The Metamorphosis and Other Stories
Written by Guy de Maupassant and Franz Kafka
Narrated by Tom Whitworth
4/5
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About this audiobook
In addition to Kafka's "The Metamorphosis," this collection includes eight pieces by one of the fathers of the modern short story, Guy de Maupassant: "The Englishman," "The Piece of String," "The Necklace," "A Crisis," "The Will," "Love," "The Inn," and "Was It a Dream?"
Guy de Maupassant
Guy de Maupassant was a French writer and poet considered to be one of the pioneers of the modern short story whose best-known works include "Boule de Suif," "Mother Sauvage," and "The Necklace." De Maupassant was heavily influenced by his mother, a divorcée who raised her sons on her own, and whose own love of the written word inspired his passion for writing. While studying poetry in Rouen, de Maupassant made the acquaintance of Gustave Flaubert, who became a supporter and life-long influence for the author. De Maupassant died in 1893 after being committed to an asylum in Paris.
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Reviews for The Metamorphosis and Other Stories
252 ratings14 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5You gotta love Kafka's combos of human and animal (and insect) existence... I think, perhaps the most disturbing but rivetting story was "In the Penal Colony", but my favorite whimsy story was "Address to the Academy."
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ah, Kafka. The metamorphosis was horrifically intriguing to me. I had to read this one in undergrad as part of a lit class. I was completely, morbidly fascinated with the character and his unfortunate transformation in a monstrous cockroach. I enjoyed it more than most I'm sure.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It was a great book, it really makes you think about your family values, and the value of family. What would your family do for you in this situation?
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Metamorphosis / Winter of our discontent / MetempsychosisMetamorphosis, or Why a Bug?Gregor Samsa awoke one morning as a bug. "What has happened to me?" he thought. And that is the last he thought of how he arrived at his predicament. He acts throughout the story as a human Gregor adapting to life in a bug's body.Is Nietzche engaging in a thought experiment on personal continuity in Metamorphosis? What of Gregor is in this bug? He has a bug body, he must have a bug brain to be able to image through bug eyes, to move bug legs. But he has the consciousness of Gregor that initially externalizes itself outside the body, to talk, after a fashion, to stand and unlock the door, after a fashion. He soon loses the ability to talk and ceases to be Gregor to his family. But he has an immensely strong identity, rooted in providing for his family, and never ceases to be Gregor to himself until his death.But why a bug? Others have made the connection between Samsa and Samsara, the Buddhist wheel of life. According to Samsara, one is reborn an animal when one's human life is centered on survival and self-preservation. Gregor's life is centered on his hated job as traveling salesman, which he keeps only to provide for his family.Beyond that, the bug is absurd and creates a comical scene when, for instance, the head clerk flees down the stairs to escape this monstrosity. Gregor never ascribes this flight and fright to his own appearance, heightening the humor. None of us are bugs, though, and never expect to become one. But each of us could be exposed to a similar alienation, separation, isolation. Consider yourself developing a motor neural disease, confined to a wheelchair, losing gross motor functionality, the ability to speak. Like Gregor, you would have trouble opening doors, even moving through some doorways, communicating with your family. Then you regress, confined to bed, breathing through a tube, externally comatose but fully conscious. The situation in reality is not far removed from the absurd.We likely will not develop such a disease, but we can still experience some form of alienation. Are we also trapped in a job because of circumstance? Metamorphosis holds out hope that a situation can improve even when it appears hopeless. The Samsa family can no longer depend on Gregor's salary, they must work themselves, expand beyond the confines of their home. They find that they are quite capable and soon entertain thoughts of a happy future, a possible husband for Gregor's sister Grete. All are transformed through Gregor's metamorphosis, but a slightly less absurd metamorphosis might also have achieved a happy result. Gregor could simply have emigrated to Amerika, leaving his family to their own devices. Perhaps not morally defensible at some level, but better to feel your humanity than to live and die like a bug.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Metamorphosis was the only story of this set that I liked. I found it to be a page-turner.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Really a nice change of pace from so many other works where the plot is of high importance. Kafka is more like a fine meal; the point is not to finish the meal, but rather to enjoy the meal as you are consuming it.All of the stories are morbid and strange, enjoyable nonetheless. His grasp on language and his focus on deeper meaning and metaphors(no pun intended)is really quite impressive.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I brought this book to see if I would like Kafkas writing before buying The Trail. Didn't really work as I ended up buying both at the same time!I liked this book as a prelude to the trail and I will not be dissapointed as there is that level of wierdness I like in books in his style.The short stories though did not work for me. You just start to get into it and they stop - he needs a whole book to work through the ideas here not 20 or 30 pages tops. The only story that really seemed to come to a natural end was The Metamorphosis.But as I said it was a look see for the book I really wanted to read by him. And in that case it was a success!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In this edition, Kafka's classic novella about a man who wakes up one morning to find himself transformed into a giant bug is accompanied by several short stories that repeat the themes of alienation, dehumanization, and the difficulty of being an artist in an uncomprehending world. Jason Baker's introduction, which focuses on Kafka's troubled relationship with his father, is helpful, as is Donna Freed's translator's note which explains the difficulties of interpreting Kafka for a modern American audience without losing the flavor of the original German prose. If you are going to read Kafka for the first time, this is a solid edition to start with.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5"The Metamorphosis" (the short story) was great! I'd give it a 4.3/5. It very weird and wonderful and very outside my usual reading zone. Some of the other stories were also really interesting, like "The Penal Colony".
