A review by not_another_ana
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

challenging dark emotional sad medium-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? It's complicated

3.25

I cannot make you understand. I cannot make anyone understand what is happening inside me. I cannot even explain it to myself.

It's the oldest story in the world, one morning Gregor Samsa wakes up to find that he has been turned into a giant insect. It's not funny he has a job to get to! What if he gets fired? What will his elderly parents and younger sister do now? And so begins the rest of Gregor Samsa's life where he's stuck in an implausible situation while the world around him continues to turn.

I think there's a lot that could be said about this book. In this day and age, I see what happens to him immediately after his transformation as a metaphor for how we're all replaceable labor and your work doesn't care about you. It could also be about chronic illness or mental illness and how it affects not only the person suffering from it but their loved ones. Hell, we could even interpret the family as moochers who jumped ship the second Gregor couldn't provide them his all. I will let all these interpretations and analysis to others smarter than me, and I will say that I enjoyed reading this and it's a classic that has a lot of worth.
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