Walter Herbert Sokel

Ralph Freedman

Edwin Honig

Wilhelm Emrich

Max Bense

Albert Lancaster Lloyd

Hellmuth Kaiser

Peter Dow Webster

Friedrich Beissner

Hellmut Richter

Franz Kafka

Writings by and about Kafka and textual notes accompany his translations of his early twentieth-century work about Gregor Samsa, an ordinary man who wakes up one morning only to discover that he has been transformed into a monstrous insect and must deal with his physical alteration, as well as the alienation from his family. Reprint.

Metamorphosis

Die Verwandlung

Elina Berzina

Franzi

raia – inactive

He was already on the verge of forgetting, and only his mother’s voice, which he had gone so long now without hearing, had shaken him awake.

Luca Stromann

[…] denn ihn hätte man doch in einer passenden Kiste mit ein paar Luftlöchern leicht transportieren können;

Anfangs rief sie ihn auch zu sich herbei, mit Worten, die sie wahrscheinlich für freundlich hielt, wie »Komm mal herüber, alter Mistkäfer!« oder »Seht mal den alten Mistkäfer!«

tuna

The previous morning while the doors were locked everyone had wanted to get in there to him, but now, now that he had opened up one of the doors and the other had clearly been unlocked some time during the day, no-one came, and the keys were in the other sides.

They had been good times and they had never come again, at least not with the same splendour

With a certain definitiveness he sensed, terrified, that everything was about to collapse all around him, and so he waited. 

Oriana andrade

As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.

Alison Deaner

It occurred to him how simple everything would be if somebody came to help him.

As nobody could understand him, nobody, not even his sister

Isolation and lack of connection only results in the deterioration of one’s own humanity and sense of self? 

fareez

As he listened to these words of his mother, Gregor understood that the want of any direct human address, in combination with his monotonous life at the heart of the family over the past couple of months, must have confused his understanding, because otherwise he would not have been able to account for the fact that he seriously wanted to have his room emptied out. Was it really his wish to have his cosy room, comfortable furnished with old heirlooms, transformed into a sort of cave, merely so that he would be able to crawl around in it freely, without hindrance in an direction — even at the expense of rapid and utterly forgetting his human past?

My grandfather was in the habit of saying: 'Life is astonishingly brief. By now it is all so condensed in my memory that I can hardly understand, for instance, how a young man can undertake to ride to the neighbouring village without wondering whether - even if everything goes right-the span of a normal happy life will be enough for such a ride.’

Sometimes he looks at me, as if to say: ‘I’ll go with you, father.’ And then I think to myself: ‘You’d be the last man I’d entrust myself to.’ And then his look seems to say: ‘Well, then at least I’ll be the last.’

Mimi

 "How about if I sleep a little bit longer and forget all this nonsense"

archie

I am too depressed at the moment, and perhaps I shouldn't be writing at all. But my story's hero has also had a very bad time today, and yet it is only the last lap of his misfortune, which is now becoming permanent.

me when monthly crisis identity and another bunch of sleep medicine relapse hit

n.  littéraire

"I cannot make you understand. I cannot make anyone understand what is happening inside me. I cannot even explain it to myself."

Context: He heard Grete playing the violin again.

Mdy<3

"Was he an animal, if music could move him so?"

I cannot make you understand. I cannot make anyone understand what is happening inside me. I cannot even explain it to myself.

"Calm —indeed the calmest— reflection might be better than the most confused decisions"

"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 its 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."

The Metamorphosis

die verwandlung

The metamorphosis

uma leitura deveras simples, não saí decepcionado, mas admito que esperava um pouco mais pelo quão conhecido o livro é. No fim é um livro bem gostosinho e fácil de ler, apesar de não ter nada muito inventivo, transparece que qualquer review bem feita sobre já trata de praticamente tudo que o livro diz, sem muita inventividade, é oque a história que você já sabe previamente sugere.

Jose Lucas

Heron 

La Metamorfosis

pocas cosas en la vida me han generado tales angustias como las que pasé al leer este libro

luca

Հակասություններ ամբողջ ստեղծագործության ընթացքում. ամեն ինչ և՛ բնական է, և՛ անտրամաբանական. կարծես արտասովոր դեպք է, բայց հենց այդպես էլ պետք է լիներ:

Lawton

Me desperté un día convertido en adulto funcional. Peor que ser un bicho.

