The Castle
by Franz Kafka · Das Schloss
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1926 (written 1922)
- Form
- Novel
- Language
- German
- Length
- Medium · 330 pp120 to 300 pages
- Difficulty
- Demanding3 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendThe Castle, translated by Mark HarmanSchocken, 1998Translated from the restored German text, ending where Kafka's manuscript breaks off mid-sentence.
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Kafka's last, unfinished novel, published by Max Brod two years after his death. A man known only as K. arrives one winter night in a village governed by a castle on the hill and claims to have been summoned as a land surveyor. The castle neither confirms nor denies this. K. spends the novel trying to reach the official Klamm, taking up with the barmaid Frieda, and being drawn into the village's fear of the authorities, without ever getting nearer the castle itself.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns The Castle are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
