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The Metamorphosis & Other Stories
Franz Kafka's bizarrely comedic meditation on human feelings of inadequacy, guilt, and isolation expressed through the story of a man who is transformed overnight into a giant beetle, now repackaged with a beautifully designed jacket by noted illustrator Malika Favre.
Only yesterday, Gregor Samsa was a meek salesman, browbeaten by his unappreciative employer and depended on fiercely by his ungrateful family. This morning, Gregor awakens to discover that, overnight, he has been transformed into a monstrous insect. First published in 1915, Kafka’s best-known tale has inspired numerous interpretations for more than a century and helped to establish the term “Kafkaesque” as a reference to a bizarre and nightmarish experience. This collection of his short fiction, in a new translation, includes more than thirty of his short stories and sketches, including “In the Penal Colony,” “The Stoker,” “The Judgment,” “A Country Doctor,” “A Hunger Artist,” and more.
Only yesterday, Gregor Samsa was a meek salesman, browbeaten by his unappreciative employer and depended on fiercely by his ungrateful family. This morning, Gregor awakens to discover that, overnight, he has been transformed into a monstrous insect. First published in 1915, Kafka’s best-known tale has inspired numerous interpretations for more than a century and helped to establish the term “Kafkaesque” as a reference to a bizarre and nightmarish experience. This collection of his short fiction, in a new translation, includes more than thirty of his short stories and sketches, including “In the Penal Colony,” “The Stoker,” “The Judgment,” “A Country Doctor,” “A Hunger Artist,” and more.
176 pages, Paperback
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About the author
Franz Kafka
3,251 books38.8k followersFranz Kafka was a German-speaking writer from Prague whose work became one of the foundations of modern literature, even though he published only a small part of his writing during his lifetime. Born into a middle-class Jewish family in Prague, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Kafka grew up amid German, Czech, and Jewish cultural influences that shaped his sense of displacement and linguistic precision. His difficult relationship with his authoritarian father left a lasting mark, fostering feelings of guilt, anxiety, and inadequacy that became central themes in his fiction and personal writings.
Kafka studied law at the German University in Prague, earning a doctorate in 1906. He chose law for practical reasons rather than personal inclination, a compromise that troubled him throughout his life. After university, he worked for several insurance institutions, most notably the Workers Accident Insurance Institute for the Kingdom of Bohemia. His duties included assessing industrial accidents and drafting legal reports, work he carried out competently and responsibly. Nevertheless, Kafka regarded his professional life as an obstacle to his true vocation, and most of his writing was done at night or during periods of illness and leave. Kafka began publishing short prose pieces in his early adulthood, later collected in volumes such as Contemplation and A Country Doctor. These works attracted little attention at the time but already displayed the hallmarks of his mature style, including precise language, emotional restraint, and the application of calm logic to deeply unsettling situations. His major novels The Trial, The Castle, and Amerika were left unfinished and unpublished during his lifetime. They depict protagonists trapped within opaque systems of authority, facing accusations, rules, or hierarchies that remain unexplained and unreachable. Themes of alienation, guilt, bureaucracy, law, and punishment run throughout Kafka’s work. His characters often respond to absurd or terrifying circumstances with obedience or resignation, reflecting his own conflicted relationship with authority and obligation. Kafka’s prose avoids overt symbolism, yet his narratives function as powerful metaphors through structure, repetition, and tone. Ordinary environments gradually become nightmarish without losing their internal coherence. Kafka’s personal life was marked by emotional conflict, chronic self-doubt, and recurring illness. He formed intense but troubled romantic relationships, including engagements that he repeatedly broke off, fearing that marriage would interfere with his writing. His extensive correspondence and diaries reveal a relentless self-critic, deeply concerned with morality, spirituality, and the demands of artistic integrity. In his later years, Kafka’s health deteriorated due to tuberculosis, forcing him to withdraw from work and spend long periods in sanatoriums. Despite his illness, he continued writing when possible. He died young, leaving behind a large body of unpublished manuscripts. Before his death, he instructed his close friend Max Brod to destroy all of his remaining work. Brod ignored this request and instead edited and published Kafka’s novels, stories, and diaries, ensuring his posthumous reputation.
The publication of Kafka’s work after his death established him as one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century. The term Kafkaesque entered common usage to describe situations marked by oppressive bureaucracy, absurd logic, and existential anxiety. His writing has been interpreted through existential, religious, psychological, and political perspectives, though Kafka himself resisted definitive meanings. His enduring power lies in his ability to articulate modern anxiety with clarity and restraint.
