Call number
J GRAPHIC NOVEL KAF
Collection
Genres
Publication
Broadway Books (2004), Edition: Trade Paperback, 80 pages
Description
In graphic novel format, reworks Kafka's tale of family and alienation featuring traveling salesman Gregor Samsa, who awakens in his family home one morning to find himself turned into a giant bug.
Media reviews
With The Metamorphosis, Kuper shows shuffling in the extreme—the company insect scraping his belly along the floor, misery etched into his mouth—and reimagines Kafka's tale of toil for cubicle creatures of our own day.
User reviews
LibraryThing member stephmo
Kuper's adaptation of Kafka's work manages to humanize Gregor's dehumanization and while simplifying the text, enhances the story in the stark black and white drawings reminiscent of wodcuttings free to occasionally break the bounds of their square boundaries. While Gregor's plight can ultimately
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be viewed as depressing and nearly pointless, Kuper manages to focus on the deadpan humor throughout the story. While this ultimately doesn't change the fate of any of the characters, it does seem to make for an easier read and pondering of the story of the entire Samsa family. Show Less
LibraryThing member SparklieSunShine
My first and only Kafka. I do have the version with other stories so perhaps they will pop up over the course of the year. Well written and I actually liked the story quite a bit even if it was strange, gross and sad.
LibraryThing member dmcolon
I've not read the actual text to Franze Kafka's Metamorposis, so I really cannot compare the text to the graphic novel. Peter Kuper's interpretation of Kafka's work, however, stands on its own as a powerful work. The text describes the metamorphosis of Gregor Samsa into a vermin. Actually, the book
The book doesn't provide any explanation as to why Gregor undergoes this transformation and the world view presented is unflinchingly bleak. Kuper's illustrations match the overall tone of the text. When I started the book, I expected to be appalled and perhaps would come to see some sort of meaning to Gregor's decline. Kafka doesn't write that way, however, and one finished the book relieved that it's over. There's a strange, almost clinical, treatment of the subject matter and there's little pathos evident here.
There are themes present in this book, but I'm hard pressed to coherently narrate them. There's the issue of life in modern society and the pressures it brings. There's the issue of alienation from family. I have an odd feeling that Kafka was referring to homosexuality in Gregor's change and there's an intriguing mixture of self-pity and alienation here. The way his family and employer reacts very much reminded me of how people often react to people who have come out. But that's speculation.
In all, Kuper does an amazing job. The book's short, but incredibly powerful. It's not exactly uplifting, but you don't read Kafka to be uplifted. The illustration match the tone of the text brilliantly.
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starts with that fact and then proceeds to narrate the collapse of Samsa's life. From the moment Gregor changes, he loses his job and slowly loses the love and affection of his family.The book doesn't provide any explanation as to why Gregor undergoes this transformation and the world view presented is unflinchingly bleak. Kuper's illustrations match the overall tone of the text. When I started the book, I expected to be appalled and perhaps would come to see some sort of meaning to Gregor's decline. Kafka doesn't write that way, however, and one finished the book relieved that it's over. There's a strange, almost clinical, treatment of the subject matter and there's little pathos evident here.
There are themes present in this book, but I'm hard pressed to coherently narrate them. There's the issue of life in modern society and the pressures it brings. There's the issue of alienation from family. I have an odd feeling that Kafka was referring to homosexuality in Gregor's change and there's an intriguing mixture of self-pity and alienation here. The way his family and employer reacts very much reminded me of how people often react to people who have come out. But that's speculation.
In all, Kuper does an amazing job. The book's short, but incredibly powerful. It's not exactly uplifting, but you don't read Kafka to be uplifted. The illustration match the tone of the text brilliantly.
