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La metamorfosis/Un artista del hambre/Un artista del trapecio
KAFKA nace en Praga en 1883 y muere, tuberculoso, en Viena, en 1924. Su vida, agria y difícil, se ha reflejado en su obra. Contrasta el éxito actual de este autor con la falta de acogida que tuvo en vida, consiguiendo publicar tan sólo unos pocos cuentos que pasaron desapercibidos. Si sus escritos, hoy día traducidos a todos los idiomas, han llegado a nosotros, se debe a la cariñosa deslealtad de un amigo que no fue capaz de destruir los manuscritos como Kafka le pedía al morir.
Imagina Kakfa en LA METAMORFOSIS un ambiente ciertamente "extraño", dónde un pobre corredor de comercio se despierta transformado en un raro insecto. La extraordinaria fantasía de Kafka, según algunos cargada de alegoría, producirá en el lector un auténtico estremecimiento.
Se incluyen también en esta edición los relatos titulados "Un artista del hambre" y "Un artista del trapecio".
Imagina Kakfa en LA METAMORFOSIS un ambiente ciertamente "extraño", dónde un pobre corredor de comercio se despierta transformado en un raro insecto. La extraordinaria fantasía de Kafka, según algunos cargada de alegoría, producirá en el lector un auténtico estremecimiento.
Se incluyen también en esta edición los relatos titulados "Un artista del hambre" y "Un artista del trapecio".
142 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1972
15 people want to read
About the author
Franz Kafka
3,502 books39.3k 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 - 12 of 12 reviews
July 12, 2024
Voy a convertirme en un escarabajo para escapar del yugo del capitalismo
July 18, 2024
Cada relato nos enseña una cosa diferente, la metamorfosis me dejó muy pensativo de cómo a uno se le repudia una vez que deja de ser útil.
Un artista del hambre me parece sublime, el vacío que siente una persona se podría reflejar en las redes sociales hoy día.
Un artista del trapecio no me llamó tanto la atención aunque fue un relato breve y entretenido.
Un artista del hambre me parece sublime, el vacío que siente una persona se podría reflejar en las redes sociales hoy día.
Un artista del trapecio no me llamó tanto la atención aunque fue un relato breve y entretenido.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 19, 2020
El autor escribe muy bien y he podido disfrutar de su clásico más conocido, incluyendo dos cuentos extraños que invitan un poco a la reflexión. Sin embargo, estas tres historias no han sido suficientes para motivarme a leer más obras del escritor. Ya estoy contentada, así que paso página.
March 27, 2023
meh sin más la metamorfosis
5,5/10 +/-
5,5/10 +/-
August 1, 2023
Cuando el insecto es más humano que el humano mismo.
Que muere de hambre.
Que observa desde la altura de su trapecio.
Que muere de hambre.
Que observa desde la altura de su trapecio.
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October 6, 2023pues bueno en este caso tenemos un claro ejemplo de la sobrevaloración del canon
k no está mal
pero A ver!
k no está mal
pero A ver!
July 21, 2025
Todos te van a querer mientras les sirvas y te van a despreciar cuando dejes de hacerlo.
March 10, 2026
"Y entonces se dieron cuenta de que...la hermana estaba...¡estaba como un tren!" /// Los "artistas" son unos enfermos mentales, nada más.
May 23, 2023
El libro tiene buena redacción y definitivamente uno puede apiadarse del insecto y sentir tanto tristeza como repulsión. La simbología que el mundo no acepta lo diferente también es evidente, that's about it. No hay nada más interesante.
October 13, 2025
No es una reseña intelectual, simplemente se me hacía gracioso imaginar que Gregorio era una cucaracha enorme lol, pero al terminar la lectura solo podía pensar: “Que crueldad tan innecesaria”. En cuanto a los dos relatos faltantes, solo me queda decir: ¿¿¿¿???? (Aún no encuentro el análisis sociológico y moral que hay detrás)
December 20, 2024
Un artista del trapecio fue completamente ignorada por mi cerebro. Nunca entendí la metáfora, pero así esta bien.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews