K. at his Desk
o associates. Or and kind.
telep also a conduit for sooto o t.
cs (quot;Yes,quot; quot;Noquot;) in corners of t ly irritated air for neors, neies. ime sending and receiving messengers.
quot;I spend my time sending and receiving messen?gers,quot; ;Some of tant. Ot.quot;
Described by Secretaries
A: quot;Quite frankly I ts a lot of t ts are tial. I even t forget delib?erately, to leave y to get rid of unimportant details. And ;
B: quot;Once en me. You kno. I al, and I bunculips Id ever seen in my life. And tulips too. tanding tulips, smiling.quot;
Behe Bar
At a croy, o make cer. tle of Scotcing. tender, a small man in a beige uniform buttons, politely asks K. to return to ts side, of t;You let one be?; tender says.
K. Reading the Newspaper
ions are impossible to catalogue. Often e t amuses e involving, say, a fireman record-breaking speed to tories are clipped, carried about in a pocket, to be produced at appropriate moments for tations please of an earts terrible statistics, quoting t;e must do somet; Important actions often fol?loimes ter of wo kinds of responses may be, on a given day, inexplicably reversed.)
trivial aspects of temization are skipped. ains a rapid drumming of ips on top. of these, only four are regarded as serious.
Attitude toward his ork
quot;Sometimes I cant seem to do anyt seems to me an insur?mountable obstacle, really out of reac and look at it, ake . Perry to read it but my mind is elseo get t of it, it seems meaningless, devoid of interest, not o do , everyto do it, o t of it, proceed mec t it is simply a matter of moving from one step to t, plo. I become interested, I become ex?cited, I , to place, I am exed, amazed t to me.quot;
Sleeping on tones of Unknoowns (Rim?baud)
K. is familiar sligreets of a small city in France or Germany. ters izens mutter to tuosity a mixture of languages. K. is very interested, looks closely at everyt tempo of street life, tizens t t are ter needs?
quot;In t, ly gained at lunc luncell you t;
ters.
tall bald cook, -s, grinning the wall.
quot; cook looking at me?quot;
Urban transportation
quot;transportation problems of our cities and t ur?gent and neglected transportation problems con?fronting try. In ted and industrialized areas, people are dependent on a system of transportation t is at once complex and inadequate. Obsolete facilities and groies and present meties offer little prospect of relief.quot;
K. Penetrated h Sadness
of the building.
tc, no fades into the wall.
urns on is, on he room.
Karstawa
quot;e sent a man to Karstaold . And old ed to set up a sitting for K. sometime in June, if t for o s, t knoly entatively said Neeent o kno varied from sitter to sitter. less and t made it difficult to get just t s. in eacting t , t one. o see, ;
Dress
ly dressed in a manner t does not call attention to itself. ts are soberly cut and in dark colors. at all times present an aspect of fres to sustain because of frequent movements from place to place under con?ditions favorable. tly, especially ss. In t many times. tra ss about, in boxes.
quot;s?quot;
A Friend Comments: K.s Aloneness
quot;to realize about K. is t essentially ely alone in terrible loneliness ting too close to comes from somet kno o get to kno of people all along you really didnt know all.
quot;s. I remember once in a small boat. K. of course ain. Some rougo picking up a landing and I said to I didnt t looked at me. t s for. quot;
K. on Crowds
quot;ted crowds and vivacious crowds.
quot;Sometimes, standing ticular croimes times you only find out after a quarter of an sort of croicular crowd is.
quot;And you cant speak to tions o be taken into account. You o say someto t is meaningful to t mood.quot;
Gallery-going
K. enters a large gallery on Fifty-seventreet, in tourage includes sev?eral ladies and gentlemen. orks by a geometricist are on s tical paintings.
quot;ell, at least we know ;
ter. People repeat to one another, laughing.
tist, wanding bered.
K. Puzzled by his Children
t four, a boy, tly older, and a little girl, very beautiful, s on tric train, a picture book, a red ball, a plastic bucket, a plastic shovel.
K. fro tress issues from no source immediately available to t, a general anguisurns to tanding nearby toriously poor observer.
quot;Play ; he says.
ten quietly suggests t K. ;play ;
K. picks up ture book and begins to read to t text. It beor. Nevertheless K. perseveres.
quot;A ist der Affe, er isst mit der Pfote.quot; (quot;A is ts ;)
tinues.
A Dream
Orange trees.
Oveready stream of strange aircraft wcs, bread boards, cookie ss, colanders.
truments are on to complete the bombing of Sidi-Madani.
A farm in the hills.
Matters (from an Administrative Assistant)
quot;A lot of matters t o a about t time, moved to t burner, tely o take care of. And find K. Nobody kneter t put togetanding around o do. e ting pretty nervous because t ;
Ceacher
quot; boy, very brig udies, very tious. But ts not unusual; t describes a good number of ts not unusual, t is, to find ties ies t K. , t to display it for fear of seeming soft, girlis in K. ticular attribute say t it ceristic.quot;
Speaking to No One but aiters, he --
quot;t;
quot;tafel.quot;
quot;t;
quot;t;
quot;tters.quot;
K. Explains a technique
quot;Its an expedient in terms of to destroy a situation ating, or, again, o break it up if it appears t tuation ation period, into one quite t I mean is t in tantly altering (usually for to give t youre not cicular situation particularly closely, t youre paying no special attention to it, until youre ready to make your move. t is, its best to be sudden, if you can manage it. Of course you cant do t all time. Sometimes youre just completely , cleaned out, totaled, and to do is s about it.quot;
K. on his Own Role
quot;Sometimes it seems to me t it doesnt matter it is enougo exist, to sit some?o be seen ts. At otimes, Im a ot num?ber of oted by o do, t I y, as possible use of alents Ive been given, for t is not enougo sit in t garden, ful or pleasurable it miguations t demand careful, reasoned and intelligent action. In Latin America, for example.quot;
As Entrepreneur
t estimates for burying t tretemps o s dangers for tly miscal?culations, which are viewed in many minds as in?excusable.
;Exceptionally difficult rock con?ditions.quot;
ith Young People
K., reets of unknoos, narroo ting on ts, tars, small radios, long on to back, urned to stare. tand implacably on street corners, in door in small groups at t place reets are filled ed interest, refuse to declare treet after street contains t number, more displayed as one turns a corner, rank upon rank stretco tance, draaring.
er, Poulet
quot;For Poulet, it is not enougo speak of seizing t. It is ration of, and I quote, recognizing in tant ensity and depttaco tence.
quot; Poulet is describing is neition but rat aken up t o discover t may be called t Poulet in fact calls the Marivaudian being.
quot;to Poulet, a pastless futureless man, born ane every in?stant. tants are points ant is tant, not tory. Not antly surprised. predict ion to events. antly being overtaken by events. A condition of breat surrounds s in a certain fres, quoting Marivaux, describes very ;
K. Saved from Drowning
K. in ter. black , ains ter e foam, t over ter. . No, it ap?pears t . I , braced against a rock. K. noer. ands nohe bank, gasping.
quot;t;