Written in 1914 but not published until 1925 a year after Kafka’s death The Trial is the terrifying tale of Josef K. a respectable bank officer who is suddenly and inexplicably arrested and must defend himself against a charge about which he can get no information. Whether read as an existential tale a parable or a prophecy of the excesses of modern bureaucracy wedded to the madness of totalitarianism The Trial has resonated with chilling truth for generations of readers.