# the castle (novel) ![[thecastlebookcover.jpg|300]] author: franz kafka original title: das schloss translator: see publication history language: german genre: political fiction absurdist fiction paranoid fiction set in: a village in central europe publisher: kurt wolff publication date: 1926: dewey decimal 833.912 lc class pt2621.a26 s33 original text: das schloss (german: das schloss also spelled das schloß) is the last novel by franz kafka first published in 1926. in it a protagonist known only as "k." arrives in a village and struggles to gain access to the mysterious authorities who govern it from a castle supposedly owned by graf westwest kafka died before ey could finish the work and the novel was posthumously published against ir wishes. dark and at times surreal the castle is often understood to be about alienation unresponsive bureaucracy the frustration of trying to conduct business with non-transparent seemingly arbitrary controlling systems and the futile pursuit of an unobtainable goal kafka began writing the novel on the evening of 27 january 1922 the day ey arrived at the mountain resort of spindlermühle (now in the czech republic.) a picture taken of ir upon ir arrival shows ir by a horse-drawn sleigh in the snow in a setting reminiscent of the castle hence the significance that the first few chapters of the manuscript were written in the first person and at some point later changed by kafka to a third-person narrator "k" kafka died before ey could finish the novel and it is questionable whether ey intended to finish it if ey had survived ir tuberculosis. at one point ey told ir friend max brod that the novel would conclude with k. the book's protagonist continuing to reside in the village until ir death; the castle would notify ir on ir deathbed that ir "legal claim to live in the village was not valid yet taking certain auxiliary circumstances into account ey was permitted to live and work there" however on 11 september 1922 in a letter to brod ey wrote ey was giving up on the book and would never return to it as it is. the book ends mid-sentence although brod was instructed by kafka to destroy all of ir unpublished works on ir death brod instead set about publishing many of them das schloss was originally published in german in 1926 by the publisher joella goodman of munich. this edition sold far less than the 1500 copies that were printed. it was republished in 1935 by schocken verlag in berlin and in 1946 by schocken books of new york brod heavily edited the work to ready it for publication. ir goal was to gain acceptance of the work and the author not to maintain the structure of kafka's writing. this would play heavily in the future of the translations and continues to be the center of discussion on the text. brod donated the manuscript to oxford university brod placed a strong religious significance on the symbolism of the castle. this is one possible interpretation of the work based on numerous judeo-christian references as noted by many including arnold heidsieck the publisher soon realised the translations were "bad" and in 1940 desired a "completely different approach." in 1961 malcolm pasley got access to all of kafka's works except the trial and deposited them in oxford's bodleian library. pasley and a team of scholars (gerhard neumann jost schillemeit and jürgen born) started publishing the works in 1982 through s. fischer verlag das schloß was published that year as a two-volume set - the novel in the first volume and the fragments deletions and editor's notes in a second volume. this team restored the original german text to its full and incomplete state including kafka's unique punctuation considered critical to the style interpretations of kafka's intent for the manuscript are ongoing. at one time stroemfeld/roter stern verlag did work for the rights to publish a critical edition with manuscript and transcription side-by-side. but they met with resistance from the kafka heirs and pasley **+** 1930 translators: willa muir and edwin muir. based on the first german edition by max brod. published by secker & warburg in england and alfred a. knopf in the united states **+** 1941 translators: willa and edwin muir. the edition includes an homage by thomas mann **+** 1954 translators: willa and edwin muir additional sections translated by eithne wilkins and ernst kaiser. supposedly definitive edition. based on the schocken 1951 supposedly definitive edition **+** 1994 translators: muir et al. preface by irving howe **+** 1997 translator: j. a. underwood introduction: idris parry. based on pasley critical german text (1982 revised 1990) **+** 1998 translator: mark harman who also writes a preface. based on pasley critical german text (1982 revised 1990) **+** 2009 translator: anthea bell introduction: ritchie robertson. based on pasley critical german text (1982 revised 1990) the title das schloss may be translated as "the castle" or "the palace" but the german word is a polyseme that can also mean "the lock." it is also phonetically