This article describes “The Trial” by Franz Kafka. The book is about a limitless bureaucracy & one man’s helplessness to fight against it. The article also describes Kafka’s home life, in which he was dominated by his overbearing father, was frequently depressed & often attempted suicide. With his writing, his usual pattern was to spend several months in intense activity, followed by 2 or 3 idle years. He thought little of his own writing, even asking a friend to burn 3 of his unfinished novels.