A successful professional man wakes up one morning to find himself under arrest

for an offence which is never explained. The mysterious court which conducts his trial

is outwardly co-operative, but capable of horrific violence. Faced with this ambiguous

authority, Josef K. gradually succumbs to its psychological pressure. He consults

various advisers without escaping his fate. Was there some way out that he failed to

see? Kafka's unfinished novel has been read as a study of political power, a pessimistic

religious parable, or a crime novel where the accused man is himself the problem.