Classics · Literary
The Trial
A respectable bank clerk is arrested one morning and never told what he is accused of. He spends the rest of the book trying to navigate a court that no one can explain.
Facts last checked 2026-10-16
- First published
- 1925
- Pace
- Slow
- Length
- Short
- Pages
- 231
- Format
- Standalone
Read this if you like unsettling, airless stories about bureaucracy and guilt that you can read as a nightmare or a joke.
Skip this if you need a clear plot, a fair resolution or characters who learn from what happens to them.
The feel
Content warnings
Quick answers about The Trial
- What is The Trial about?
- A respectable bank clerk is arrested one morning and never told what he is accused of. He spends the rest of the book trying to navigate a court that no one can explain.
- Who should read The Trial?
- Read it if you like unsettling, airless stories about bureaucracy and guilt that you can read as a nightmare or a joke. Skip it if you need a clear plot, a fair resolution or characters who learn from what happens to them.
- How long and how fast is The Trial?
- It is a slow-paced, short read of about 231 pages, first published in 1925.
- Does The Trial have content warnings?
- Content we flag: Death.
- Can I borrow The Trial for free?
- Often, yes. Check Libby (OverDrive) to see whether your library lends The Trial; the borrow button above searches it for you.
- What should I read after The Trial?
- Readers who liked it often move on to The Metamorphosis, Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Stranger.
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Where to get it
| Store | Price | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Borrow free | ||
| Libby / OverDrive | Free with a library card | Borrow free with Libby from Libby / OverDrive |
| Print, new | ||
| Amazon | Check price | Buy new from Amazon |
| Ebook | ||
| Kobo | Check price | Buy ebook from Kobo |
| Google Play Books | Check price | Buy ebook from Google Play Books |
| Audiobook | ||
| Audible | Check price | Buy audiobook from Audible |
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Because you might love it
If you loved The Trial
-
The Metamorphosis
Kafka at his shortest and strangest, with the same dread of an absurd, unexplained fate landing on an ordinary man.
-
Nineteen Eighty-Four Takes the faceless-authority fear of The Trial and builds an entire state around it, with far more plot and politics.
-
The Stranger
Another short, cold novel about a man judged by a system that cares less about what he did than who he seems to be.
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