English language
Published April 11, 2021 by Obvious State LLC.
"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. He was laying on his hard, as it were armor-plated, back and when he lifted his head a little he could see his domelike brown belly divided into stiff arched segments on top of which the bed quilt could hardly keep in position and was about to slide off completely. His numerous legs, which were pitifully thin compared to the rest of his bulk, waved helplessly before his eyes."
With it's startling, bizarre, yet surprisingly funny first opening, Kafka begins his masterpiece, The Metamorphosis. It is the story of a young man who, transformed overnight into a giant beetle-like insect, becomes an object of disgrace to his family, an outsider in his own home, a quintessentially alienated man. A harrowing—though absurdly comic—meditation on human feelings of inadequacy, guilt, and isolation, …
"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. He was laying on his hard, as it were armor-plated, back and when he lifted his head a little he could see his domelike brown belly divided into stiff arched segments on top of which the bed quilt could hardly keep in position and was about to slide off completely. His numerous legs, which were pitifully thin compared to the rest of his bulk, waved helplessly before his eyes."
With it's startling, bizarre, yet surprisingly funny first opening, Kafka begins his masterpiece, The Metamorphosis. It is the story of a young man who, transformed overnight into a giant beetle-like insect, becomes an object of disgrace to his family, an outsider in his own home, a quintessentially alienated man. A harrowing—though absurdly comic—meditation on human feelings of inadequacy, guilt, and isolation, The Metamorphosis has taken its place as one of the most widely read and influential works of twentieth-century fiction. As W.H. Auden wrote, "Kafka is important to us because his predicament is the predicament of modern man."
Knowing this book is about a man who wakes up as a cockroach, I expected surrealism. Instead, I got a sketch of the progressive psychological changes an independent man and his family experience when he's unexpectedly disabled.
I just finished Franz Kafka’s seminal novella, The Metamorphosis. I wasn’t sure what to expect with the story of Gregor, waking to find himself transformed into an insect; and I was pleasantly surprised. Not only does it go through the struggles of this mysterious change for Gregor, but the intense effect it has on his parents and sister. This is a quick read, a little strange, very dark but thought provoking at the same time. A lot of people get dragged into reading this book for high-school (mainly in America) and as a result may end up hating this book. But there really is a lot of literary merit to this book, and I can see why people are made to study it.