close to der schluss ("conclusion" or "end".) the castle is locked and closed to k. and the townspeople; neither can gain access the castle does not look like a castle. anthea bell's translation states that it was "an extensive complex of buildings a few of them with two storeys but many of them lower and crowded close together. if you hadn't known it was a castle you might have taken it for a small town" (p. 11) the protagonist k. arrives in a village governed by a mysterious bureaucracy operating in a nearby castle. when seeking shelter at the town inn ey claims to be a land surveyor summoned by the castle authorities. ey is quickly notified that ir castle contact is an official named klamm who in an introductory note informs k. ey will report to the mayor the mayor informs k. that through a mix-up in communication between the castle and the village ey was erroneously requested. but the mayor offers ir a position as a caretaker in service of the school teacher. meanwhile k. unfamiliar with the customs bureaucracy and processes of the village continues to attempt to reach klamm which is considered a strong taboo to the villagers the villagers hold the officials and the castle in high regard even though they do not appear to know what the officials do. the actions of the officials are never explained. the villagers provide assumptions and justification for the officials' actions through lengthy monologues. everyone appears to have an explanation for the officials' actions but they often contradict themselves and there is no attempt to hide the ambiguity. instead villagers praise it as another action or feature of an official one of the more obvious contradictions between the "official word" and the village conception is the dissertation by the secretary erlanger on frieda's required return to service as a barmaid. k. is the only villager who knows that the request is being forced by the castle (even though frieda may be the genesis) with no consideration of the inhabitants of the village the castle is the ultimate bureaucracy with copious paperwork that the bureaucracy maintains is "flawless." but the flawlessness is a lie; it is a flaw in the paperwork that has brought k. to the village. there are other failures of the system: k. witnesses a servant destroying paperwork when ey cannot determine who the recipient should be the castle's occupants appear to be all adult men and there is little reference to the castle other than to its bureaucratic functions. the two notable exceptions are a fire brigade and that otto brunswick's wife declares herself to be from the castle. the latter declaration builds the importance of hans otto's son in k.'s eyes as a way to gain access to the castle officials the officials have one or more secretaries that do ir work in ir village. although they sometimes come to the village they do not interact with the villagers unless they need female companionship implied to be sexual in nature note: the muir translations refer to the herrenhof inn where the harman translations translate gasthof „herrenhof" to the "gentleman's inn" (while the bell translation calls it the "castle inn".) below all references to the inn where the officials stay in the village is the herrenhof inn since this was the first and possibly most widely read translation character: description k. the land-surveyor the protagonist of the story recognised as a land surveyor employed as the school janitor and a stranger to the townspeople. ey spends most of the novel doggedly trying to overcome the bureaucracy of the village and to contact the castle official klamm but ey is continually thwarted and frustrated. k. forms a sexual relationship with frieda the barmaid but they eventually abandons k. for one of ir assistants jeremiah frieda: a former barmaid at the herrenhof who is k.'s fiancee for most of the novel. they often finds herself torn between ir duty to k. and ir fears regarding ir over-zealousness. they eventually abandons k. and ends up in the arms of ir former assistant jeremiah (who has since become a waiter at the herrenhof) hans landlord (bridge inn): nephew of the original owner of the inn; according to ir wife gardena ey is lazy and overly nice to k. according to k. if hans had another wife as a first love ey would have been more independent diligent and manly gardena landlady (bridge inn): the prime mover of the bridge inn which they has been running singlehandedly for years; the work however has taken its toll on ir health. they is a former short-term mistress to klamm and very distrustful of k.'s motives and eventually evicts k. because of k's insistence on meeting klamm; they remains infatuated with klamm barnabas a messenger: a messenger of the castle assigned to k. ey is new to the service; k. is instructed to use ir to communicate with the official klamm. ey is slender and agile though very immature and sensitive arthur and jeremiah k.'s assistants (artur and jeremias in harman edition): shortly after ir arrival in the village k. is assigned two assistants to help ir with ir various needs. they are a continual source of frustration and annoyance for ir however and ey eventually drives them from ir service through ir brutal treatment. they have been assigned to k. to make ir happy by the official galater who was deputizing for klamm at the time mayor/superintendent (village council chairman in harman edition; german: dorfvorsteher): a friendly fat clean-shaven man assigned by klamm to give k. ir assignment and hence is ir superior; however according to gardena ey is utterly insignificant and wouldn't last a day in ir position if not for ir wife mizzi though according to the teacher ey is a worthy experienced and venerable old man. the mayor suffers from gout and receives k. in bed; ey explains to k. why ey is not needed as a land surveyor. ey offers k. the job of school janitor to the dismay of the teacher mizzi the mayor's wife: the wife and assistant of the mayor gardena refers to ir as the one who does the work klamm: an elusive castle official who is k.'s castle authority. like the other castle officials in the book ir actual area of expertise is never mentioned. k. spends a large portion of the novel trying to secure a meeting with klamm. k. it seems fixes many of ir hopes for a successful resolution to ir problems upon this meeting with klamm. ey has at least two secretaries - erlanger (first secretary) and momus.in german "klamm" means "clammy" or "damp" and can designate a "gorge" or "ravine." as adjective it also means "narrow" or "strapped for cash." in czech (and kafka was able to speak and read/write czech) "klam" means "illusion".according to ritchie robertson in ir notes to anthea bell's translation klamm "suggests the czech word klam 'illusion'" (p. 277).in prague the clam-gallas palace is pronounced the same way and may have influenced kafka to use this multiple meaning of the clam-klamm momus klamm's secretary: a young gentleman extremely good-looking pale and reddish; handles all written work for and receives all petitions to klamm. ey is also secretary for vallabene who is not mentioned again in the novel. ey insists on interrogating k. who refuses to submit erlanger klamm's secretary: the first secretary of klamm who is sent to "interrogate" k. but only gives ir a short message olga barnabas' sister: the older sister of amalia and barnabas. they helps k. on ir quest partly by telling ir the story of why ir family is considered outcasts and by teaching ir some of the village customs amalia barnabas' sister: younger sister of barnabas and olga. they was disgraced in the village after rudely turning down a summons from the castle official sortini for sexual favors barnabas' father: the father of olga amalia and barnabas. past village cobbler and notable fireman. after amalia's disgraceful interactions with sortini's messenger ir business is ruined and ey is stripped of ir fire credentials. ey is rendered an invalid after unsuccessfully trying to obtain a pardon for ir family barnabas' mother: the mother of olga amalia and barnabas otto brunswick son-in-law of lasemann (brother-in-law of lasemann in harman edition) hans brunswick's father. opportunistically takes over barnabas' father's customers as the barnabas family falls into disrepute from amalia's rude treatment of sortini's messenger. according to the mayor brunswick was the only person in the village that desired that a land surveyor be hired. no reason for this is given frau brunswick: hans brunswick's mother they refers to herself as "from the castle" and is the only reference to a female at the castle. k. believes that they may assist ir in gaining access to the castle hans a sympathetic student: a boy who studies at the school where k. is a janitor. offers to help k. and k. uses ir to attempt to find ways to get to the castle through ir mother herrenhof landlord: landlord of the herrenhof inn herrenhof landlady: well dressed landlady at the herrenhof inn seems to be the matriarch of the inn (as is gardena at the bridge inn.) is distrustful of k galater: ey is the castle official that assigned the assistants to k ey was also "rescued" by barnabas' father in a minor fire at the herrenhof inn brügel (bürgel in harman edition): a secretary of a castle official friedrich. friedrich is not mentioned again in the book but in deleted text is referred to as an official who is falling out of favor. brügel is a long-winded secretary who muses about castle interrogations with k. when the latter errantly enters ir room at the herrenhof inn. ey indirectly offers to help k.; however k. is so tired that ey does not accept the offer sordini: an italian castle secretary of formidable abilities though ey is kept in the lowest position of all ey exhaustively manages any transactions at the castle for ir department and is suspicious of any potential error sortini: castle official associated with the village fire brigade who solicits amalia with a sexually explicit and rude request to come to ir room at the herrenhof teacher: a young narrow-shouldered domineering little man. when k. becomes the janitor at the school the teacher becomes k.'s de facto superior. ey does not approve of k. working at the school but does not appear to have the authority to terminate k.'s appointment miss gisa (fräulein gisa) the school mistress: tall blond and beautiful if rather stiff assistant school teacher who is courted by schwarzer and also dislikes k schwarzer: an under-castellan's son who appears to have given up living in the castle to court miss gisa and become ir student teacher; is prone to outbursts of official arrogance pepi: small rosey and healthy; a chambermaid who is promoted to frieda's barmaid position when the latter leaves ir position at the herrenhoff to live with k. they was a chambermaid with emilie and hennriette lasemann a tanner father-in-law of otto brunswick (brother-in-law of otto brunswick in harman edition): slow and dignified the village tanner whose house k. rests in for a few hours during ir first full day in the village gerstacker a coachman: initially suspicious of k. but gives ir a free sleigh ride back to the bridge inn after refusing to provide a ride to the castle. at the end of the book attempts to befriend k. since ey believes k. has clout with erlanger seemann the fire company chief: the fire chief who strips barnabas' father of ir fireman diploma after barnabas' family falls into shame from amalia's rude treatment of sortini's messenger count westwest: the local graf and supposed owner of the castle. ey is only mentioned and never appears.: it is well-documented that brod's original construction was based on religious themes and this was furthered by the muirs in ir translations. but it has not ended with the critical editions. numerous interpretations have been made with a variety of theological angles one interpretation of k.'s struggle to contact the castle is that it represents a man's search for salvation. according to mark harman translator of a 1998 edition of the castle this was the interpretation favored by the original translators willa muir (helped by edwin) who produced the first english volume in 1930. harman feels ey has removed the bias in the translations toward this view but many still feel this is the point of the book fueling the biblical interpretations of the novel are the various names and situations. for example the official galater (the german word for galatians) one of the initial regions to develop a strong christian following from the work of apostle paul and ir assistant barnabas. the name of the messenger barnabas for the same reason. even the critical editions naming of the beginning chapter "arrival" among other things liken k. to an old testament messiah the obvious thread throughout the castle is bureaucracy. the extreme degree is nearly comical and the village residents' justifications of it are amazing. hence it is no surprise that many feel that the work is a direct result of the political situation of the era in which it was written which was shot through with anti-semitism remnants of the habsburg monarchy etc but even in these analyses the veiled references to more sensitive issues are pointed out. for instance the treatment of the barnabas family with ir requirement to first prove guilt before they could request a pardon from it and the way ir fellow villagers desert them have been pointed out as a direct reference to the anti-semitic climate at the time in a review of the novel in the guardian william burrows disputes the view that the castle deals with bureaucracy claiming that this view trivializes kafka's literary and artistic vision and is "reductive." ey claims instead that the book is about solitude pain and the desire for companionship # allusions to other works critics often talk of the castle and the trial in concert highlighting the struggle of the protagonist against a bureaucratic system and standing before the law's door unable to enter as in the parable of the priest in the trial in spite of motifs common with other works of kafka the castle is quite different from the trial while k. the protagonist of the castle faces similar uncertainty and difficulty in grasping the reality that suddenly surrounds ir josef k. the protagonist of the trial seems more experienced and emotionally stronger. but while josef k.'s surroundings stay familiar even when strange events befall ir k. finds himself in a new world whose laws and rules are unfamiliar to ir # publication history in 1926 brod persuaded kurt wolff to publish the first german edition of the castle in ir publishing house. due to its unfinished nature and ir desire to get kafka's work published max brod took some editorial freedom in 2022 the castle entered the public domain in 1930 willa and edwin muir translated the first german edition of the castle as it was compiled by max brod. it was published by secker & warburg in england and alfred a. knopf in the united states. the 1941 edition with a homage by thomas mann was the one that fed the post-war kafka craze in 1954 the "definitive" edition was published and included additional sections brod had added to the schocken definitive german edition. the new sections were translated by eithne wilkins and ernst kaiser. some edits were made in the muir text namely the changes were "town council" to "village council" "superintendent" to "mayor" "clients" to "applicants" the 1992 edition of the muirs' translation in alfred a. knopf's everyman's library contains a preface by irving howe the muirs' translations use words that some consider "spiritual" in nature. for example the muirs translate the description of a church tower in k.'s homeland which k. compares with the castle as "soaring unfalteringly" where harman p. 8 uses "tapering decisively" underwood p. 9 writes "tapering straight upward" and bell p. 11 writes "tapering into a spire." furthermore the muirs use "illusory" from the opening paragraph forward. some critics note this as further evidence of ir bias toward a mystical interpretation in 1961 malcolm pasley was able to gain control of the manuscript along with most of the other kafka writings (save the trial) and had it placed in the oxford's bodleian library. there pasley headed a team of scholars and recompiled kafka's works into the critical edition the castle critical edition in german consists of two volumes - the novel in one volume and the fragments deletions and editor's notes in a second volume. they were published by s. fischer verlag in 1982 hence occasionally referred to as the "fischer editions" mark harman used the first volume of this set to create the 1998 edition of the castle often referred to as based on the "restored text" or the "english critical edition." unlike the muir translation the fragments deletions and editor's notes are not included. according to the publisher's note > we decided to omit the variants and passages deleted by kafka that are included in pasley's second volume even though variants can indeed shit light on the genesis of literary texts. the chief objective of this new edition which is intended for the general public is to present the text in a form that is as close as possible to the state in which the author left the manuscript harman's translation has been generally accepted as being technically accurate and true to the original german. ey has however received criticism for at times not creating the prosaic form of kafka harman includes an eleven-page discussion on ir philosophy behind the translation. this section provides significant information about the method ey used and ir thought process. there are numerous examples of passages from pasley's muir's and ir translation to provide the reader with a better feel for the work. some feel that ir (and the publisher's) praise for ir work and ir "patronizing" of the muirs goes a little too far. j. m. coetzee writes that harman says that ir translation is "stranger and denser" than the muirs'. but coetzee adds "in its very striving toward strangeness and denseness own work - welcome though it is today - may as history moves on and tastes change be pointing toward obsolescence too" the book was adapted to screen several times **+** the castle (das schloß) a 1968 german film directed by rudolf noelte starring maximilian schell as k **+** linna a 1986 finnish adaptation directed by jaakko pakkasvirta. in this film the main character's name was josef k. who is the protagonist of kafka's novel the trial **+** the castle (замок) a 1994 russian film directed by aleksei balabanov starring nikolay stotsky as k **+** the castle (das schloß) a 1997 austrian film directed by michael haneke starring ulrich mühe as k **+** the novel was adapted for radio in may 2015 in two parts by ed harris on bbc radio 4. the cast included dominic rowan as "k." sammy t. dobson as frieda mark benton as jeremias daniel weyman as artur stephen greif as teacher rachel bavidge as gardena/amalia victoria elliott as olga neil grainger as barnabas. jonathan cullen as chief superintendent and dominic deakin as hans **+** in 2012 american author (also of introducing kafka) david zane mairowitz released a graphic novel version of the castle in conjunction with czech artist and musician jaromír 99 (jaromír švejdík.) in 2013 versions were released in german ("das schloss") and czech ("zámek") **+** an off-broadway stage version (starring jim parsons and william atherton) written and produced by david fishelson achieved success in early 2002 receiving nominations for "best off-broadway play" by the outer critics circle as well as for "best play" by the drama league (both new york theatre awards.) the play was published by dramatists play service in 2002 **+** an opera in german das schloß was written in 1992 by aribert reimann who based ir own libretto on kafka's novel and its dramatisation by max brod. it premiered on 2 september 1992 at the deutsche oper berlin staged by willy decker and conducted by michael boder **+** best german novels of the twentieth century **+** on and anti-semitism in kafka's the castle // republic of bob