Every attempt to enter the castle fails; so it remains near and far at the same time; its hierarchy demands obedience, but the instructions remain dark and incomprehensible. "This village is the property of the castle; whoever lives here or spends the night here, lives or spends the night in the castle, as it were. No one may do so without the count's permission." "Anything that can be said about this book is only a tentative side note. One must read it for oneself, line by line, as the threatening severity of the Last Judgment emerges here from an often lovely combination of irony and reverence." Hans Sahl.