Josef Ostermayer reading Franz Kafka’s “The Trial”

©All Rights Alfred Weidinger

Choosing a favourite book is a particularly difficult challenge if you treasure books and love reading – and have been doing so for many decades. Selecting a single title from a huge number of books and a wealth of respected authors is something of a random process and inevitably causes a feeling of injustice – particularly concerning numerous esteemed living authors.
In order to resolve this dilemma, I decided upon a book that has a special meaning in my life.
I was the only pupil in my class who decided – due to the love of reading that I had even then – to take a German oral exam as part of my school leaving examinations. The passage that I had to interpret for the exam was from Franz Kafka’s “The Trial” – a book that impressed me even as an 18-year old.
The edition that I’m holding in my hands in the photo is from 1978 and is the copy that I read in preparation for my German exam.

Josef Ostermayer, Minister for Culture of Austria