Kafka studied law at the German University in Prague, earning a doctorate in 1906. He chose law for practical reasons rather than personal inclination, a compromise that troubled him throughout his life. After university, he worked for several insurance institutions, most notably the Workers Accident Insurance Institute for the Kingdom of Bohemia. His duties included assessing industrial accidents and drafting legal reports, work he carried out competently and responsibly. Nevertheless, Kafka regarded his professional life as an obstacle to his true vocation, and most of his writing was done at night or during periods of illness and leave. Kafka began publishing short prose pieces in his early adulthood, later collected in volumes such as Contemplation and A Country Doctor. These works attracted little attention at the time but already displayed the hallmarks of his mature style, including precise language, emotional restraint, and the application of calm logic to deeply unsettling situations. His major novels The Trial, The Castle, and Amerika were left unfinished and unpublished during his lifetime. They depict protagonists trapped within opaque systems of authority, facing accusations, rules, or hierarchies that remain unexplained and unreachable. Themes of alienation, guilt, bureaucracy, law, and punishment run throughout Kafka’s work. His characters often respond to absurd or terrifying circumstances with obedience or resignation, reflecting his own conflicted relationship with authority and obligation. Kafka’s prose avoids overt symbolism, yet his narratives function as powerful metaphors through structure, repetition, and tone. Ordinary environments gradually become nightmarish without losing their internal coherence. Kafka’s personal life was marked by emotional conflict, chronic self-doubt, and recurring illness. He formed intense but troubled romantic relationships, including engagements that he repeatedly broke off, fearing that marriage would interfere with his writing. His extensive correspondence and diaries reveal a relentless self-critic, deeply concerned with morality, spirituality, and the demands of artistic integrity. In his later years, Kafka’s health deteriorated due to tuberculosis, forcing him to withdraw from work and spend long periods in sanatoriums. Despite his illness, he continued writing when possible. He died young, leaving behind a large body of unpublished manuscripts. Before his death, he instructed his close friend Max Brod to destroy all of his remaining work. Brod ignored this request and instead edited and published Kafka’s novels, stories, and diaries, ensuring his posthumous reputation.
The publication of Kafka’s work after his death established him as one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century. The term Kafkaesque entered common usage to describe situations marked by oppressive bureaucracy, absurd logic, and existential anxiety. His writing has been interpreted through existential, religious, psychological, and political perspectives, though Kafka himself resisted definitive meanings. His enduring power lies in his ability to articulate modern anxiety with clarity and restraint.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 5, 2024
Ah come on Franz! Cheer up you ole bugger!...You know how it is, we've all been there, another one of those days, you wake up…a little disorientated then you find out that you’re really a giant insect stuck in a bed somewhere in Prague in the early 1900s…
With this being Kafka paranoia, isolation and darkness seem to cloak every page. The anxiety drenched prose always come with a creeping shadow, with that unsettling air weighing just a little too heavy on every other moment. So much of the angst seems to arise from that sense of disorientation and the accompanying uncertainty…after all who would put up with you if you woke up tomorrow as “a huge verminous insect”?...
“It’s not meant to kill immediately, but only after an average time of twelve hours.”
Is a quote lifted from “In The Penal Colony” which shares the same paranoid injustice made so famous in “The Trial”. This describes some truly gruesome intentions more fitting of a horror novel or a German expressionist movie.
“Letter to My Father” is really sad, and reads like a suicide note to a parent - at one point he says of one of his sisters, “I particularly detested her selfishness, because I was possibly even worse in this respect. Selfishness is one of the surest sign of profound unhappiness.”
The handful of other pieces are really little more than filler. So overall this is an interesting enough read and reminds you how dark and claustrophobic Kafka's work could be.
With this being Kafka paranoia, isolation and darkness seem to cloak every page. The anxiety drenched prose always come with a creeping shadow, with that unsettling air weighing just a little too heavy on every other moment. So much of the angst seems to arise from that sense of disorientation and the accompanying uncertainty…after all who would put up with you if you woke up tomorrow as “a huge verminous insect”?...
“It’s not meant to kill immediately, but only after an average time of twelve hours.”
Is a quote lifted from “In The Penal Colony” which shares the same paranoid injustice made so famous in “The Trial”. This describes some truly gruesome intentions more fitting of a horror novel or a German expressionist movie.
“Letter to My Father” is really sad, and reads like a suicide note to a parent - at one point he says of one of his sisters, “I particularly detested her selfishness, because I was possibly even worse in this respect. Selfishness is one of the surest sign of profound unhappiness.”
The handful of other pieces are really little more than filler. So overall this is an interesting enough read and reminds you how dark and claustrophobic Kafka's work could be.
January 19, 2026
I read this book for the purpose of The Metamorphosis. But honestly, it wasn’t even my favorite story. This book has so many hidden gems.
Eleven Sons, The Passenger, the list goes on and on.
The Metamorphosis is still important, though. It makes you ask questions.
When I’m no longer capable, will someone just let me rot away? When I need help, will someone treat me like a burden? And is my only purpose in life to work, to be controlled by a system that doesn’t care?
It’s beautiful and still absolutely relevant in today’s society.
Eleven Sons, The Passenger, the list goes on and on.
The Metamorphosis is still important, though. It makes you ask questions.
When I’m no longer capable, will someone just let me rot away? When I need help, will someone treat me like a burden? And is my only purpose in life to work, to be controlled by a system that doesn’t care?
It’s beautiful and still absolutely relevant in today’s society.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 16, 2025
Metamorphosis and most of the other stories in here are 100% worthy of 5 stars, however a small few of the stories later into the collection aren't all that so I can't give this specific collection a true 5 star rating.
December 28, 2025
Finally finished a book this year (about time!). Following on from reading “The Trial” and “The Castle”, I decided to read some of Kafka’s short stories, as well as reread his most renowned work: “The Metamorphosis”.
This is probably the 3rd or 4th time I’ve read “The Metamorphosis”, and I still find it just as intriguing. Especially relatable as I sit here now with a broken leg and having had to have my flatmates look after me for a week (as far as I can tell they haven’t started to resent me quite as much as the Samsa family resented their own ‘monstrous vermin’). A great menacing story on the dangers of responsibility, the value of the self, and (in the case of both Gregor and his sister) becoming truly acquainted with the real and unforgiving world.
“In the Penal Colony” was a delightfully gory little fable that I read the day before my birthday. The warped Officer was written wonderfully and created such a visceral image of a man so devoted to his work, and disconnected from his humanity. I took the story as a message on the passions of good and evil: the “evil” Officer is utterly devoted to his creation and work, choosing even to die by it, whereas the “good” Visitor desired to help, but does not have the passion nor strength to truly stand up for the prisoner, choosing instead to rationalise his inability to help in the moment, and explain away his guilt for not helping. The ending seemed to cement this, with the visitor sailing away, ignoring the islanders running to try and leave with him. Kafka’s observation here definitely rings true: is it not a fact of life the wicked tend to be so much more invested and passionate in what they do, whereas of the many that disagree with them, only a small proportion truly oppose them while the majority choosing to sit back and rationalise why they cannot do more? Kafka captures this dilemma here with the visitor, along with the additional concept of the understanding of guilt through the truly gruesome machine. A lot to consider for a such short story!
I had to reread “The Judgement” to glean some meaning from it. The first time I read it, I was drifting off to sleep, and failed to grasp quite what Kafka was getting at, finding the second half and culmination of the story incredibly confusing. However, I found much more insight on a second read (on a bus shortly before breaking my leg). A great piece on the importance of responsibility, and how one can become blind to those responsibilities in favour of people pleasing and working to one’s own gain. There was the especially nice “Kafkaism” of Georg noticing his father’s pocket on his pyjamas and taking that as a complete nullification of his credibility. Kafka’s perceptions of the irrationality of human thought and ego, and always trying to find something to be superior over or belittle others are always humorous but also very perceptive. A powerful tale with an important message, made all the more powerful by its shocking and abrupt end, and life continuing as if nothing has happened with the “quite endless steam of traffic” passing over the bridge. A man wrapped up in his own world, a relationship with a father character, and a warped and intriguing conclusion - this is quintessential Kafka.
“Letter To My Father”, the closest we have to an autobiography by Kafka, is an absolutely mortifying description of Kafka’s relationship with his father, that I genuinely felt bad for reading: this stuff was never meant to be read by the public, and arguably not even his father (Kafka never sent the letter). Despite this it does prove to be an invaluable insight into the tortured mind of Kafka. A lot of his other works come more into focus with the tragic revelations in this letter, some of which he even explicitly references. It is truly heartbreaking to see Kafka’s insecurity, fear, and pain laid bare, and despite all this, his strength to rise above it, attempt to rationalise it, and resist holding his father accountable, instead attempting to forge an explanation and solution for them both. A truly remarkable man. To funnel that pain into writing, understanding of the tormenter, and a kindness to strangers, despite crippling self-doubt and anxiety is truly a testament to Kafka’s almost superhuman humanity.
This book finishes with a collection of fables, which leave this collection on a slightly higher note. “A Hybrid” felt appropriately placed immediately after “Letter To My Father” a lovely metaphorical fable. Then “Message from the Emperor” with a layered message about the struggles of life? It felt, to me, vaguely similar to the castle. Finally Kafka really displays his wit, with “On Metaphors” and “A Commentary” lovely quirky short microcosmic depictions of life.
In conclusion, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading Kafka over the last few months and intend to read more of his short stories next. A brilliant, intriguing writer and a genuinely incredible man.
This is probably the 3rd or 4th time I’ve read “The Metamorphosis”, and I still find it just as intriguing. Especially relatable as I sit here now with a broken leg and having had to have my flatmates look after me for a week (as far as I can tell they haven’t started to resent me quite as much as the Samsa family resented their own ‘monstrous vermin’). A great menacing story on the dangers of responsibility, the value of the self, and (in the case of both Gregor and his sister) becoming truly acquainted with the real and unforgiving world.
“In the Penal Colony” was a delightfully gory little fable that I read the day before my birthday. The warped Officer was written wonderfully and created such a visceral image of a man so devoted to his work, and disconnected from his humanity. I took the story as a message on the passions of good and evil: the “evil” Officer is utterly devoted to his creation and work, choosing even to die by it, whereas the “good” Visitor desired to help, but does not have the passion nor strength to truly stand up for the prisoner, choosing instead to rationalise his inability to help in the moment, and explain away his guilt for not helping. The ending seemed to cement this, with the visitor sailing away, ignoring the islanders running to try and leave with him. Kafka’s observation here definitely rings true: is it not a fact of life the wicked tend to be so much more invested and passionate in what they do, whereas of the many that disagree with them, only a small proportion truly oppose them while the majority choosing to sit back and rationalise why they cannot do more? Kafka captures this dilemma here with the visitor, along with the additional concept of the understanding of guilt through the truly gruesome machine. A lot to consider for a such short story!
I had to reread “The Judgement” to glean some meaning from it. The first time I read it, I was drifting off to sleep, and failed to grasp quite what Kafka was getting at, finding the second half and culmination of the story incredibly confusing. However, I found much more insight on a second read (on a bus shortly before breaking my leg). A great piece on the importance of responsibility, and how one can become blind to those responsibilities in favour of people pleasing and working to one’s own gain. There was the especially nice “Kafkaism” of Georg noticing his father’s pocket on his pyjamas and taking that as a complete nullification of his credibility. Kafka’s perceptions of the irrationality of human thought and ego, and always trying to find something to be superior over or belittle others are always humorous but also very perceptive. A powerful tale with an important message, made all the more powerful by its shocking and abrupt end, and life continuing as if nothing has happened with the “quite endless steam of traffic” passing over the bridge. A man wrapped up in his own world, a relationship with a father character, and a warped and intriguing conclusion - this is quintessential Kafka.
“Letter To My Father”, the closest we have to an autobiography by Kafka, is an absolutely mortifying description of Kafka’s relationship with his father, that I genuinely felt bad for reading: this stuff was never meant to be read by the public, and arguably not even his father (Kafka never sent the letter). Despite this it does prove to be an invaluable insight into the tortured mind of Kafka. A lot of his other works come more into focus with the tragic revelations in this letter, some of which he even explicitly references. It is truly heartbreaking to see Kafka’s insecurity, fear, and pain laid bare, and despite all this, his strength to rise above it, attempt to rationalise it, and resist holding his father accountable, instead attempting to forge an explanation and solution for them both. A truly remarkable man. To funnel that pain into writing, understanding of the tormenter, and a kindness to strangers, despite crippling self-doubt and anxiety is truly a testament to Kafka’s almost superhuman humanity.
This book finishes with a collection of fables, which leave this collection on a slightly higher note. “A Hybrid” felt appropriately placed immediately after “Letter To My Father” a lovely metaphorical fable. Then “Message from the Emperor” with a layered message about the struggles of life? It felt, to me, vaguely similar to the castle. Finally Kafka really displays his wit, with “On Metaphors” and “A Commentary” lovely quirky short microcosmic depictions of life.
In conclusion, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading Kafka over the last few months and intend to read more of his short stories next. A brilliant, intriguing writer and a genuinely incredible man.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews