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Henry Avila's Reviews > The Metamorphosis
The Metamorphosis
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Gregor Samsa awakes from a bad dream, into a mad nightmare, as he struggles, stuck in his own bed this weary, young traveling salesman, has overnight been miraculously transformed... incredibly Gregor is now a hideous bug, a dung beetle , or even a cockroach does it really matter what ? He has missed his train in more ways than one, but Samsa, is a real trooper, still thinks he can catch the locomotive and make that vile business trip, eventually getting off the bed with great difficulty, just a slight crash, in truth, opening the locked door somehow and moving around on the floor, in his many, new, ugly little legs the parents and sister are greatly shocked, at his new repulsive appearance. And when the office manager arrives to see what happened , big mistake, he spots Samsa and is out the door without a word spoken (twitching a little). Now the "Bug" becomes a burden to his lazy, ungrateful family after years of Gregor supporting them, all by himself (a job he hated, with a big passion), they much embarrassed , hide him in his modest quiet room, feeding the "monstrous vermin", leftover garbage from their table scraps, a menu the bug implausibly prefers...Months pass and it becomes obvious something has to give, the reader will decide is Samsa a real dung beetle, or is he mentally ill? But to some, the gist of the fable is, how much does your family love you? A brutal depiction of a family in tremendous turmoil...expediency triumphs.
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Reading Progress
November 10, 2011
– Shelved
November 16, 2011
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Started Reading
November 22, 2011
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Finished Reading
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Stephen
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rated it 4 stars
Nov 22, 2011 05:21PM
Nice review, Henry. It me me two readings over several years before I really loved this story.
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Thanks Stephen,I always appreciate compliments.Henry
Better man than me. I just did not like the story. Think my problem is I just don't like Kafka.
Kafka is a very bleak writer,Traci.But a great one.
Nice review, Henry. I loved this story but I need to read more Kafka in order to fully grasp the meaning of Kafkaesque.
Yes, Kafka is an interesting author, Garima. But very dark...
This has been on my tbr for far too long. A very nicely written review Henry.
Thank you Annie, what a interesting, but disturbing book.
Read couple of days back. I held my review for I feel I didn't get it completely. It's metaphor, yes, and too simple which can either be genius or vain. I think first one. I'm looking forward to more of Kafka.
I too just read this and The Trial, he only wrote four novels,Pradnya. But I want to read them all. What a talented, but tortured man.
Great review Henry...I read this during my masters...we discussed about the existential crisis and its inevitability. The aspect of how much your family loves you never struck me! I will read the book again :)
Thank you Paakhi, yes there is a lot of things just beneath the surface, of this story, to think about , which the author intended, I believe.
Lovely review Henry.This is one of those books that remains in one's mind regardless.
The father and the apples! Not nice.
I always thought that Gregor was a cockroach?
He was a dung beetle, Lynne. This great story has many interpretations, you decide what is real.
Henry, I've actually never heard of a dung beetle. It sounds lethal!
I thought he was an unspecified insect (but I can't read it in the original German)?(Great review though, especially the possibility of a mental illness angle.)
Lynne wrote: "Henry, I've actually never heard of a dung beetle. It sounds lethal!"Lynne wrote: "Henry, I've actually never heard of a dung beetle. It sounds lethal!"
They get rid of human and animal waste, very useful, do you want to know how?
Cecily wrote: "I thought he was an unspecified insect (but I can't read it in the original German)?(Great review though, especially the possibility of a mental illness angle.)"
It says in the book he was a dung beetle ( they consume human and animal waste), Cecily, a very useful bug.
It must depend on the translation.
Try Stanley Corngold, he is a splendid translator...
Great review, Henry.I've read a lot of Kafka and find him fascinating. I'd say I "love" him except that seems like an odd word to use for someone so bleak. Although I also find him hilarious in a surreal and terrifying way. I found The Trial funny until it was just totally frightening. I definitely found it riveting.
It seems to me Metamorphosis is, as you say, a story of a family in crisis and an examination of what love is and how far it goes in most cases, even in a family. It also makes me think of what it's like to be an adolescent, to find one's body changing radically and often finding it unacceptable, of feeling deeply alienated from and misunderstood by one's family.
I worry about myself sometimes that I find myself so easily brought into Kafka's world view! It was also a time when fascism was taking root (Kafka's sisters died in the camps; he was only spared by his early death).
Thanks again Henry for a thought provoking review.
I Thank you,Ellie, such a strange but terrific book. It does cause you to wonder about life and family.Your role and how they perceive you.
Can this book be interpreted as a contrast between reality and appearance?
I think some believe, Gregor is mentally ill, not a bug...it is a question that never can be answered.
Henry wrote: "I think some believe, Gregor is mentally ill, not a bug...it is a question that never can be answered."Thank you!
You are most assuredly welcomed...
I find Kafka too dark, but you understanding of Metamorphosis as the story of a family in crisis, and a reflection on family love (their willingness -- or lack thereof -- to care for Gregor Samsa) a fascinating one. I think you get more out of dark stuff than I do. I suppose I tend to explore the stuff I love, and not to love the dark stuff enough to really think on it. Maybe you just like a broader choice of stuff!
Bah. Should be "I find your understanding.... a fascinating one." I think there's about four hours in the afternoon when I actually type what I intend to...
Good review, Henry. I have always liked this story. There are so many ways to take it as you have said.Personally, I wondered if it was a metaphor for someone who was acceptable in society but due to a turn of events they are now pariahs.
I think of the time it was written and the fact that all of Kafka's family (beside himself) died in concentration camps.
Sheryl wrote: "Bah. Should be "I find your understanding.... a fascinating one." I think there's about four hours in the afternoon when I actually type what I intend to..."This story I first read in grammar school...thought it was science- fiction then , later realized it was something completely different...a fable about mental illiness and family love or lack thereof .
Sharon wrote: "Good review, Henry. I have always liked this story. There are so many ways to take it as you have said.Personally, I wondered if it was a metaphor for someone who was acceptable in society but du..."
People interpret this story in many ways, depending on how they feel about life. And there own experiences...
Henry wrote: This story I first read in grammar school..."
Wow. I read Animal Farm when I was in grade school, thinking it was on par with Beautiful Joe or Black Beauty, which was kind of a culture shock -- first book I'd read with such a downer ending! -- but that's nothing compared to reading Kafka at that age!
I Thought it was kind of strange then, science- fiction in a literature class...
It was an assignment, then? That's a curious choice for elementary school. I picked up Animal Farm when I ran out of the books I'd brought to read at grandma's.
No, we read it in school... a Catholic school...
This, is an excellent review.
Thank you my friend.
Excellent review. It’s time for me to reread this.
I thank you, Sarah, it is such a good book ....quite thought provoking...
You've perfectly captured the allegorical vibe of this intriguing tale, Henry!
This one remains to be my personal favorite by Kafka though I read it a few years ago.
It is such a superb piece... a tremendous classic...
