Franz Kafka

La Metamorfosis

Die Verwandlung

die verwandlung

The metamorphosis

now I'm thinking that, if a person, is no longer "useful" enough for another, need to realize that they're better gone instead.

Raiza Zaldiarizki

"if it were Gregor, it would have realized a long time ago that it just wasn't possible for human beings to live beside such a creature, and it would have gone away on its own. but now we have this beast tormenting us"

"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

Mdy<3

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

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.

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

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."

 Il vit encore, devant sa fenêtre, le jour arriver peu à peu. Puis sa tête retomba malgré lui et ses narines laissèrent faiblement passer son dernier souffle.

II pensa à sa famille avec une tendresse émue. L'idée qu'il n'avait plus qu'à disparaître était, si possible, plus arrêtée encore dans son esprit que dans celui de sa sœur.

The Metamorphosis is a novella written by Franz Kafka which was first published in 1915. One of Kafka best known works, The Metamorphosis tells the story of salesman Gregor Samsa who wakes one morning to find himself inexplicably transformed into a huge insect subsequently struggling to adjust to this new condition. The novella has been widely discussed among literary critics, with differing interpretations being offered.

The Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka Annotated (Penguin Classics)

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.

Mimi

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

Bringing together some of Kafka's finest work, this collection demonstrates the richness and variety of the author's artistry.

The Metamorphosis and Other Stories

fareez

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.’

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.’

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

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?

Alison Deaner

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

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

Oriana andrade

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

He thought back on his family with tenderness and love. His opinion that he must by all means disappear was possibly even more emphatic than that of his sister. He remained in this state of empty, peaceful reflection until the clocktower struck the third hour of morning. He watched as everything began to lighten outside his window. Then his head sank all the way to the floor without volition and from his nostrils his last breath faintly streamed.

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

“would you love me if i was a worm?” just more complicated

tuna

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

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.

Luca Stromann

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!«

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

The Metamorphosis begins almost comically. A man wakes up to find he has turned into an insect. But the claustrophobic, dirty room and the increasingly distressed narrator soon turn this into a tale of slow horror. Most horrifying of all is his family's reaction to his metamorphosis and their final solution to the problem.

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.

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.

will

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.

Metamorphosis

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

Ester Waclavova

A Metamorfose

The history took me to thing in so many situation in our life, like when someone is seek or incapacitated and the family and other people have to take care and spending time, the financial issues carried by incapacitated people, so in general it's a good book.

Vitor Quintela 

It was both an unsettling and thought-provoking read.

Its exploration of alienation, identity, and the fragility of human relationships was deeply saddening yet captivating. 

The story, which can be interpreted as a trans allegory or as a broader reflection on societal rejection, challenges the reader to empathise with Gregor’s plight while grappling with the discomfort it evokes.

Kafka’s writing style is a bit challenging at first, but it grew on me; revealing layers of meaning beneath its surreal narrative. 

nullptr

It was both an unsettling and thought-provoking read.

Its exploration of alienation, identity, and the fragility of human relationships was deeply saddening yet captivating. 

The story, which can be interpreted as a trans allegory or as a broader reflection on societal rejection, challenges the reader to empathise with Gregor’s plight while grappling with the discomfort it evokes.

Kafka’s writing style is a bit challenging at first, but it grew on me; revealing layers of meaning beneath its surreal narrative. 

Read it for a second time and is growing so much in me like what Gregor Samsa lived in.

Santiago Alejandro Crime

Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 - 3 June 1924) was one of the greatest writers of the 20th century, but almost nobody was aware of his writing until after his death. Kafka did not intend for his unpublished work to come out after his death, but his wishes were ignored, to the world's benefit. Kafka's work is so profound and unique that the term "Kafkaesque" is now a part of the English language, a reference to surreal distortions and amazing complexities.

