FRANZ KAFKA: THE TRIAL [1957].

Description

We present the second Polish edition of the masterpiece of 20th century prose – “The Trial” by Franz Kafka (1883-1924), translated by Bruno Schulz (1892-1942). The publication was published in 1957 in Warsaw by the State Publishing Institute (PIW) in the prestigious “Novels of the 20th Century” series.

“The Trial” is one of the most influential novels of the 20th century, the story of Joseph K., who one day is arrested and put on trial without ever learning his guilt or the identity of his accusers. It is a brilliant parable of the bureaucratic machine, the powerlessness of the individual in the face of the system and the absurdity of modern life. The novel, completed in 1914, was published posthumously in 1925 by the writer’s friend Max Brod, against the last wishes of Kafka, who had ordered his manuscripts destroyed.

Although the title page lists Bruno Schulz – a prominent novelist and graphic artist, himself the author of “The Cinnamon Shops” – as the translator – his role in the creation of this translation has been debated. Recent research indicates that Schulz primarily made a thorough revision and stylistic treatment of an earlier, anonymous translation (probably by Jozefina Szelinskaya), which was published in 1936. Nevertheless, his contribution to shaping the literary shape of “The Trial” in Polish cannot be overestimated.

This is the second edition of this cult novel in Polish (the first was published in 1936 ), belonging to the PIW’s “Novels of the Twentieth Century” series sought after by collectors. The presented copy is clean and preserved in very good condition, a rarity for a book commonly read in libraries and lecture halls. This is a must-have for the collector of world literature, the lover of Kafka’s and Schulz’s works, and the bibliophile looking for a representative edition of one of the cornerstones of modernism.

8914-20-BW