The Castle cover art

The Castle

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Castle

By: Franz Kafka
Narrated by: Allan Corduner
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £20.99

Buy Now for £20.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

A land-surveyor, known only as K., arrives at a small village permanently covered in snow and dominated by a castle to which access seems permanently denied. K.'s attempts to discover why he has been called constantly run up against the peasant villagers, who are in thrall to the absurd bureaucracy that keeps the castle shut, and the rigid hierarchy of power among the self-serving bureaucrats themselves. But in this strange wilderness, there is passion, tenderness and considerable humour. Darkly bizarre, this complex book was the last novel by one of the 20th century's greatest and most influential writers.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

Public Domain (P)2010 Naxos Audiobooks Classics Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Suspense Thriller & Suspense Village Fiction Scary

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Metamorphosis cover art
Steppenwolf cover art
The Trial cover art
The Trial [Naxos AudioBooks] cover art
The Metamorphosis and Other Stories cover art
The Master and Margarita cover art
Heart of Darkness: A Signature Performance by Kenneth Branagh cover art
The Water Margin cover art
Blood Meridian cover art
The Glass Bead Game cover art
Shakespeare: The Complete Works cover art
Thus Spoke Zarathustra cover art
Pale Fire cover art
Orwell: The Essays cover art
The Rum Diary cover art
Mrs. Dalloway cover art
All stars
Most relevant  
The pace of Kafka 's literature per se, is simply superb! Keeps one wholly intrigued.

Kafka at his very best! <br />

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A great Narrator tells the tale of a Surveyor who is thwarted at every turn by the bureaucracy of The Castle. Having being robbed then forced to take his robbers on as assistants. The Surveyor's life descends into chaos of a hugely layered bureaucracy blocking him at every turn. The futility of his situation carries through the book. This was Kafka's last book and you could argue an unfinished work the story could have seen more volumes. This is a literary masterpiece.

Marvellous Bureaucratic Folly

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Would you consider the audio edition of The Castle to be better than the print version?

I have to be honest and say that, although this was superbly read, I was irritated with the story and I borrowed a copy of the print version just so I could skim to the end and claim I'd read it.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

What does it mean? For me it was exactly like one of those horrible, involved dreams where you can't get anywhere, or do anything, and there is a lingering sense of menace.

What about Allan Corduner’s performance did you like?

Everything, he's a really good performer and I'd happily listen to him again.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I was moved to tears of relief when I finally "finished" it.

Any additional comments?

Despite not enjoying it at all, it's nearly a year since I listened to it and I can still remember a lot about it and I still think about it - perhaps that's why it is considered a masterpiece?

Not my idea of a good read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A great book, well read. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Please be aware, though, the book is unfinished.

Loved it

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Always worth listening to Kafka - but long dialogues compared to modern texts - however a classic which is very well read.

Classic story - but dated

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Where does The Castle rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of the best.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Castle?

Very funny description of the main character, K, waking up in the night to find one of his assistants in bed with him instead of his wife, and then having to deal with the aftermath of this incident the next morning.

What about Allan Corduner’s performance did you like?

An excellent reader, reminding me of Jon Pertwee in style.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It is both funny and sad, but creates a menacing tone throughout.

Outstanding

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Allan Corduner has the the perfect voice for K's interminable struggle with labyrinthine bureaucracy. Hypnotically riveting, Kafka's unfinished last work is perfectly incomplete.

perfectly voiced

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Well read and ofcourse a thrilling story. Found easy to navigate through out the chapters.

Optional opinion

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I read a comment once that Kafka was just comes across as a guy on a coarse on creative writing. Of course. And a very good one. This book is rambling and has no plot. Wordy, People speak forever. A series of set pieces. But so atmospheric, Amazing. Who cares if there is no plot? Also has sex and slapstick humour (Kafka was a Laurel and Hardy fan). A wonderful random trip to nowhere.

Wonderful bizarreness

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I really forced myself hard to finish this book. ultimately it was boring nonsense. It was very well read, but aside from that I can't find anything positive to say about this

Grim boring drivel

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews