Enriched Classics offer readers accessible editions of great works of literature enhanced by helpful notes and commentary. Each book includes educational tools alongside the text, enabling students and readers alike to gain a deeper and more developed understanding of the writer and their work. When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into … bed into a monstrous vermin.
So begins The Metamorphosis, one of the most recognizable opening lines in literature. The story of Gregor Samsa, a young man who, after transforming overnight into a giant, beetle-like insect, becomes an object of disgrace to his family, an outsider in his own home, and a quintessentially alienated man. One of the most widely read and influential works of twentieth-century fiction, The Metamorphosis is a harrowing yet absurdly comic meditation on inadequacy, guilt, and isolation. A work in which, in the words of Vladimir Nabokov, “contrast and unity, style and matter, manner and plot are most perfectly integrated.”
Enriched Classics enhance your engagement by introducing and explaining the historical and cultural significance of the work, the author’s personal history, and what impact this book had on subsequent scholarship. Each book includes discussion questions that help clarify and reinforce major themes and reading recommendations for further research.
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4 out of 5 stars to The Metamorphosis, written in 1915 by Franz Kafka. I think most people are familiar with the premise of this book, and rather than do a normal review, I thought maybe I’d question how on earth Kafka came up with this one? It was such a great way to tell the story and teach a lesson… a man wakes up as a giant beetle? (I secretly suspect he came across a huge cockroach in his apartment while in NYC one day). And how do you deal with such a change? Your family is afraid. They are embarrassed. You can talk. What’s really going on here? What is Kafka trying to say about life? We’re all insensitive? Liars? Fakes? Humorists? Nutty? So many things to read into here… it’s a run book, too. When you’re a bug life’s quite different. Have you ever managed something like that before? No. So how did Kafka come up with all the little things to make it real? I’m glad he did as this book helps you enjoy reading when you may be forced to read some classics at a younger age that don’t appeal to you. As an more mature reader, you find all the symbols and beauty in the messages with this one. I believe I read it twice, possibly some excerpts for a third instance. Each time, it gets better. I would love to see a really good film or TV Adaption… purely to witness the metaphorical views a director would incorporate on the big screen or the stage. The words are amazing, but it’s what you experience by reading it that makes it such a wonderful book.
Read this a couple of years ago. It was great.
Narrative details are excellent. Kafka showcased the room where the hero stuck by his excellent and poetic words. I love his style.
Franz Kafka’s novel, The Metamorphosis, is all the more frightening because it could happen to anyone. This instructive tale forces the reader to ask how well they know the people closest to them in this world. The metamorphosis in this story is what happens to Gregor Samsa’s family after he becomes incapacitated (metaphorically turns into a roach) and can no longer work. As long as Gregor was working and providing a comfortable life for his parents and his sister (Grete), they all loved him.
Once Gregor is no longer able to earn money, his family is forced to work. They are also forced to take care of Gregor the way he used to take care of them. It was only after this transformation that Gregor learns his parents and sister are very selfish people who only cared about him as long as he was able to earn money, providing them with a comfortable life. The more Gregor needed his family, the less compassionate and less human they became. That was the real metamorphosis. As soon as Gregor dies, his father, mother, and sister are happy to be rid of him as if he was a piece of garbage.
These events should have served as a warning to Grete that the problem was not with Gregor becoming a roach, the problem was her parents (and her own) selfishness. Once Gregor dies, his parents begin to look at Grete as the breadwinner in the family. Mom and Dad look at Grete as the person who will take care of them in the future. Will they treat her the same way if she was suddenly unable to work? The answer is an emphatic yes!
This story is a warning that we must all run away from people who show themselves to be uncaring and selfish towards others. Even if these people are kind to us today, there is no telling how they will treat us tomorrow when we are sick. The metamorphosis of the human soul will only reveal itself during a tragedy, and those without compassion for the sick, are more grotesque than a roach!
This book is probably the weirdest book I have ever read. Which isn’t a bad thing. I did enjoy this book, even with the surprisingly disturbing ending.
For only a being 45 pages it felt like a complete story. Which is awesome because I was able to read this book pretty quick and finish my goal of reading 5 classic for 2018.
You really learn the definition of Kafkaesque after reading this story! He can be very twisted.