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May 04, 2011

Dan rated it:

Gregor Samsa wakes up one morning to discover he's been transformed into a giant beetle-like creature. Can he and his family adjust to his new form?

The Metamorphosis is one of those books that a lot of people get dragooned into reading during high school and therefore are predisposed to loath. I managed to escape this fate and I'm glad. The Metamorphosis is quite a strange little book.

Translated from German, The Metamorphosis is the story of how Gregor Samsa's transfor More...

12 comments like (46 people liked it)

Apr 22, 2009

Roos rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

20 comments like (12 people liked it)

Dec 30, 2007

Nikki rated it:

Gregor waking up one morning as a bug was a hilarious analogy of the effects an illness can have on someone, as well as on those who are close to him. Though the underlying story behind the hilarity of the analogy was anything but funny. I took it as more of a warning of what NOT to do when a loved-one is afflicted by some unfortunate disease or circumstance. I found his resistance of acknowledging to himself that he had become a bug in the beginning of the story to be very interesting. When More...

4 comments like (31 people liked it)

Dec 19, 2010

Harun Harahap rated it:

Saya membaca buku ini 2x. Kenapa?karena buku tipis ini sepertinya sarat dengan makna. Baca sebelum tidur hingga bermimpi ketemu kutu raksasa *lupa berdoa nih dan dalam bus kp.rambutan-merak menuju kantor tercinta di kebon jeruk. Lalu apakah yang saya 'tangkap' dari buku ini?

1. Bekerjalah dengan serius tapi santai. Bekerja dengan hati tanpa paksaan akan membuat pekerjaan lebih mudah dan nikmat untuk dilaksanakan. Jangan takut minta cuti atau istirahat jika sudah lelah, kita berhak unt More...

11 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jan 03, 2012

Forest rated it:

Said to be one of the most important works of the 20th century, this story mirrors the way humans to this day treat others who are different. This is especially true for people with disabilities. Imagine getting into a car accident and spending the rest of your life without the use of your legs, arms, and voice. How would people treat you? This is why it is highly important for us to be unconsciously competent in our relationships with people with disabilities. Even more important is to focu More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

May 24, 2010

Aerin rated it:

I know, I know, it's a metaphor, but I really disliked this book. Too many GIANT BEETLES. Sure, there's only one, but really, isn't one too many?

13 comments like (20 people liked it)

Jan 07, 2012

Nick rated it:

over the past 10 years, i can think of at least three passionate, intense, very loud and vulgar public arguments about this book. odd. carmen zumot and i once didn't speak for two days after i took issue with her blasé claim that "Gregor Samsa was turned into a fly", which sounded at the time some height of willful ridiculousness... conceived and executed in the hopes of obliterating my Weltanschauung's very foundation, it seemed some existential Alpha Strike, a slouch towards barbaric More...

3 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 06, 2012

Lou rated it:

It was as a thought provoking encounter reading the metamorphosis of a man into some kind of dung beetle.Waking up to find out you have become a bug and all that comes with being one can be a frightening encounter, the inapability of communicating with you're loved ones a sad fate. This is an engaging read reminiscent of The Incredible Shrinking Man by Richard Matheson.

Theres to be a screen adaptation check out the video on my page
Metamorphosis Teaser by Jeffrey Lau More...

20 comments like (6 people liked it)

Feb 04, 2009

Ken rated it:

Endlessly dissected, ripped apart, its guts laid out on a slab, sewn back together, reconstructed, reinterpreted, misunderstood, misinterpreted, parodied, plagiarized, overanalyzed, and sadly sometimes underappreciated. Kafka’s The Metamorphosis is one of those jumping off points for modern literature, a key touchstone where so many good writers -- Borges, Nabokov, García Márquez – found inspiration in his work and studied it like a textbook on great writing.

But what is the metamor More...

7 comments like (37 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Amir rated it:

ولادیمیر ناباکوف در مورد این کتاب حرف قشنگی زده:اگر کسی مسخ کافکا را چیزی بیش از یک خیال پردازی حشره‌شناسانه بداند به او تبریک می‌گویم چون به صف خوانندگان خوب و بزرگ پیوسته است. در مورد سبک کتاب مسخ نکته ای که از لحاظ ادبیات خیلی مهم هست تمایز بین این سبک وهم آلود کافکا با سبکهای سوررئال و خیال پردازانه هست.کافکا با این نوع نوشتار سبکی رو در ادبیات بنیان گذاشته که بعد از کافکا به اسم سبک وهم آلود کافکائی شناخته میشه. (یکی از دلایلی که من این کتاب رو الان خوندم به خاطر کتاب قبلی بود که خوندم (کتا More...

3 comments like (4 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Kathy rated it:

Technically I read this book in German, and if I could give it zero stars, I would. I read the first sentence (in German, mind you) around 3:30 in the morning earlier this semester, and was convinced I was loosing my mind and that I couldn't be translating it right. It read: "Gregor Samsa awoke on morning to discover that he had somehow transformed into a giant cockaroach". After typing the sentence into freetranslation.com and finding out I actually had read and translated it corre More...

17 comments like (10 people liked it)

Nov 30, 2011

Henry rated it:

Gregor Samsa awakes from a bad dream into a nightmare.Stuck in his bed, this traveling salesman has overnight been transformed.Gregor is now a hideous bug. Dung beetle , cockroach , does it matter?He has missed his train in more ways than one.But Samsa, a real trooper, still thinks he can make the business trip!Eventually getting off the bed with just a small crash.Opening the locked door and moving around in his many, new, little feet.The parents and sister are shocked at his appearance. The More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Apr 13, 2009

Amang rated it:

"Berapa besar toleransi cinta manusia kepada manusia lain? Apakah batasannya?" Pertanyaan-pertanyaan besar ini melingkupi cerita yang dengan begitu dahsyat dibuka oleh Franz Kafka dengan kalimat ini: Als Gregor Samsa eines Morgen aus unruhigen Träumen erwachte, fand er sich in seinem Bett zu einem ungeheuren Ungeziefer verwandelt.

Kata "ungeheure" diartikan makhluk raksasa, menakutkan, sedang "ungeziefer" bisa diartikan binatang kecil yang mengganggu, men More...

8 comments like (4 people liked it)

Apr 11, 2008

Jason Williams rated it:

alien, alienation, alienate, alienated, dead vermin/jew

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Mar 24, 2008

bup rated it:

I didn't know what to expect - the central gimmick, of course, is a cultural touchstone - but I had no idea what Kafka did with it. "Come for the bug man, stay for the ..."?

Imagine if Dostoevsky decided to write a sci-fi.

It's odd. And it has humor. Especially in Part I. Really dry stuff. If I were a bug, I think my reaction would be along the lines of "AAAAUUUUGGGHHHH!!!! I'M A BUG!!! I'M A BUG!!!" but Gregor is more like, "Wow, the boss is NOT go More...

0 comments like (8 people liked it)

Nov 10, 2009

Weinz rated it:

I am privileged to have a beautiful commute every morning where I pass by a lake surrounded by oak covered golden hills, a very Steinbeck setting. There is a large bridge on this drive that has been a suicide favorite over the years. So, on my drive when I see anyone on the bridge I can’t help but become very concerned. There rarely is anyone on the bridge as it is in the middle of a forest and hard to get to. So this morning as I came upon the bridge I was a little grief stricken to see not o More...

12 comments like (13 people liked it)

Jan 29, 2012

Guenda rated it:

Avendo letto questo libro in un pomeriggio, ho avuto modo di assimilare più rapidamente quello che Kafka voleva dire attraverso il suo libro-racconto "La metamorfosi".
Gregor Samsa, trasformato in insetto, è un personaggio che suscita tenerezza nel lettore quanto disgusto nei suoi genitori: è solo, e credo che questo sia proprio quello che Kafka voleva trasmettere.
Gregor è incapace di farsi capire dai suoi genitori, ma riesce a capirli perfettamente; vive relegato in una s More...

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 01, 2010

Kate rated it:

I read this story online - it's available through Project Gutenberg or just a Google search. It's one of those classics I always wanted to read.

Gregor is a traveling salesman who supports his entire family, and he has just woken up to find that he is a beetle. Understandably, his family is a little freaked out. Gregor doesn't spend much time wondering why he has turned into a cockroach. He's more concerned because he can't go to work and worries about what his family will do with More...

2 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jul 16, 2011

DC rated it:

(I have read, in particular, an edition that was translated by Ian Johnston.)

Let me start off by saying this: I have a deep aversion to insects, so I was rather squeamish while reading more than one passage here. Eeeeek.

I applaud the book for having been able to agitate me into learning more about it. I am also impressed on how simply narrated the circumstances were discussed-- from Gregor managing to adapt to his new life (from trying to get out of bed to hiding under the " More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 14, 2009

Maria rated it:

A man wakes up one day to find he has been changed into a large insect/beetle. The story follows his efforts to deal with this, and his family's reaction to the change. But it's not just a story about a man turning into a beetle, it's a clever way of writing about how a family would deal with the main breadwinner in the house becoming unable to work, and also on a wider scope, the way a family (and the world at large) reacts to someone who is disabled, or terminally ill. It could also be an a More...

2 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jun 24, 2008

Sinjinn rated it:

strange ugly , not worth reading

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Feb 09, 2012

David rated it:

The Metamorphosis can be read as a joke. Or, it can be read as study in family psychology. And it can just as easily be read as one of the most prophetic works of fiction written in the 20th century. It contains all of these dimensions, and others, which together partly account for its enduring literary power.

The premise of a man turning into an insect is itself notable in light of the conventions of 19th century literary realism that preceded Kafka. Kafka manages to narrate the inward experienc More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 11, 2011

Sofia rated it:

This was a surprise for me. I had never read Kafka even though it was recommended to me a lot of times, so I didn't know what to expect. Now I'm looking forward to reading his other works. This book is a little gem of insight into human behaviour, presented in a metaphor of alienation, like a darker version of one of Aesop's Fables.

One man wakes up one day and discovers he has turned into an insect. At first he can't quite come to terms with his new condition, and tries to ignore it More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 08, 2009

The other John rated it:

One day, back in my youth, I decided to get me some culture. I was an avid science fiction fan and I had heard that there was this book--actual literature--about a man who turned into a cockroach. I determined to get a copy of that book and see how the author was able to transform such a concept into something that would be studied by university professors and the like. What fascinating cause did he devise for such a change? How deftly could he explain the biological differences between insect a More...

1 comment like (5 people liked it)

May 09, 2008

Artnoose rated it:

I reread two selections from this book of short stories after not having read it in 15 years. The two stories I read were "The Metamorphosis" and "The Penal Colony."

My edition has more short stories than just "The Metamorphosis" so I'll talk about both short stories I read.

I was interested in rereading "The Metamorphosis" because I only learned after having read it the first time that it's a metaphor for being a writer. Gregor wake More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Christine rated it:

This is the utmost fascinating story of a terrifying metamorphosis into a giant bug that occurs to the protagonist one morning and of a consequent alienation from his family. Although depressing, Kafka portrays so realistically (and beautifully) the consequences that happen with a fate that the protagonist and his family do not arguably question- or fight. The eventual death gregor faces is devastating. I remember feeling much sympathy for the lonesome, giant monster that once was human- altho More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 27, 2011

Siska rated it:

Membaca kisahnya benar2 mengaduk-aduk perasaan. Tak tahan rasanya, suatu hari saat bangun pagi mendapati diri ini tak dikenali di rumah sendiri. Juga tak bisa mengeluarkan kata-kata yang bisa dimengerti, tak bisa menjelaskan keadaannya, hingga akhirnya si tokoh ini hanya membuat jijik keluarganya.

Jijik sekaligus takut. Bahkan diam2 mereka berharap si tokoh ini mati saja. Hanya kilasan norma saja yang membuat mereka menahan diri tak mengungkapkannya.

Ya, ia, si tokoh, dalam sem More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Mar 06, 2008

Austin rated it:

Nearly everyone can relate to this story, and in many ways, this represents a much more pervasive human condition than a romance might present. But so often this story is read metaphorically, or symbolically. I remember, so vividly, imagining waking up to find yourself as a horrible insect, and how you would feel if that were to actually happen. That was what terrified me about this story, and still does when I think about it now.

Kafka did some other great stuff too, though, and t More...

0 comments like

Dec 04, 2008

Miste rated it:

I had to read this for one of my English classes in college. It was eye-opening the interpretation that the teacher had on the book and what it meant and why Kafka had written it. Very weird book though.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 10, 2011

دينا rated it:

وقد أنتوى أن يغرى أى زائر متردد على الدخول،أو أن يكتشف على الأقل من عساه أن يكون،إلا أن الباب لم يفتح قط ثانية،وضاع إنتظاره عبثاً، كانوا يريدون جميعا أن يدخلوا إليه فى ذلك الصباح الباكر،عندما كانت الأبواب مغلقة، والآن بعد أن فتح لهم أحد الأبواب بنفسه، وكان الآخر قد ظل مفتوحاً على مايبدوا طوال النهار لم يدخل أى منهم، وحتى المفاتيح كانت فى ثقوب الأبواب من الخارج More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

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