Genres
Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Dover Publications (2012), Edition: 1, 98 pages
Description
A man awakens to find himself transformed into a giant vermin; a performer starves himself to death as a circus attraction; a fiendish engine of capital punishment engraves the letter of the law into the body of the condemned. Such are the nightmare scenarios that emerge in the short stories of Franz Kafka, one of the twentieth century's most formative, mystifying literary figures. Though immediate in their impact, Kafka's stories invite endless angles of interpretation, from Freudian psychology and existentialist philosophy to animal studies. This volume presents "The Metamorphosis"--Together with several other of Kafka's best and best-known stories-in a nuanced, clear, and powerful translation by Ian Johnston.
User reviews
LibraryThing member BookAddict
The Metamorphosis definately makes you see how insignificant your life really is to others. While you are useful you are loved and valued. When you are no longer useful you begin to be an annoyance and when you have descended to being uncomfortable and a burden to others they wish you to disappear
The Penal Colony is a valuable statement of how too much power in one man's hands to exercise judgement is terrifying. Do not read this if your squeamish, it's pretty gruesome.
I loved all of the stories in this edition.
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altogether. Fantastic story of a man's life reduced to that of a bug.The Penal Colony is a valuable statement of how too much power in one man's hands to exercise judgement is terrifying. Do not read this if your squeamish, it's pretty gruesome.
I loved all of the stories in this edition.
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LibraryThing member jolee
I love "The Metamorphosis" and have read it several times. I know some people probably think I'm crazy. (My friend, Natalie, said she could never get over the giant bug thing.) Personally, I love the weirdness of the Modernist period.
LibraryThing member tyroeternal
The Metamorphosis was required reading for me in school, and I have since re-visited it a few times. Short, powerful, and well worth anyone's time.
LibraryThing member bderby
In Kafka's "The Metamorphosis," Gregor Samsa awakes one morning to find himself transformed into a giant insect. The theme of personal transformation is clear and the items which are obvious metaphors (e.g. Samsa being an insect, the apple lodged in his back), will allow students to explore what
This book also includes "The Judgement," "In the Penal Colony," "A Country Doctor," and "A Report to an Academy."
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their intended meaning could have been.This book also includes "The Judgement," "In the Penal Colony," "A Country Doctor," and "A Report to an Academy."
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LibraryThing member AuntieClio
Kafka is weird. There, I said it. And I usually like weird, but I'm still not quite sure what to think of Kafka. In a discussion with a friend about themes, it became a bit easier to read. I didn't have problems with the bug, or the killing device as much as I did with the characters'
When I mentioned that the ending in "The Judgement" felt kinda clunky, my friend said, "That's the thing about Kafka. He gets a free pass because he's Kafka. The ending is clunky, but because he's Kafka, people wonder if they're missing something."
Note to self: Kafka is not god, his work is not perfect. (Weird, but not perfect.)
In "The Metamorphosis," one of the themes is being worthwhile. This poor man works hard to support his family, but in return, they and the bureaucrats he works for believe him to be nothing more than a "bug." And all anyone can do is be horrified that he can no longer work and treat him even more poorly.
"In The Penal Colony" was horrifying. Not because of the actual killing device, but is pretty horrific on its own, but for the attitude of The Officer toward crime and punishment. 30 years later, George Orwell published Nineteen Eighty-Four. The extreme belief that anyone showing any humanity towards others is weak, haunts us every day. On a light note, if there is one, I kept hearing Sylvester Stallone in "Judge Dredd" saying, "I AM the law" whenever The Officer spoke about how The Condemned had come to be condemned. It's a pretty damning statement against government (being published the year after WWI ended), dictatorships and those who stand by and do nothing.
As for "The Country Doctor" and "A Report to the Academy," well, those were more of the same weirdness.
In sum, I'm not sorry I read this. Not sorry, but not necessarily glad. I can now say I've read Kafka and understand what the meaning of the word "Kafkaesque" is. I don't need to read any more.
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reactions.When I mentioned that the ending in "The Judgement" felt kinda clunky, my friend said, "That's the thing about Kafka. He gets a free pass because he's Kafka. The ending is clunky, but because he's Kafka, people wonder if they're missing something."
Note to self: Kafka is not god, his work is not perfect. (Weird, but not perfect.)
In "The Metamorphosis," one of the themes is being worthwhile. This poor man works hard to support his family, but in return, they and the bureaucrats he works for believe him to be nothing more than a "bug." And all anyone can do is be horrified that he can no longer work and treat him even more poorly.
"In The Penal Colony" was horrifying. Not because of the actual killing device, but is pretty horrific on its own, but for the attitude of The Officer toward crime and punishment. 30 years later, George Orwell published Nineteen Eighty-Four. The extreme belief that anyone showing any humanity towards others is weak, haunts us every day. On a light note, if there is one, I kept hearing Sylvester Stallone in "Judge Dredd" saying, "I AM the law" whenever The Officer spoke about how The Condemned had come to be condemned. It's a pretty damning statement against government (being published the year after WWI ended), dictatorships and those who stand by and do nothing.
As for "The Country Doctor" and "A Report to the Academy," well, those were more of the same weirdness.
In sum, I'm not sorry I read this. Not sorry, but not necessarily glad. I can now say I've read Kafka and understand what the meaning of the word "Kafkaesque" is. I don't need to read any more.
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Language
Original publication date
1915
ISBN
9780486132631