To make a short story by Kafka even shorter:
A man approaches a door and is told by the doorkeeper that he cannot enter. The door is wide open and the man thinks about just strolling through and the doorkeeper does not stand in his way. But the keeper repeats that he cannot, that entering would be a bad idea, and the man takes his word for it. Better for him to wait.
The man waits for years, and daily he is reminded that he must not enter. Daily the door stands wide open. And eventually the man grows old and soon his whole life is behind him.
The man asks: why, in all these years, has no one else come by and tried to enter through this door?
“No one else could ever be admitted here, since this gate was made only for you. I am now going to shut it.”
How many doors stand open just for you, their keepers baffled by your hesitation?
(I’ve been reading “Before the Law” in The Complete Short Stories of Franz Kafka, published by Vintage in 1999.)
Lee Watkins 
I haven’t read this one, Lee, but it brings back the feeling of reading The Trial. And also I just watched the movie Living by Kazuo Ishiguro, which also reminds me of Tolstoy’s Ivan Illych. Just live. 😊
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I left out the fact that the man is hoping to get “admittance to the Law” by passing through the door in Kafka’s story, so it’s certainly a similar theme to The Trial!
I haven’t seen that film. Is it worth a watch? I’ll look out for it.
Thanks for reading!
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Definitely worth a watch. Billy Nighy is brilliant in this movie.
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Thanks, I’m looking forward to seeing it!
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