I give this specific edition a 3/5. I don't know if it was the stories or the specific translations, but some of the stories just weren't very interesting and even painful to get through. Overall the book was good, it has a nice cover, and the more popular stories were great. But, I don't think you'd necessarily need to read this edition. - Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5I've seen suggestions that if you like Haruki Murakami, you'd also probably like Kafka so that combined with seeing someone mention The Metamorphosis, I decided to read this book. It is a decision I regret. I managed to read all but the last three short stories before I gave up.
My conclusion? While Murakami is whacked out and weird, there is a deliberateness to his work that makes the WTF-ness intentional. Kafka, however, is like listening to someone who is stoned, hallucinating, and paranoid due to a bad drug trip. It's manic, confusing, and I came away thinking that every character was insane or in the midst of a psychotic break.
No. - Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Kafka is weird. There, I said it. And I usually like weird, but I'm still not quite sure what to think of Kafka. In a discussion with a friend about themes, it became a bit easier to read. I didn't have problems with the bug, or the killing device as much as I did with the characters' reactions.When I mentioned that the ending in "The Judgement" felt kinda clunky, my friend said, "That's the thing about Kafka. He gets a free pass because he's Kafka. The ending is clunky, but because he's Kafka, people wonder if they're missing something."Note to self: Kafka is not god, his work is not perfect. (Weird, but not perfect.)In "The Metamorphosis," one of the themes is being worthwhile. This poor man works hard to support his family, but in return, they and the bureaucrats he works for believe him to be nothing more than a "bug." And all anyone can do is be horrified that he can no longer work and treat him even more poorly."In The Penal Colony" was horrifying. Not because of the actual killing device, but is pretty horrific on its own, but for the attitude of The Officer toward crime and punishment. 30 years later, George Orwell published Nineteen Eighty-Four. The extreme belief that anyone showing any humanity towards others is weak, haunts us every day. On a light note, if there is one, I kept hearing Sylvester Stallone in "Judge Dredd" saying, "I AM the law" whenever The Officer spoke about how The Condemned had come to be condemned. It's a pretty damning statement against government (being published the year after WWI ended), dictatorships and those who stand by and do nothing.As for "The Country Doctor" and "A Report to the Academy," well, those were more of the same weirdness.In sum, I'm not sorry I read this. Not sorry, but not necessarily glad. I can now say I've read Kafka and understand what the meaning of the word "Kafkaesque" is. I don't need to read any more.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5In Kafka's "The Metamorphosis," Gregor Samsa awakes one morning to find himself transformed into a giant insect. The theme of personal transformation is clear and the items which are obvious metaphors (e.g. Samsa being an insect, the apple lodged in his back), will allow students to explore what their intended meaning could have been.This book also includes "The Judgement," "In the Penal Colony," "A Country Doctor," and "A Report to an Academy."
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Metamorphosis was required reading for me in school, and I have since re-visited it a few times. Short, powerful, and well worth anyone's time.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I love "The Metamorphosis" and have read it several times. I know some people probably think I'm crazy. (My friend, Natalie, said she could never get over the giant bug thing.) Personally, I love the weirdness of the Modernist period.