Cover of The Trial

The Trial

Franz Kafka, 1925

Czech novelist, 1883–1924.

The Trial is a 1925 novel by Franz Kafka, translated from German.

Essential
  • Critics' Darling

On 5 of the 11 lists it was eligible for.

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At a glance

Author
Franz Kafka
First published
1925
Length
208 pages (UK paperback)
Original language
Translated from German
Genre
Literary fiction, Philosophical, Political

Is The Trial worth reading?

5 of the 11 best-of lists it could have made include it, among them 100 books of the century (Le Monde) and The 100 best novels of all time (The Guardian).

ListPlaceOriginal
100 books of the century (Le Monde, 1999)No. 3See the list
100 novels everyone should read (The Telegraph, 2009)No. 76See the list
Bokklubben World Library (Norwegian Book Clubs, 2002)ListedSee the list
The 100 best novels of all time (The Guardian, 2026)No. 27See the list
The 100 greatest novels of all time (The Observer, 2003)ListedSee the list

Best edition of The Trial

The edition we link to is the Penguin Classics paperback (2015), 208 pages, translated by Idris Parry.

Publisher
Penguin Classics (paperback, 2015)
Pages
208
Translator
Idris Parry
ISBN
9780241197790

How critics and readers rate The Trial

Critics rate it most highly: it earned 87% of the points available on critics' lists, against 0% on readers' and booksellers' lists.

Critics
87%
Prizes
Not eligible for any of these lists yet
Readers and booksellers
0%

Share of the available points it earned on each kind of list it was eligible for. How the scores work

Books like The Trial

If you liked The Trial, try Nineteen Eighty-Four, Catch-22 or The Stranger.

Lists used on this page