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enabditouri_'s review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Abandonment, and Confinement
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death and Animal death
scruffie's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I found Crick's translation to be excellent, preserving much of the language ambiguity and other eccentricities that Kafka is known for. A pretty dark read overall, and very much to my liking. Quite slow-paced, especially if you also read the explanatory notes (which I recommend).
From the stories in this book "Meditation" didn't really work for me; I really liked all the others ("The Judgement", "The Metamorphosis", "In the Penal Colony", "Letter to his Father") though. I'm curious to read the remaining works of Kafka.
From the stories in this book "Meditation" didn't really work for me; I really liked all the others ("The Judgement", "The Metamorphosis", "In the Penal Colony", "Letter to his Father") though. I'm curious to read the remaining works of Kafka.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Torture, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
fujo_cat's review against another edition
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Man, what a great book! The beginning was a bit boring ngl, but the ending, oh man! It was incredible how tragic and depressing the situation was - how irl we are valued mainly for our capacity to work. People like Gregor, who can't work (be it due to mental or physical illness, disability, etc) are everywhere and we treat them just like his family did - first, ignoring there's even someone who needs help and understanding; then, treating them with disgust and pity; and finally, tired we have to give them our attention to look good, we throw them aside and leave them to die. We live in a world in which bodies who can't work 24/7 are useless and therefore easily discarded, not even regarding them as people, only soldiers in their field.
People are more than their job; they are more than their paycheck. Reading this while in the pandemic hit especially hard... It's disgusting how accurate the way we treat others who can't work is. And the problem isn't "yeah, everyone should work!"; people shouldn't NEED to work as much as they do with the technology we now have. If we had a better planned economy who didn't rely on people literally dying for their paycheck to pay their nourishment and roof, we could stop having such a depressing way of looking at poor people and people who work at jobs considered "low-end", like retail.
Anyways, rant over. I really enjoyed this, especially considering its size-it's so tiny and yet the message is huge. 4/5 ⭐
People are more than their job; they are more than their paycheck. Reading this while in the pandemic hit especially hard... It's disgusting how accurate the way we treat others who can't work is. And the problem isn't "yeah, everyone should work!"; people shouldn't NEED to work as much as they do with the technology we now have. If we had a better planned economy who didn't rely on people literally dying for their paycheck to pay their nourishment and roof, we could stop having such a depressing way of looking at poor people and people who work at jobs considered "low-end", like retail.
Anyways, rant over. I really enjoyed this, especially considering its size-it's so tiny and yet the message is huge. 4/5 ⭐
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment and Confinement
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Toxic relationship, and Body horror
Minor: Animal death, Violence, Grief, Animal cruelty, and Blood
spvdbooks's review against another edition
dark
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Confinement and Death
apersonfromflorida's review against another edition
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Confinement
enbybooklove's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
seawarrior's review against another edition
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Weird, engaging and written with ironic seriousness, The Metamorphosis is an entertaining story on its own, but even more so when analyzed as an allegory for the ridiculousness and cruelty of human social and economic structure. When Gregor first awakens, not as a man, but an insect, paragraph after paragraph of his immediate thoughts concern the economic peril of his situation over his obviously more pressing biological one. His transformation is left unexplained, and the novel primarily focuses on his guilt over the financial and emotional strain his new form causes to his family, and his increasing alienation as they grow to regard him as inhuman.
In many ways I felt this story serves as an allegory for the disabled experience of being neglected, as terrible as that may sound. Gregor's metamorphosis does not disrupt his devotion to his family, or his want to provide for them, though his new body has made holding down a job impossible. His mind is still intact but since he is unable to communicate through speech, his parents disregard him entirely and his sister makes little effort to understand him, instead treating him more like an infantile pet. The directionless Grete seems to take a sort of selfish pride in being the sole person helping to maintain her brother's life, and refuses any help from her mother. Yet once she starts working outside her home and realizing other wants Gregor's mutation stands in the way of, she resentfully puts lesser effort into providing for him until quitting altogether and proposing that the family discard of him entirely. This betrayal is made even more harrowing by knowing that Gregor still deeply loves his sister and fantasizes about being able to express to her that before his transformation he was saving up to send her to the conservatory she dreamed of attending. The humanity of Gregor's thoughts and feelings is rarely in question, and he remains selfless and understanding towards his family despite their severe neglect and disgust of his new body. Tragically, there are some people with physical and speech disabilities who are treated in a similar manner to Gregor by their family members, who first revel in their virtue for assisting this disabled relative they have little true respect for, and then spiral into vengeful neglect they justify by dehumanizing their victim and asserting that they are an economic strain on the family.
Whether or not my view of this story is what Kafka intended to write a metaphor about is a question we don't have the opportunity to answer over hundred years later, but that doesn't really matter. This book is a classic because it speaks to anxieties and experiences that have plagued humans for generations. It's also not a difficult read, at least with the translation I had access to, so I would highly recommend it to other readers. You will likely identify your own symbols and meanings in the text of this odd tale.
In many ways I felt this story serves as an allegory for the disabled experience of being neglected, as terrible as that may sound. Gregor's metamorphosis does not disrupt his devotion to his family, or his want to provide for them, though his new body has made holding down a job impossible. His mind is still intact but since he is unable to communicate through speech, his parents disregard him entirely and his sister makes little effort to understand him, instead treating him more like an infantile pet. The directionless Grete seems to take a sort of selfish pride in being the sole person helping to maintain her brother's life, and refuses any help from her mother. Yet once she starts working outside her home and realizing other wants Gregor's mutation stands in the way of, she resentfully puts lesser effort into providing for him until quitting altogether and proposing that the family discard of him entirely. This betrayal is made even more harrowing by knowing that Gregor still deeply loves his sister and fantasizes about being able to express to her that before his transformation he was saving up to send her to the conservatory she dreamed of attending. The humanity of Gregor's thoughts and feelings is rarely in question, and he remains selfless and understanding towards his family despite their severe neglect and disgust of his new body. Tragically, there are some people with physical and speech disabilities who are treated in a similar manner to Gregor by their family members, who first revel in their virtue for assisting this disabled relative they have little true respect for, and then spiral into vengeful neglect they justify by dehumanizing their victim and asserting that they are an economic strain on the family.
Whether or not my view of this story is what Kafka intended to write a metaphor about is a question we don't have the opportunity to answer over hundred years later, but that doesn't really matter. This book is a classic because it speaks to anxieties and experiences that have plagued humans for generations. It's also not a difficult read, at least with the translation I had access to, so I would highly recommend it to other readers. You will likely identify your own symbols and meanings in the text of this odd tale.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, and Domestic abuse
emory's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement and Body horror
Minor: Misogyny and Death
tbrunlimited's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
The metamorphosis was honestly quite interesting. I was very intrigued to see how it played out and it had quite a satisfying ending ... It was short but well-paced. It left me in wonder and it really made me think about how people (especially those who love you most) find it very difficult to accept you might be very sick (mentally or physically) this book is a blown-up exaggerated version of a very interesting real occurrence/ idea. I have it two stars because I think there was not quite enough plot of enough substance to carry this on.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, and Excrement
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