The Trial

A beautiful Clothbound Classics edition of Kafka’s chilling and darkly entertaining exploration of life’s absurdity

A Penguin Classics Hardcover

A terrifying psychological trip into the life of one Joseph K., an ordinary man who wakes up one day to find himself accused of a crime he did not commit, a crime whose nature is never revealed to him. Once arrested, he is released, but must report to court on a regular basis – an event that proves maddening, as nothing is ever resolved. As he grows more uncertain of his fate, his personal life – including work at a bank and his relations with his landlady and a young woman who lives next door – becomes increasingly unpredictable. As K. tries to gain control, he succeeds only in accelerating his own excruciating downward spiral.

This is a stunning new Clothbound Classics edition of Kafka’s major novel, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith and translated by Idris Parry. These delectable and collectible Penguin editions are bound in colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design.