The Castle

About this book

Arriving in a village to take up the position of land surveyor for the mysterious lord of a castle the character known as K. finds himself in a bitter and baffling struggle to contact his new employer and go about his duties. As the villagers and the Castle officials block his efforts at every turn K.s consuming questquite possibly a self-imposed oneto penetrate the inaccessible heart of the Castle and take its measure is repeatedly frustrated. Kafka once suggested that the would-be surveyor in The Castle is driven by a wish to get clear about ultimate things an unrealizable desire that provided the driving force behind all of Kafkas dazzlingly uncanny fictions. Translated by Willa and Edwin Muir