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LibraryThing member artlibby
Follow one of the world's most famous short stories through an illustrator's lens in this 2003 adaptation. Gregor Samsa awakens for work one day to find himself transformed into a bug. His world quickly darkens as his fate unravels. The illustrations capture the darkness of Gregor's new reality,
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leaving the reader with little to interpret on their own. For instance, the first depiction of Gregor's father in the graphic novel shows the man with a ferocious scowl on his face as he bangs on Gregor's door. In Kafka's depiction, the father's cantankerousness expresses itself over the course of the novel. The graphic novel is a much easier read than the short story itself, and as such could be used as an aide to help students grasp the complexities of the short story. However, the graphic novel does not substitute for the short story. It should be noted that it is hard to judge the merits of the graphic novel apart from Kafka's original tale. The story tends to transcend time, and readers will find themselves identifying with Gregor's pitiful plight. Recommended for high school libraries. Show Less
LibraryThing member sweetiegherkin
This book is an interesting twist on a classic short story. It is presented here as a graphic novel. The textual adaptation is well done and quite faithful to the original. The dark, moody drawings add to the gloomy atmosphere of the narrative. However, in some of the scenes, the sister is depicted
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as seeming a lot angrier and aggressive than I recall her being in the original story (although I did read that some five years ago now, so perhaps I am remembering incorrectly). Also, the beginning pictorial representations of Gregor as an insect seem more comic than I would have hoped for given the pathos of this story. However, as the story goes on and Gregor’s condition worsens, the resulting drawings of the insect Gregor do look more lamentable so that makes up for the cartoonish beetle we see in the beginning. Show Less
LibraryThing member theboylatham
Seven out of ten. eBook.
A man awakes one morning to find that overnight he has transformed into a bug. Far from being suprised, himself and his family take it very much in their stride - not able to face him only because he represents what is clearly to be their demise (he is the only family member
A man awakes one morning to find that overnight he has transformed into a bug. Far from being suprised, himself and his family take it very much in their stride - not able to face him only because he represents what is clearly to be their demise (he is the only family member
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who provides income). He becomes progressively more bug-like as the story continues and the family lose the desire to care for him. Show Less
LibraryThing member JoS.Wun
A bit weird but interesting nonetheless. Kind of illustrates how relatively easy people find it to get used to extraordinary situations in next to no time, but the situation described is just too outlandish to be really convincing. It felt like I was reading an experiment in writing, which perhaps
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it was. Show Less
LibraryThing member Madaroo
This book holds a special place in my heart because when I told my Dad I had become interested in bizarre/satirical literature, he went out by myself to a used book store and picked me up an old copy of the book. I came home to a copy of this book placed neatly on my pillow with a yellow post-it
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note from Dad that said, "Picked this up at a used bookstore. Enjoy, question, analyze; then we'll talk" Show Less
LibraryThing member GrytaJME
Hilarious. It only took about ten minutes to read, too.
LibraryThing member GrytaJME
Hilarious. It only took about ten minutes to read, too.
LibraryThing member weird_O
Who has not at least heard of the plight of Gregor Samsa, though probably not knowing the name, who awakens one morning to slowly realize he's turned into a cockroach. There is a problem around which to construct a plot! This story was written by Franz Kafka and published in 1915. The characters
But The Metamorphosis is extremely visual, so it is only natural it would be embellished with illustrations by some publisher. Storyteller and cartoonist R. Crumb published an illustrated biography of Kafka, and he included in it a version of The Metamorphosis in a comic format.
Illustrator Peter Kuper adapted the story as a graphic novel. Very effective, with shifting framing and viewpoints. Kuper has a heavily inked style and packs a lot of emotion—mostly angry emotion—into his drawings. I don't particularly like his style, but that didn't keep me from reading/viewing the entire book. It is, of course, consumed more quickly than Kafka's text, but it leaves less to the imagination. It's okay.
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and settings and conflicts all had to be mentally visualized by the reader. Kafka created the story with words. Just words.But The Metamorphosis is extremely visual, so it is only natural it would be embellished with illustrations by some publisher. Storyteller and cartoonist R. Crumb published an illustrated biography of Kafka, and he included in it a version of The Metamorphosis in a comic format.
Illustrator Peter Kuper adapted the story as a graphic novel. Very effective, with shifting framing and viewpoints. Kuper has a heavily inked style and packs a lot of emotion—mostly angry emotion—into his drawings. I don't particularly like his style, but that didn't keep me from reading/viewing the entire book. It is, of course, consumed more quickly than Kafka's text, but it leaves less to the imagination. It's okay.
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LibraryThing member Amellia_Fiske
This graphic novel is a great visualization of Kafka's work. The heavy-handed, dark artwork matches Gregor's existential crisis, getting progressively darker throughout the story. Some of the framing is excellent! I especially liked the one scene where the narration scuttled around the page as
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Gregor did so around his room. Show Less
LibraryThing member KurtWombat
Classic story well rendered. Artwork suitably dark and expressionistic-ish though not completely to my taste. Requirement of the form that there is some slimming of the story but the artist Kuper does a solid job hitting the key emotional notes though the music never quite soars.
ISBN
1400052998 / 9781400052998
Lexile
670L