The Castle

by Franz Kafka

English language

Published Dec. 15, 1998

ISBN:: 978-0-8052-1106-1

(16 reviews)

The Castle (German: Das Schloss, also spelled Das Schloß [das ˈʃlɔs]) is a 1926 novel by Franz Kafka. In it a protagonist known only as "K." arrives in a village and struggles to gain access to the mysterious authorities who govern it from a castle supposedly owned by Count Westwest. Kafka died before he could finish the work, but suggested it would end with K. dying in the village, the castle notifying him on his death bed that his "legal claim to live in the village was not valid, yet, taking certain auxiliary circumstances into account, he was permitted to live and work there." Dark and at times surreal, The Castle is often understood to be about alienation, unresponsive bureaucracy, the frustration of trying to conduct business with non-transparent, seemingly arbitrary controlling systems, and the futile pursuit of an unobtainable goal.

14 editions

Dee reviewed The Castle by Franz Kafka

Review of 'The Castle' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

There's something very comforting about this book, it definitely lives up to the Kafka feel but there's just something slightly different to me about this one. The secondhand frustration as a result of watching K. and his desperation to get in that castle... It's just very human, not a lot of writers can achieve bringing comfort by inducing frustration and I think this has actually become one of my favourites.

Reread this book twice over the course of the past two days and might even go in for a third read. It apparently goes hand in hand with "The Trial" so I'll be giving that a read soon too.

5/5 and a definite recommend!