THE CASTLE by FRANZ KAFKA

"There's no quiet place here on earth for our love, not in the village and not anywhere else, so I picture a grave, deep and narrow, in which we embrace as if clamped together, I bury my face against you, you yours against me, and no one will ever see us."

Personal review: 9/10

So imagine once more, in the Kafkaesque attire, that there is a place, a society that you desperately try to get in. Desperately try to be a part of but the more your try, the far you get from even revealing what exactly is it you're looking for.

That is the same thing that happens with our protagonist, K, who desperately tries to get inside The Castle,and blend in with the people and with the village but drastically fails.

To maintain a temporary social status, he, a Land Surveyor, even accepts the job of a Janitor, and finds himself in love with a barmaid, Frieda, who used to be Klamm, an official's chambermaid.

Now this woman is as ridiculous and cunning as a woman can be, in ways that makes a man feel hopeless.

This official Klamm, remains a very mysterious person throughout the story and even his identity isn't really revealed.

One of the other characters, Olga made it very clear to K saying:

"He speaks to Klamm, but is it Klamm? Isn’t it rather someone who merely resembles Klamm? Perhaps at the very most a secretary who is a little like Klamm and goes to great lengths to be even more like him and tries to seem important by affecting Klamm’s drowsy, dreamlike manner. That part of his being is easiest to imitate, many try to do so; as for the rest of his being, though, they wisely steer clear of it. And a man such as Klamm, who is so often the object of yearning and yet so rarely attained, easily takes on a variety of shapes in the imagination of people. For instance, Klamm has a village secretary here called Momus. Really? You know him? He too keeps to himself but I have seen him a couple of times. A powerful young gentleman, isn’t he? And so he probably doesn’t look at all like Klamm? And yet you can find people in the village who would swear that Momus is Klamm and none other than he. That’s how people create confusion for themselves. And why should it be any different at the Castle? [...]" -

Thus we truly know the depth of the story that the person who appears to be someone might not be the one he pretends to be, kr maybe the name "Klamm" is perhaps a title that is worn by several other personalities.

I absolutely enjoyed this story even more than The Trial, the pace, the suspense and the plot was all too great and I feel short, grasping for words here, trying to describe which cannot truly be explained.

One of the best book I've read.

Thank you for reading!!