Franz Kafka's The Trial - Unabridged

By Franz Kafka & Kevin Theis
Franz Kafka's The Trial - Unabridged by Franz Kafka & Kevin Theis digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

"The Trial" is Franz Kafka's dark and disturbing tale of a mild-mannered bank clerk named Josef K. who is arrested, hauled before a court and threatened with imprisonment¿all without knowing any of the charges against him.

Both an absurdist story of bureaucracy run amok and a satiric take on the vagaries of the justice system, Kafka's manuscript for "The Trial" was almost lost to history after Kafka's death when he ordered in his will that all his writings should be destroyed. But the book was rescued by the estate's executor and it has gone on to become one of the most highly praised and lauded books of the 20th century.

"The Trial" is presented here in its original and unabridged format.

Download the free Fable app

app book lists

Stay organized

Keep track of what you’re reading, what you’ve finished, and what’s next.
app book recommendations

Build a better TBR

Swipe, skip, and save with our smart list-building tool
app book reviews

Rate and review

Share your take with other readers with half stars, emojis, and tags
app comments

Curate your feed

Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities
app book lists

Stay organized

Keep track of what you’re reading, what you’ve finished, and what’s next.
app book recommendations

Build a better TBR

Swipe, skip, and save with our smart list-building tool
app book reviews

Rate and review

Share your take with other readers with half stars, emojis, and tags
app comments

Curate your feed

Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities

No Reviews

About Franz Kafka

Franz Kafka  (1883-1924) was a German-speaking Jewish writer born and raised in Prague (then a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire). While few of his works were published during his lifetime, the books and short stories that appeared posthumously became enormously popular and Kafka is now considered one of the major literary figures of the 20th Century. Born to a middle-class family, Kafka trained to become a lawyer, eventually finding work in the insurance industry. In his spare time, he would write short stories, novels and hundreds of letters to both family and friends. Plagued by self-doubt about his writing, Kafka regularly burned his own work rather than risk ridicule and poor reviews. (It is estimated that as much as ninety percent of his writing went up in flames.) The few pieces that were published during his lifetime (including his novella The Metamorphosis) received little attention. Kafka died in relative obscurity in 1924 at the age of 40 from tuberculosis. In his will, he instructed his friend and executor Max Brod to destroy what remained of his work but Brod ignored this request and published much of his writing instead, including the novels The Trial, The Castle and Amerika. These books became hugely popular in German-speaking countries following World War II and were soon translated and disseminated to various other countries, eventually leading to worldwide fame. His writing style - which included fantastical and surrealistic scenarios and bizarre plots - became especially popular during the 1960's, and influenced a generation of artists, writers and philosophers, who coined a word to describe such works that is still in use today: "Kafkaesque."

Kevin Theis

Other books by Kevin Theis

Start a Book Club

Start a public or private book club with this book on the Fable app today!

FAQ

Do I have to buy the ebook to participate in a book club?

Why can’t I buy the ebook on the app?

How is Fable’s reader different from Kindle?

Do you sell physical books too?

Are book clubs free to join on Fable?

How do I start a book club with this book on Fable?

Notification Icon
©2026 Fable Group Inc.
Help & SupportPrivacyCopyright PolicyTerms of Service
Fable uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB