The Metamorphosis

The Metamorphosis

The Metamorphosis

The Metamorphosis

  • SHIP THIS ITEM
    Qualifies for Free Shipping
  • PICK UP IN STORE
    Check Availability at Nearby Stores

Related collections and offers


Overview

Classics for Your Collection:

goo.gl/U80LCr

---------

The Metamorphosis is a novella by Franz Kafka, first published in 1915. It has been called one of the seminal works of fiction of the 20th century and is studied in colleges and universities across the Western world.

The story begins with a traveling salesman, Gregor Samsa, waking to find himself transformed (metamorphosed) into a large, monstrous insect-like creature. The cause of Gregor's transformation is never revealed, and Kafka himself never gave an explanation. The rest of Kafka's novella deals with Gregor's attempts to adjust to his new condition as he deals with being burdensome to his parents and sister, who are repelled by the horrible, verminous creature Gregor has become.

Part I:

One day, Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman, wakes up to find himself transformed into a giant insect (the most common translation of the German description ungeheures Ungeziefer, literally "monstrous vermin"). He reflects on how dreary life as a traveling salesman is. As he looks at the wall clock, he notices that he has overslept and missed his train for work. He ponders the consequences of this delay. Gregor becomes annoyed at how his boss never accepts excuses or explanations from any of his employees no matter how hard-working they are, displaying an apparent lack of trusting abilities. Gregor's mother knocks on the door, and he answers her. She is concerned for Gregor because he is late for work...

Part II:

Gregor awakens and sees that someone has put milk and bread in his room. Initially excited, he quickly discovers that he has no taste for milk, once one of his favorites. He settles himself under a couch. The next morning, his sister comes in, sees that he has not touched the milk, and replaces it with rotting food scraps, which Gregor happily eats. This begins a routine in which his sister feeds him and cleans up while he hides under the couch, afraid that his appearance will frighten her...

Part III:

One evening, the cleaning lady leaves Gregor's door open while three boarders, whom the family has taken on for additional income, lounge about the living room. Grete has been asked to play the violin for them, and Gregor - who usually takes care to avoid crossing paths with anyone in the flat - creeps out of his bedroom to listen in the midst of his depression and resultant detachment...

Scroll Up and Get Your Copy!

Other Books for You: Lady Susan by Jane Austen

https: //www.createspace.com/6398116

The Awakening by Kate Chopin https: //www.createspace.com/6396330

The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen https: //www.createspace.com/6396464

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen https: //www.createspace.com/6425513

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen https: //www.createspace.com/6428190

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen https: //www.createspace.com/6428537

Persuasion by Jane Austen https: //www.createspace.com/6427638

Love and Friendship by Jane Austen https: //www.createspace.com/6439962

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781535459198
Publisher: CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date: 07/23/2016
Series: Best Novel , #21
Pages: 56
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.12(d)

About the Author

Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 - 3 June 1924) was a German-language writer of novels and short stories who is widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work, which fuses elements of realism and the fantastic, typically features isolated protagonists faced by bizarre or surrealistic predicaments and incomprehensible social-bureaucratic powers, and has been interpreted as exploring themes of alienation, existential anxiety, guilt, and absurdity. His best known works include "Die Verwandlung" ("The Metamorphosis"), Der Process (The Trial), and Das Schloss (The Castle). The term Kafkaesque has entered the English language to describe situations like those in his writing

Kafka was born into a middle-class, German-speaking Jewish family in Prague, the capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He trained as a lawyer, and after completing his legal education he was employed with an insurance company, forcing him to relegate writing to his spare time. Over the course of his life, Kafka wrote hundreds of letters to family and close friends, including his father, with whom he had a strained and formal relationship. He died in 1924 at the age of 40 from tuberculosis.
From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews