The Metamorphosis - bookrastinating.com

2 hours and 3 minutes; Narrated by: Ralph Cosham

Published by Blackstone Audio, Inc..

ASIN:: B004Y42QUA

“One morning, as Gregor Samsa was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that in bed he had been changed into a monstrous verminous bug.” With this startling, bizarre, yet surprisingly funny first sentence, Kafka begins his masterpiece, The Metamorphosis. It is the story of a young traveling salesman 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. Rather than being surprised at the transformation, the members of his family despise it as an impending burden upon themselves.

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 20th-century fiction. As W. H. Auden wrote, “Kafka is important to us because his predicament is the predicament of modern man.”

“One morning, as Gregor Samsa was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that in bed he had been changed into a monstrous verminous bug.” With this startling, bizarre, yet surprisingly funny first sentence, Kafka begins his masterpiece, The Metamorphosis. It is the story of a young traveling salesman 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. Rather than being surprised at the transformation, the members of his family despise it as an impending burden upon themselves.

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 20th-century fiction. As W. H. Auden wrote, “Kafka is important to us because his predicament is the predicament of modern man.”

56 editions

Stephanie Jane reviewed The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

A good introduction to Kafka

4 stars

This was my first Kafka book and I approached it with a little apprehension as I wasn't sure I would understand the story. My fears were unfounded as The Metamorphosis is a very accessible story. I listened to it on audio and I think that hearing the words at speaking pace was good because I tend to rush when reading which, in this case, would have meant missing a lot of the more subtle meanings.

Gregor Samsa's physical transformation is the most obvious in Metamorphosis, but all the family undergo a change in their characters caused by his situation. I found myself able to identify with aspects of his sister's behaviour and his father's distance, as well as Gregor's sense of isolation.

Metamorphosis was an excellent introduction for me to Kafka's work and I shall seek out more of his stories.

This was my first Kafka book and I approached it with a little apprehension as I wasn't sure I would understand the story. My fears were unfounded as The Metamorphosis is a very accessible story. I listened to it on audio and I think that hearing the words at speaking pace was good because I tend to rush when reading which, in this case, would have meant missing a lot of the more subtle meanings.

Gregor Samsa's physical transformation is the most obvious in Metamorphosis, but all the family undergo a change in their characters caused by his situation. I found myself able to identify with aspects of his sister's behaviour and his father's distance, as well as Gregor's sense of isolation.

Metamorphosis was an excellent introduction for me to Kafka's work and I shall seek out more of his stories.

Subjects

Fantasy fiction
Children's fiction
Metamorphosis
Fiction
Social problems
English
Fiction, psychological
Alienation (Social psychology)
Family
Insects
Sales personnel
Translations into English
Families
Fiction, short stories (single author)
Kafka, franz, 1883-1924
Psychological fiction
FICTION / Classics
FICTION / Literary
Classic Literature
Alienation (Psychology)
Gregor Samsa (Fictitious character)