The most mysterious and beautiful of Kafka's great works. Hermann Hesse. In his perhaps most famous book, Kafka anticipates the experiences of alienation and powerlessness under totalitarianism. Although depicted in detail with realism, a surreal scenario unfolds, emanating a commanding pull as if from a nightmare. "The Castle" takes place in an opaque world that obeys nameless powers, where the land surveyor K. simply cannot find a way to achieve his goals. No matter how hard he tries to interpret the scant clues from his surroundings, he remains a seeker in vain, an outcast with the status of a sufferer. Anyone who has ever entered the magical labyrinth of Dr. Franz Kafka emerges only transformed.