deeply desire. And the bureaucracy (of 'the Castle') represents the obstacles (both internal and external) that keep us getting there. So many of us never get there. Or if we do get there, it doesn't bring the happiness we anticipate. "Wherever you go, thats where you are". Reference the Bible book Ecclesiastes. But I might just be reading what I want out of this book (like the infamous narrator of Nabokov's Pale Fire).

Another way the book impacted me: Be more like Olga and less like K.

Reverse view: As I think what I wrote above, I am taking a little more kindly to this book. Surely, Kafka is trying to present a hellish harsh culture (as that must be what he observed). But I can see some of myself in K. I catch myself easily getting into 'argument mode'. And I argue even though it mostly gets me nowhere. And I work at a big company, so I can relate to a bureaucratic maze (like in the book). And I like the creepy-absurd-remote environment of 'the Village'. But most of all, I liked the writing of the book. Kafka's high-strung, detailed and 'rabid' writing style perfectly fit the environment of this book. I am sure that so much of what Kafka observed was so absurd to Kafka, and Kafka enjoyed turning the absurdity up a notch in his own writing. Surely the translator (Harman) of my edition did an outstanding job.(less)

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Jun 13, 2010

Emir rated it

· review of another edition

"The present English edition is based on the definitive German edition of Das Schloss (New York: Schoken Books; 1951). Thus it is considerably larger than the previous editions, which followed the text of the first German publication of the novel. The additions--results of Max Brod's later editing of Franz Kafka's posthumous writings--are: the concluding section of Chapter xviii the whole of Chapters xix and xx, and the Appendix, consisting of variations, fragments, and, above all, of many ...more"The present English edition is based on the definitive German edition of Das Schloss (New York: Schoken Books; 1951). Thus it is considerably larger than the previous editions, which followed the text of the first German publication of the novel. The additions--results of Max Brod's later editing of Franz Kafka's posthumous writings--are: the concluding section of Chapter xviii the whole of Chapters xix and xx, and the Appendix, consisting of variations, fragments, and, above all, of many passages struck through and thus deleted by the author, but deemed sufficiently interesting by the editor to be made accessible to all," the Publisher's Note reads in my copy of The Castle. Including the Appendix, my copy is 471 pages, brown and with pages falling off.

Is there any significance to this page counting? See, when I made my currently reading update for this book when I was at page 241, the indicator showed that there are 481 pages in The Castle. So I might be missing some extra 10 pages, probably additions to additions since Kafka did not get to finish the book and it is mentioned somewhere that he related to a friend how the book would end when he was on his deathbed. These additions may be negligible, after all Kafka himself saw fit not to include them, but the jetsams and flotsams of ideas of a literary giant are considered precious and essential in consideration of his life’s works.

Now into the story: K. arrives in the village late in the evening, in the territory of the Castle which commissioned him as a Land Surveyor. Land-surveying— what a flimsy, ordinary thing to anchor a story on. But K.would do almost anything but his purported job. And he would do all his might to be able to present himself to the Castle, to make a connection, a meaning to his stay in the village not his own.

This is the hardest read I have had in my reading life (that would be 23 years, counting the komiks days ). Reading The Castle is like plodding through a river against a very strong current, it takes utmost effort to move from page to page. It’s as if Kafka intended the hardships of the main character K. to be experienced by the audacious reader—not directly, but in parallel—as the benefit of K reaching the Castle is as difficult to grasp as the value of finishing the book. Surely, K. could have abandoned his effort at the early signs of ridiculous resistance by the villagers and authorities. On my part, I could have stopped reading this work and moved on to a thinner, lighter read. But, no. Just as dogged as K. was in trying to connect to the Castle, I was determined to finish this book, fighting boredom all the way. Kafka’s setting is mundane and logically incongruous but he hints on something more.

"Now he could see the Castle above him, clearly defined in the glittering air, its outline made still more definite by the thin layer of snow covering everything. There seemed to be much less snow up there on the hill than down in the village, where K. found progress as laborious as on the main road the previous day. Here the heavy snowdrifts reached right up to the cottage windows and began again on the low roofs, but up on the hill everything soared light and free into the air, or at least so it appeared from below.”

Through subtleties like this, the Castle becomes not just a castle; K.’s efforts take on different proportions; the whole story is not just an ordinary tale. And here is the genius of Kafka. And here is the problem about reading him. If a story cannot be told directly and must be coated in layers, does it make the tale grander? Does the truth the novel carries becomes more potent when extracted with great effort and difficulty?

"If a man has his eyes bound, you can encourage him as much as you like to stare through the bandage, but he’ll never see anything. He’ll be able to see only when the bandage is removed."

The Castle is a taxing read. Consider its pages as bandages you peel from layer to layer, hoping truth(s) would be revealed at the end.

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Nov 13, 2009

Крис rated it

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I originally read the Muir translation of The Castle years ago, and have just finished the recent one by Harman. I think I prefer the Muirs on a literary basis, and Harman's as to linearity and style. In both versions I cannot give a five-star rating, as, like all of Kafka's big three novels, they were unfinished when he died - indeed, The Castle ends in mid-sentence - and this flaw, this lack of resolution, cannot be overcome by editing regardless the number of times it is attempted.

...moreI originally read the Muir translation of The Castle years ago, and have just finished the recent one by Harman. I think I prefer the Muirs on a literary basis, and Harman's as to linearity and style. In both versions I cannot give a five-star rating, as, like all of Kafka's big three novels, they were unfinished when he died - indeed, The Castle ends in mid-sentence - and this flaw, this lack of resolution, cannot be overcome by editing regardless the number of times it is attempted.

Harman's translation delivers a grittier, more breathless version of Kafka's detailing of a surreal, bureaucratic nightmare. The characters speak more harshly, K. himself is somewhat more shifty and selfish, and the employees of the omnipresent Castle colder and less congenial. As always with Kafka, the sinister can intrude upon the banal in mid-sentence. Many authors have subsequently blended the dreamlike with the everyday, the absurd with the ordinary - Auster, Ishiguro, Murakami, Banks - but none can improve upon the master; fewer still can make formal speech appear so fluid and natural. He is also funny, in a dry and subtle manner, like the other great Austrian German writers of his time.

The story itself is fairly simple: K., a land surveyor, is summoned (allegedly) to the seat of the Count Westwest to perform his duties. Once there, facing a Castle and village that deny having requested him in the first place, K. must attempt to pierce the multi-layered, dizzying bureaucracy that stands between the protagonist and his ever-elusive goal, entry into the Castle itself. Scrounging up a few half-hearted allies (and a fiancée) out of an otherwise hostile village populace, K. tries to use reason to deal with the ever-changing methods and rules that are cast his way to impede his progress. Along the way, K. is faced with doubts as to the veracity of his point-of-view; and his motives, his truth, cast in a questionable light. Multi-page conversations ensue with the gentlemen, servants and villagers - devout believers in the imperfect "perfection" emanating from his crenellated nemesis.

This is an enigmatic work. It has been stated that Kafka was writing about the spiritual, with the Castle representing salvation or a unreachable God, though Harman shies from this point of view in his introduction. Others have postulated that K. and the Castle stand for the unresolved - and unresolvable - tensions and barriers that existed between Kafka and his father. I made notes myself, whilst reading, positing K. as God (or the Devil) with the Castle and villagers representing an unbelieving and obfuscatory modernity alienating themselves through doublespeak and rationalized irrationality; they call for God through prayer, but deny him when he appears; long for him from afar, yet cannot bear his presence. From a different approach, perhaps K. reflects the scientific truth depends upon the observer(s) - K.'s version of reality differs from that of his interlocutors; they can argue back-and-forth all day, but who is right? Or is The Castle simply a mirror to the absurdity of life, complex rules and obscure rituals that serve to mask the utter pointlessness of existence as the twentieth-century began to really gather speed? Kafka always raises questions, but provides no firm answers.

One can only imagine the true masterpiece Kafka might have been able to produce if his vision and drive hadn't stalled during its creation, the unfinished manuscript abandoned and never resumed before his death shortly after. If the talented Czech had been able to polish and tighten the novel, and furnish an ending (if not a resolution), the novel would be near perfect. As it stands, The Castle is still a fascinating, puzzling, and necessary book, well worth the reader's time and effort.(less)

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Jan 03, 2008

Andy rated it

Unlike in "The Trial," where banal moments were given a terrifying atmosphere, in this book I had trouble caring whether or not K. ever got to the castle. In "The Trial" I wanted Joseph K. to get the hell out of the process he was trapped in; with "The Castle" I really felt I was reading an incomplete book that wasn't quite sure what it was doing. And whereas I like the humor in most of Kafka's work, here the slapstick and side treks seemed forced. Instead of eer...more

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Sep 25, 2011

Христо Блажев rated it

Бюрокрацията властва в “Замъкът” на Кафка
http://www.knigolandia.info/2010/02/blog...

Подобно на “Процесът”, и в “Замъкът” светът е разделен, а героя има дял проклет да е роден, за да го сложи в ред. Да, малко пошекспирувам, но след мааалко тебеширената проза на Кафка поезията ми се струва най-прекрасното нещо на света.

Мистериозният К. пристига, в бедно село, над което се извисява странен замък. Авторът не ни дава и думичка за миналото на героя, какъв е, що е, нищи...more

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Aug 16, 2007

jon rated it

This novel takes off, stylistically, where The Trial leaves off. We have a similar sort of situation, but it's almost infinitely more complex in The Castle, if for no other reason than that K.'s motives for reaching the castle are nearly as inscrutable as the reasons why he can never do so. In The Trial, we at least understand K.'s motivation. This is not a criticism of The Castle; in fact, it intensifies the situation, thematically and stylistically, of The Trial.

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Dec 21, 2011

Cristian rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: comedy, emoscrew, mindscrew, social-comment

What a horrible, insufferable book. Not because it is done wrong, but because it is done right. Kafka does such a good job at portraying the revolting broken-spiritedness of the villagers, the outrageous way in which they worship their opressors, their baffling inability to lucidly identify their situation - which is all too present in K and makes him stand out as the only reasonable human being among them -, that I could barely get through 5 pages at a time without having to repress the urge to...more

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Sep 27, 2011

Dbolden rated it

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Shelves: 1001, freaky-fridays

Hmmm. This book came to me when I was not ready to receive it. And whilst the behaviour of the assistants during the first third of the novel kept me more than well amused (LOL, ROFL etc) I wasn't up to fighting the last third, where the threads started to come undone.

I can appreciate Kafka's style of prose, and was genuinely in alignment with K's reaction to his surroundings. I was surprised when K. was suprised. I was confused when K. was confused. I was enlightened when K. was enl...more

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Jul 29, 2008

Kathryn rated it

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and i realize that Kafka was a shizophrenic, delusional and paranoid, narcissist.

the non-linear sentence structure and seemingly no beginning nor end to the novel, (time doesn't exist) is composed of the authors' almost completely
autobiographical, and sometimes allegorical delusions. Deleuze and Guattari prob cream their pants over it. Thanks.

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Aug 25, 2011

Jordan Forster rated it

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The gist of Kafka's masterpiece is: faced with all the external forces of the world the individual is futile. His thoughts and his actions cannot improve his situation because, ultimately, he is not in control.

The Castle is concerned with a land-surveyor (known only as K.) whose arrival at the village below the mysterious castle is met with resistance at every level of the bureaucracy. Along with The Trial, this novel is often seen as a prophetic vision of the terrorism that may be i...moreThe gist of Kafka's masterpiece is: faced with all the external forces of the world the individual is futile. His thoughts and his actions cannot improve his situation because, ultimately, he is not in control.

The Castle is concerned with a land-surveyor (known only as K.) whose arrival at the village below the mysterious castle is met with resistance at every level of the bureaucracy. Along with The Trial, this novel is often seen as a prophetic vision of the terrorism that may be inflicted by the state upon its citizens. Whereas in The Trial Josef K. is persecuted by state violence for a crime he may or may not have committed, in The Castle is the chain of command and red-tape that oppresses K. Certainly, some of the features of both hold true of the future that unfolded beyond Kafka, but to simply reduce such a masterpiece of literature to a political pamphlet is crude and irrelevant.

As well as his essentially existential argument Kafka challenges many of the conventions of his day, placing his novels firmly amongst the truly modern and innovative. We know nothing about K.'s appearance, Kafka offers no personal history or background for any of his characters, there are no psychological or philosophical observations. Kafka is concerned only with K.'s thoughts and actions as they effect the matter directly at hand, i.e. who should K. seek in order to gain official acceptance into the village, how should he question this official etc. Of course, every avenue is fruitless, and K. is forced to see out his life in conflict with the authorities. Kafka's point is not whether K. deserves acceptance, whether his claim to some administrative oversight is justified or not, when faced with the external force of the world, there is nothing anyone can do. Motives and reasons are unnecessary; things happen sometimes because they do; people and states can persecuate others simply because they are able to.