Oliver

A man struggles to maintain his humanity when he transforms into a monstrous insect in this masterful novella by the celebrated author of The Trial. A young traveling salesman, Gregor Samsa is the sole breadwinner in his family—a role he can no longer fulfill when he awakes one morning to discover he has transformed into a “horrible vermin.” While Gregor is unable to communicate and forced to relearn how to move in his new body, his family is preoccupied with the question of their financial stability. Epitomizing the term “Kafkaesque,” the tale of Gregor and his absurd fate have become emblematic of modern existential dread. A truly iconic work, The Metamorphosis remains one of the most famous and analyzed works of twentieth-century literature.

ouch, pain, pighati, lumbay, hinagpis, kirot, hapdi, pagtangis, iyak, lungkot, siphayo, dalamhati, daing, luha, sawi…

Did I finish the book? Or did the book finish me?

Gregor gave everything to his family, and when he needed them, they shut him out.

They didn’t even try to understand him — they just tolerated his existence until they couldn’t anymore. And the worst part is... I kind of understand them.

It's painful to admit. But the way they were overwhelmed, exhausted, scared — Kafka doesn’t paint them as pure villains. Just human. (Damn you, capitalism)

And maybe that’s why this story hurts so much.

Nininin

Did I finish the book? Or did the book finish me?

It's the latter

Gregor gave everything to his family, and when he needed them, they shut him out.

They didn’t even try to understand him — they just tolerated his existence until they couldn’t anymore. And the worst part is... I kind of understand them.

It's painful to admit. But the way they were overwhelmed, exhausted, scared — Kafka doesn’t paint them as pure villains. Just human. (Damn you, capitalism)

And maybe that’s why this story hurts so much.

A Metamorfose

Obra de arte. Não consigo parar de chorar.

Noro

Al descubrir que se había transformado en un bicho, su primera preocupación fue no llegar al tarde al trabajo.

La sensación de encierro, de rechazo, de volverse irrelevante, está escrita con una frialdad que te duele. No hay drama, solo abandono seco. Y lo terminas y te quedas como "ya se acabó?… ya no hay más?… eso era todo?".

Kafka escribió una pesadilla tranquila. No da miedo como un monstruo, da miedo como un lunes eterno.

9/10 porque todavía no sé si me gustó o si solo me arruinó poquito.

nieves

Al descubrir que se había transformado en un bicho, su primera preocupación fue no llegar al tarde al trabajo.

La sensación de encierro, de rechazo, de volverse irrelevante, está escrita con una frialdad que te duele. No hay drama, solo abandono seco. Y lo terminas y te quedas como "ya se acabó?… ya no hay más?… eso era todo?".

Kafka escribió una pesadilla tranquila. No da miedo como un monstruo, da miedo como un lunes eterno.

Lectura corta. Daño largo.

9/10 porque todavía no sé si me gustó o si solo me arruinó poquito.

It pains me to feel useless and disgusting in this ever fabricated world.

merliah

Kaarthik sekar 

Luca Colaluce

In basic words, I cried. Not literally, however my heart broke. Just when I thought it couldn’t get worse, it did. I had some hope when the charwoman was introduced, I really thought she’d be the one to love and nurture him as he deserved and though she wasn’t fully disrespectful to him, I was disappointed. Maybe I am taking this much too personal because I myself am also the oldest, breadwinner of my family. I feel so empathetic towards him. The story is beautifully written, the motifs and biblical similarities are gorgeous. Heart wrenching for sure, I don’t think I could ever get over it.

lindura

read this on the plane back to cph, felt really pretentious but it was worth it. would read again

camille paradis

very intriguing read! gregor's descent into depression, spurred on by the isolation he felt from his family, was honestly relatable to me and very saddening to read. i was a bit nauseous when trying to imagine a giant cockroach scuttling around the walls and ceiling, but all in all this was an enjoyable and enlightening read.

kaii

Charlotte Helie 

Read this for book group. Obviously it’s a great little book - it’s Kafka. Left me very depressed about capitalism, society and disability. Which was probably the point!

Naomi J.

Very sad and intense book. By the end, I just wanted to get it over with. I was very annoyed with the character development of the people around the main character.

eryc

Donut!

Beautiful representation of suffering and the feeling of being useless, the way Kafka writes is like no other