Great performance of a modernist masterpiece The least interesting are the opening scenes (the Arrest), the First Hearing, and the Cathedral (including the 'Before the Law' inset). Why bother when there are other books to suit other tastes? To me, the most interesting passages in The Trial are Fraulein Burstner, Fraulein Montag, and the first visit to the advocate including Leni. If the book is not interesting to you at that level, it's just not for you. Just to find out what happens, never bothering your head about the 'meaning' or anything like that. Many of its passages may seem flat and boring unless you, the reader, are doing some active part.) I find that the best way to read Kafka is to read it like some genre piece you read only for the action. The Castle, which is his last, is not exactly well written throughout. (Amerika, which is his first novel, seems unfocused because there is no obvious central or abiding motif. It is focused and well executed in comparison to the others. As for the book, need I say anything? If you are new to Kafka, this is probably the long novel you are most likely to find interesting. A slow reading, as befits a text that is highly suggestive in almost every sentence. Rupert Degas does not try to voice-act, which probably couldn't be done anyway. The sedate, if somewhat mincing, tone seems just right. I like this reading much better than the other two I have heard (George Guidall and Geoffrey Howard).

Kafka the trial best translation