Nearly 100 years after publication The Castle stands as one of the true masterpieces of literature, concerned with a universal existential problem that every human being at every moment is faced with.(less)

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Jan 31, 2012

Peter H. Fogtdal rated it

Kafka is addictive. There is something hypnotic about this enigmatic Master, but let's face it, he is often boring as well. Of course you're not supposed to admit that since Kafka is one of the most important writers of the 20th Century.

I found The Castle to be compelling, unforgettable, and dull. Often you ask yourself, why am I reading this, but you can't help yourself. You have to continue. The Castle is mysterious, weird, dreamy, and inspiring.

The novel is hugely symboli...more

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Apr 05, 2007

Chris rated it

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Shelves: weird-fiction

I got into Kafka backwards, as this was the first thing I ever read by him. It was, however, brilliantly bizare, like reading a nightmare. I dare say it was Kafkaesque.

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Aug 16, 2010

Ansherli rated it

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تا طعم تلخ بروکراسی و فساد اداری رو نچشیده باشی نمیتونی خط به خط این نوشته ها رو حس کنی

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Jan 23, 2012

Ttssattsr rated it

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Shelves: incredible-novels

The most wonderful mix of surreal fairy-tale and isolated village life, ruled by an elusive but all powerful office. Mysterious!

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Feb 04, 2012

Nick rated it

Not the best Kafka book I've ever read. The themes of frustration and alienation come across more strongly here than in other books, but they aren't punctuated by absurdities as much. That takes a lot of the fun out of it for me. Its one of the darkest Kafka books that I've read, but the surrealness never gets fever pitch. It started off strong, but after some time the weirdness of the situation wasn't enough to sustain me, and I began to get as frustrated as K. with the long drawn out and ultim...more

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Nov 24, 2011

Nancy rated it

I read this novel immediately after reading The Trial by Kafka.

Essentially it is a story about individuals and groups and their absurd relationship with bureaucracy - bureaucracy that exists only for itself in the elusive castle - and to which the villagers below give all kinds of rights and powers for no apparent reason.

Relationships among people at the village level are strange - but at times caring, but not always consistently.

An interesting read - where nothing ...more

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Jan 26, 2012

Lamski Kikita rated it

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it was Gerstacker's mother. She held a trembling hand out to K. and made him sit down beside her, she spoke with an effort, it was an effort to understand her, but what she said struck K. "I know you can't help my son. Had you any power you would have helped yourself, Mr. Land Surveyor." To this, K. did not respond. He took his hand out of hers as if retrieving a bone from a rabid dog. "You think you have connections in the Castle, but you don't; no one does". A cough interr...more it was Gerstacker's mother. She held a trembling hand out to K. and made him sit down beside her, she spoke with an effort, it was an effort to understand her, but what she said struck K. "I know you can't help my son. Had you any power you would have helped yourself, Mr. Land Surveyor." To this, K. did not respond. He took his hand out of hers as if retrieving a bone from a rabid dog. "You think you have connections in the Castle, but you don't; no one does". A cough interrupted her, which gave her son the opportunity to try to wrench K. out of this unpleasant conversation. K. resisted, "I have a connection to Klamm and I now also have the attention of Erlanger, who would sure help me if I persist." Almost as if she had become a young girl once again, Gerstacker's mother's voice had the authority and clarity of a youth, "Neither Klamm nor Erlanger are on your side. They are merely tools to the Castle. Don't you see it? You were brought from a faraway land to be a land surveyor, and land surveying you haven't done. In fact, you have done all but land surveying. how can you stand to stay after this humiliation? Do you not see how you are a mere toy to them? from Frieda's arms to the Barnabas household, to becoming a janitor. a janitor!" "It is only because things take a long time at the Castle. I am sure that my case will be resolved and I will be able to stay in the village somehow," K. had doubt in his voice, which gave her no need to argue with him. "I shall take your leave tomorrow morning. I have nothing but gratitude for your letting me spend the night here. I must go back to the school to collect my belongings before I set out for my village." "Do you have a Castle in your village?" Gerstacker's mother was now calm, and her voice turned old and tired again. "There is no Castle in my village, but there is a small municipality office with a handful of officials who take care of day-to-day matters. They are barely competent and do not compare to the Castle officials in their importance." K stopped himself from praising Klamm and the other Castle officials to someone who did not care for it. He has now found out that his efforts are futile, and nothing, most of all unworthy praise, would get him anywhere in the Castle or in the village. "You must leave before they find out your intent. Leave before the Castle devours you."

