I>Das Schloss [

], Kafka’s third and last novel, is one of his most ambitious, elusive and subtle texts. It resembles many of Kafka’s other third-person narratives, including

[

], in the extent to which the narrative perspective provides intimate but at the same time potentially critical access to the consciousness of the central character, and in the way the surface meaning of the text seems to contain significant names and symbols, metaphors and cultural references which invite us to look for deeper meanings.

has neither the broad picaresque canvas of the

novel, nor the dramatic urgency of

, but instead presents us with a study of character and situation in which the smallest details acquire significance. Kafka began work on…

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Citation: Dodd, William J.. "Das Schloss". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 April 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=11503, accessed 23 November 2024.]