I’m just going to say this up front: This is a strange book.
The story starts really well, with the introduction of the main protagonist who doesn’t actually have a name, and we only know as ‘K’. This isn’t like other novels, where the background and history and characters personality are given to you on a plate; the story just starts, leaving us to figure out all this other stuff as we read on. Which is good. I liked that.
There are SO MANY QUESTIONS you just want answered throughout the first few chapters, but not in a ‘I’m so confused and have no idea what’s going on’ way; Kafka makes the whole thing, as absurd as it is, feel really comfortable and easy. Kafka has this weird way of making every weird little thing seem almost normal, within the confines of the story. Like it’s all happening in its own little world and none of it makes sense, but it’s totally fine and we all get it. This is what makes his writing, and this book in particular, so fascinating.
The actual plot of the story isn’t of much interest – it takes place in some strange, parallel world that I’m not even sure is meant to be real. It’s written in third person, which gives a sense of distance from the characters, including ‘K’. As a reader, you never truly feel like you know what he’s thinking or what he’s planning on doing next – there’s no inner monologue, the narrator is simply doing just that: narrating, from afar (mobilepackages).
Yeah, it’s a strange book. I found myself unable to put the damn thing down, wanting to keep reading on, despite knowing deep down that the story wasn’t really going to get anywhere – the whole thing felt very continuous. There was no real ‘plot’ as such to follow, no interesting twists, no huge shocking events. The story is in how it’s written.
WHAT I LIKED: The feeling of looking in on this absurd world, where nothing really makes sense, from a distance.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE: The chapters upon chapters of nothing but dialogue. Although they gave a sense of character building, it’s nice to have a bit of a break, you know?
OH did I mention? The book was never even finished. It ends half way through a sentence. Which some people may find frustrating, but I found almost – comforting. Like everything is still happening, in this little world within the book, and we never know what could have happened but that’s okay because that’s life – right?
Words by Hayley Lynes