Oh, Franz. What was in your mind when you wrote this book? I know this is very far from what you might have wanted the ending to be, but you know when there is a song stuck in your head and you can't get it out? It is advised to listen to the whole song from beginning to end so that your mind stops seeking to finish the unfinished part that you thought of (which caused it to get stuck there in the first place). That is exactly what I know will happen to me if i didn't have "closure" with this book. I have already spent many nights extremely irritated by K's naivete, the disgusting snobbyness of the castle officials, the loathesomeness of Freida and her utter lies, and the horrifying attitude of the whole village towards the nobleness and pride of Barnabas' family. I would have driven myself crazy trying to find out what you were planning on ending the book with. Was K. just going to continue trying to work his situation out at the Castle even though he knows no one there gives a shit about him? Was he still going to pursue that barmaid who prides herself in a fake mistress-relationship with Klamm (who no one even knows for sue that he is real)? Was he going to continue to scorn Olga and her family and pretend that he wants to help them? Would he have been hired as a personal stylist for the Landlady of the Count's Arms? I had to come up with an ending, and I had to do it fast, before my brain is infiltrated and dominated by the mysterious power of the Castle.

Government is like vines that one plants to make an ugly wall in their back yard seem pretty, but if one does not trim it and limit its water intake, it will grow and grow to no end, until it destroys the wall, and maybe later your house, kicking you out of it and residing in it as its own. The Castle is a nightmare to me; a maze of government office inside a government office inside another government office where reality no longer exists. So many officials that you do not know who's responsible for what and who is above whom. A labyrinthine world inside which if you go, you shall never walk out with your mind intact.

The village is even worse, filled with people who have no sincerity, no manners, and consideration for normal folk. You do not matter unless you're from the castle, or if you have the connections to the Castle that may be of benefit to these horrid people. A society in which women are honored to be summoned for "service" by disgusting Castle officials whenever they please. Honor? at least prostitutes get paid for their services; these women just get cast aside.

K. infuriated me throughout the book. What a contemptible man! Pretentious and naive enough to be fooled by a child! He has no self respect nor the decency to know to leave when he is not welcome. And yet he has a fake sense of importance that gives him the right to treat his assistants and the peasants at the inn worse than animals. Is it K's fault that he acts so, or is it that the system of suffocating hierarchy has genetically altered people to be that way?

When I was about one third into this book, i thought to myself that this wasn't dark enough for Kafka. But closer to the end I realized that sometimes darker than a colony specialized in torturing prisoners for silly crimes, and a man turned into a beetle, and another arrested and put to a cruel trial for nothing at all, is the idea of a government so vast and so labyrinthine that it swallows you up, and can cause your whole life to come to a complete stop without even lifting a finger. The Castle is what government is right before it becomes 1984. Bureaucracy is way more scary than turning into an insect.

All in all, though I was mostly irritated by this book, it is hard not to find beauty in the Kafkaesque expressions; "and he licked his lips as if news were something to eat" and "how suicidal happiness can be!" are some of the quotes that helped me find the strength to survive the Castle, not as a book, but as a concept.(less)

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Jul 25, 2011

Mike Steven rated it

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Sep 02, 2011

Christina rated it

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Probably better to read Kafka's other works before this one to appreciate his style. Albeit lengthier and unfinished, a powerful depiction of futility- like the myth of Sisyphus, made intricate and amplified. A land surveyor by the name of "K." comes to do his job but faces an endless series of obstacles preventing him from ever making it to the castle, which supposedly hired him. Like in The Metamorphosis, Kafka uses dream-like absurdities that seem to make sense to everyone but the ...more

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Aug 05, 2011

Adam Floridia rated it

Unfinished novels. Some cause such pain and anguish as the reader is left hanging mid-sentence wondering what could be—it’s like being violently torn from a magical dream. Others cause intense satisfaction as the reader gets to abruptly end a story that never really took off at all saving hours of tedium—it’s like being moved to the front of the DMV line. For me The Castle falls into the latter category.

I knew the book was unfinished, but I had also heard that it was an incredible a...more

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Jul 14, 2011

Monica rated it

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I recently finished “The Castle” by Franz Kafka and what a phenomenal read it turned out to be! It is about the journey of a land surveyor, who is called upon by a distant land, and his search for definite answers concerning his employment. Soon after I began reading this book, my mind became cluttered with all sorts of questions and curiosities about this strange village the story takes place in. Nevertheless, much like the situation of the protagonist, my search for answers was in vain. Ju...more I recently finished “The Castle” by Franz Kafka and what a phenomenal read it turned out to be! It is about the journey of a land surveyor, who is called upon by a distant land, and his search for definite answers concerning his employment. Soon after I began reading this book, my mind became cluttered with all sorts of questions and curiosities about this strange village the story takes place in. Nevertheless, much like the situation of the protagonist, my search for answers was in vain. Just when you think that you are about to gain some understanding, your reality only becomes more clouded.