This book's protagonist isn't really the protagonist of the story :(

Voy a ser sincera, si por mí hubiera sido, jamás me hubiera interesado en este libro. Si lo hubiese visto en una estantería entre otros libros, este hubiera sido el último que me leería. Y no es porque sea aburrido, bueno, a algunos sí que les parece aburrido, sin embargo, este no fue mi caso, y no sé si fue el hecho de que me lo terminé literalmente en un funeral pero amé y amo tanto este relato de kafka. Para mí, un 10/10

Geraldine

my poor bug... the way they just ignored their son at the end LIKE..... ah T___T i felt bad for him, really. the whole book was just kafka’s answer to the question “would you still love me if i was a bug?” annnnndd the answer is “nah, fam wouldnt love you if you were a bug” 😕💔 

middy

you can either relate to the feelings of gregor or not. this book destroyed me. kafka put into his words a lot of fears i have in life and this resonated so much within me.. ugly crying right now. wow.

The book begins with the protagonist, Gregor Samsa, when one morning he wakes up to find himself transformed into a sort of gigantic insect. Before Gregor’s metamorphosis, he was a travelling salesman who tirelessly provided for his family.

I believe that Kafka tried to interpret that Gregor’s metamorphosis is a powerful metaphor for the alienation he feels from his family and society. 

The book begins with the protagonist, Gregor Samsa, when one morning he wakes up to find himself transformed into a sort of gigantic insect. Before Gregor’s metamorphosis, he was a travelling salesman who tirelessly provided for his family.

I believe that Kafka tried to interpret that Gregor’s metamorphosis is a powerful metaphor for the alienation he feels from his family and society. 

the metamorphosis is a surreal tale of transformation, both physical and emotional. gregor samsa, the protagonist, awakens one day to find himself transformed into a giant insect, an absurd and grotesque event that serves as a powerful metaphor for alienation, societal pressure, and personal identity. his metamorphosis reflects the way he has long felt dehumanized, reduced to a mere function in his family and society.

the prose is cold yet profound, creating an atmosphere of quiet horror and tragic inevitability. the story unfolds in a space where the absurd becomes ordinary, and gregor’s growing estrangement from those around him mirrors a slow, painful dissolution of his humanity. each page drips with a haunting melancholy, as his family’s initial shock fades into indifference, symbolizing how society often discards those who no longer serve its purpose.

this book explores not only physical transformation but also the fragility of identity and the cruelty of social rejection, weaving a dreamlike, unsettling tale of isolation that lingers long after the final word.

the metamorphosis is a surreal tale of transformation, both physical and emotional. gregor samsa, the protagonist, awakens one day to find himself transformed into a giant insect, an absurd and grotesque event that serves as a powerful metaphor for alienation, societal pressure, and personal identity. his metamorphosis reflects the way he has long felt dehumanized, reduced to a mere function in his family and society.

the prose is cold yet profound, creating an atmosphere of quiet horror and tragic inevitability. the story unfolds in a space where the absurd becomes ordinary, and gregor’s growing estrangement from those around him mirrors a slow, painful dissolution of his humanity. each page drips with a haunting melancholy, as his family’s initial shock fades into indifference, symbolizing how society often discards those who no longer serve its purpose.

this book explores not only physical transformation but also the fragility of identity and the cruelty of social rejection, weaving a dreamlike, unsettling tale of isolation that lingers long after the final word.

Gwenifer

When Gregor Samsa awakens one morning, he discovers that he has changed into a giant dung beetle.

swan

ainda é o livro que eu mais gostei quando fiz a leitura — forçada — nos anos de escola.

ainda é o livro que eu mais gostei quando fiz a leitura — forçada — nos anos de escola.

a mente do kafka era insana. <3.

eris

some thoughts: burnout, the feeling of uselessness, consequently leading to isolation, resulted from not being able to provide and work, one’s worth being tied to one’s labor

liked the writing style, descriptive and direct.

nica

some thoughts: burnout, the feeling of uselessness, consequently leading to isolation, resulted from not being able to provide and work, one’s worth being tied to one’s labor

liked the writing style, descriptive and direct.

that audiobook narrator was so annoying…

La Metamorfosis

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