Hello, everyone. I recently read The Trial by Franz Kafka.
I was expecting the book to a short but unremitting look into a perniciously corrupt legal system that wears you down with its confusing rules and brusque officials. Don't get me wrong, it had plenty of this, but there was a lot more to it as well.
I think it is the very reason it has become a classic. Because it isn't just about the bleak and pitiable descent of a man into madness because of a legal system beyond comprehension; it is also a work of great humour. The scene when Josef and the lawyer's mistress are getting up to mischief in the room beside his uncle and his lawyer as they are trying to him with case but can hear him was very amusing, especially because it was unexpected.
Perhaps I simply went into it with the wrong expectations. I think it's partly to do with the popular word 'Kafkaesque' only referring to the more haunting themes of his work. The funny scenes add to the overall feeling of fear about the trial also but they are amusing in their own right and shape the book into a great work.
Would love to hear anyone's thoughts.
P.S. DFW put it well when he said "For me, a signal frustration in trying to read Kafka with students is that it is next to impossible to get them to see that Kafka is funny."
by belisarius1637