As a reader, I wandered endlessly with the main character, K., in this bizarre maze of regulations and bureaucratic oppression. K. cannot grasp the social norms of this place, which are very intricate and complex. He often breaks taboos and unintentionally causes uproar, often by questioning authority: a concept inconceivable to all the villagers. All he seeks is to reach the castle so he can speak to the officials about his job and situation. However, this goal is forlorn. K. will forever remain on the outside.

Klamm , in my perspective, symbolizes a higher being-the villagers have such reverence for him and consider themselves unworthy of his eminence. Therefore, none of them actually communicate with him; we can only wonder if he even exists at all. Also, K.’s wants to speak to Klamm in order to gain a sense of purpose. Without an explanation from Klamm, K.’s existence as a land surveyor in the village is meaningless. I believe this is supposed to be allegorical to man’s search for purpose and spiritual enlightenment.

This is an endlessly thought provoking book because it leaves room for much interpretation. Actually, this book was never finished and ends in midsentence, which makes it even more enigmatic in my opinion. Through this tale, I think Kafka might be drawing allusions to our own existence because in the in end, neither the reader nor K. achieves any resolute answers.
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About Franz Kafka

Franz Kafka (German pronunciation: [ˈfʀants ˈkafka]) was one of the major fiction writers of the 20th century. He was born to a middle-class German-speaking Jewish family in Prague, Bohemia (presently the Czech Republic), Austria–Hungary. His unique body of writing—much of which is incomplete and which was mainly published posthumously—is considered to be among the most influential in Western lite...moreFranz Kafka (German pronunciation: [ˈfʀants ˈkafka]) was one of the major fiction writers of the 20th century. He was born to a middle-class German-speaking Jewish family in Prague, Bohemia (presently the Czech Republic), Austria–Hungary. His unique body of writing—much of which is incomplete and which was mainly published posthumously—is considered to be among the most influential in Western literature.

His stories include The Metamorphosis (1912) and In the Penal Colony (1914), while his novels are The Trial (1925), The Castle (1926) and Amerika (1927).

Kafka learned German as his first language, but he was also fluent in Czech. Later, Kafka acquired some knowledge of French language and culture; one of his favorite authors was Flaubert.

Kafka first studied chemistry at the Charles-Ferdinand University of Prague, but switched after two weeks to law. This offered a range of career possibilities, which pleased his father, and required a longer course of study that gave Kafka time to take classes in German studies and art history. At the university, he joined a student club, named Lese- und Redehalle der Deutschen Studenten, which organized literary events, readings and other activities. In the end of his first year of studies, he met Max Brod, who would become a close friend of his throughout his life, together with the journalist Felix Weltsch, who also studied law. Kafka obtained the degree of Doctor of Law on 18 June 1906 and performed an obligatory year of unpaid service as law clerk for the civil and criminal courts.

Kafka's writing attracted little attention until after his death. During his lifetime, he published only a few short stories and never finished any of his novels, unless "The Metamorphosis" is considered a (short) novel. Prior to his death, Kafka wrote to his friend and literary executor Max Brod: "Dearest Max, my last request: Everything I leave behind me ... in the way of diaries, manuscripts, letters (my own and others'), sketches, and so on, [is] to be burned unread." Brod overrode Kafka's wishes, believing that Kafka had given these directions to him specifically because Kafka knew he would not honor them—Brod had told him as much. Brod, in fact, would oversee the publication of most of Kafka's work in his possession, which soon began to attract attention and high critical regard.

Max Brod encountered significant difficulty in compiling Kafka's notebooks into any chronological order as Kafka was known to start writing in the middle of notebooks, from the last towards the first, etc.

All of Kafka's published works, except several letters he wrote in Czech to Milena Jesenská, were written in German.(less)

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Quotes from The Castle

“I dream of a grave, deep and narrow, where we could clasp each other in our arms as with clamps, and I would hide my face in you and you would hide your face in me, and nobody would ever see us any more” — 2 people liked it

“One must fight to get to the top, especially if one starts at the bottom.” — 1 person liked it

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