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The Metamorphosis

(Bantam Classics)

By Franz Kafka

(192)

| Mass Market Paperback | 9780553213690

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Book Description

"When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin." With this startling, bizarre, yet surprisingly funny first sentence, Kafka begins his masterpiece, The Metamorphosis. It is the story of a young man who, transforContinue

8 Reviews

2 people find this helpful

It may be the most famous work of Kafka's! What Kafka really means by being a bug invites controversies all over the world. But I think what matters is how it becomes meaningful to you!

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ゴロケン said on Aug 26, 2007 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

2 people find this helpful

Short Review

A series of short books writen by kafka that mostly deal with the father-son releationships.
There are stories where the main character is transformed into a huge roach, went crazy because of what is dad says to him, and starts out life in the new world by meeting his uncle.

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flanderb said on Sep 28, 2006 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

1 person find this helpful

I requested the actual book, but the library messed up and sent me what appeared to them as a creatively covered copy of The Metamorphosis. The artist, Peter Kuper, is the man behind Spy vs. Spy, and the art style in this book is immensely well-suited. One thing I dislike is the lack of any ambiguit ... (continue)

I requested the actual book, but the library messed up and sent me what appeared to them as a creatively covered copy of The Metamorphosis. The artist, Peter Kuper, is the man behind Spy vs. Spy, and the art style in this book is immensely well-suited. One thing I dislike is the lack of any ambiguity as to the transformation, although the absurdist bent is well-maintained, and the rendering of the tenants was hilarious to me.

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Alex Richardson said on Apr 11, 2008 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

Nice graphic novel that could serve as a decent introduction (more than a replacement) to the actual classic.

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Jesus Ortega Segura said on Jan 13, 2012 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

*** This comment contains spoilers! ***

If you want your younger sibling and parents who grew senile with dependence on you to quit being losers, you not only become a parasite (as they once were), but become a pest, a nuisance, make them loathe and hate you. That is the fuel that forces them to get a life and start living.
But then agai ... (continue)

If you want your younger sibling and parents who grew senile with dependence on you to quit being losers, you not only become a parasite (as they once were), but become a pest, a nuisance, make them loathe and hate you. That is the fuel that forces them to get a life and start living.
But then again, you have always led a bug's life: you laboured your whole life doing what you hate just so they can lay around doing nothing. You loathe your existence, and live day by day as an insect (no thoughts, no one understands or appreciates you), so why not just shrivel up and die? How much more disturbing (but true!) can it get?

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Linda said on Mar 18, 2011 | Add your feedback

*** This comment contains spoilers! ***

Theme that is still relevant to today's reader

Outside of generic universal values like love, etc, it is not that common to find contemporary fiction with values that still remain relevant and identifiable with our current times and our local culture, let alone in not so current fiction. A sweeping statement certainly, haha, but I do feel so any ... (continue)

Outside of generic universal values like love, etc, it is not that common to find contemporary fiction with values that still remain relevant and identifiable with our current times and our local culture, let alone in not so current fiction. A sweeping statement certainly, haha, but I do feel so anyway. Or it may be that I just do not read enough :P in which case I apologise!
Franz Kafka's 1912 work –The Metamorphosis - did resound somewhat with me and definitely should be mandatory reading for workaholics of our era.
Why?
Consider the following:
"One morning, as Gregor Samsa was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that in bed he had been changed into a monstrous vermin (note: debated to be beetle-like or cockroach-like)."
Despite the horrifying physical change in him, Gregor remains calm and still thinks about how to get out of bed to go to work!
"Apart from a really excessive drowsiness after the long sleep, Gregor in fact felt quite well and even had a really strong appetite…"I'm opening the door immediately, this very moment. A slight indisposition, a dizzy spell, has prevented me from getting up. I'm still lying in bed right now. But I'm quite refreshed once again. I'm in the midst of getting out of bed. Just have patience for a short moment! Things are not going as well as I thought. But things are all right. How suddenly this can overcome someone! Only yesterday evening everything was fine with me. My parents certainly know that. Actually just yesterday evening I had a small premonition. People must have seen that in me. Why have I not reported that to the office? But people always think that they'll get over sickness without having to stay at home…Besides, now I'm setting out on my trip on the eight o'clock train; the few hours' rest have made me stronger."
Isn’t that all too true?? For myself at least wahahahahahahahaha!
"Thematic analysis of The Metamorphosis has tended to focus on the psychoanalytic and symbolic, or allegorical, nature of the story. While evaluations of the narrative vary, many commentators view the theme of alienation from humanity at the center of the story and interpret Gregor's transformation as a kind of wish-fulfillment or as an extended metaphor. Critics who perceive the metamorphosis as a form of wish-fulfillment on Gregor's part find in the text clues indicating that he deeply resented having to support his family. Desiring to be in turn nurtured by them, he becomes a parasite in entomological fact. The complete dependence of Gregor's family and employer on him, then, is seen as an ironic foil to the reality of Gregor's anatomical transformation into a parasite. Many critics who approach the story in this way believe the primary emphasis of The Metamorphosis is not upon Gregor, but on his family, as they abandon their dependence on him and learn to be self-sufficient. One interpretation of the story holds that the title applies equally to Gregor's sister Grete: she passes from girlhood to young womanhood during the course of the narrative. Another view of Gregor's transformation is that it is an extended metaphor, carried from abstract concept to concrete reality: trapped in a meaningless job and isolated from the human beings around him, Gregor is thought of as an insect by himself and by others, so he becomes one." [source: http://www.enotes.com/short-story-criticism/metamorphos…
Moral of the story, work life balance is critical to self actualisation, otherwise one is no different from the 小强s of the world, whose English name as you now know is Gregor or Samsa or both! :P
In other readings, there is also the thought that Kafka warns that capitalism harbors inevitable changes that will result ultimately in loneliness and horror. He does so with a prophecy that women will replace men in the 20th century workforce, to their detriment. [source: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080127195…
Looking at it from another angle, the theme of alienation from humanity also is applicable to the condition of old age. The insectile and reclusive Gregor shut up in his room away from the family is not that much different from an aged human being who has been incapacitated by senility. The obligation, denial and the resentment that accompanies the effort of caretaking for this “baggage” does occur, saddening but undeniable.
So that’s my first book, a pretty short one since its a novella, for 2011. I wonder how many I can do this time round.

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Ripplecloud said on Jan 18, 2011 | Add your feedback