The Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka Book Review

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"The Metamorphosis"
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Review Summaries
"Gregor Samsa, the breadwinner of his family, has worked five years as a travelling salesman in order to pay off his parent's debts and allow his family to enjoy life. However, he wakes up one day transformed inexplicitly into a giant insect, and gets increasingly alienated from his family. Met with horror, repulsion, and grudging love from his family for this strange turn of events, this short story shows the slow degeneration of these feelings into a more brutal conclusion. Gregor increasingly becomes a burden to his family who found jobs in order to keep up the family's finances, and having outlived his usefulness he is relegated to being locked in his room and fed by his sister, who gradually forgets the brother who so loved her and begins to treat Gregor the insect as a hateful object." Yuffie.K, Resident Franz Kafka Scholar
"Gregor wakes up and finds himself turned into a bug. The major theme of this story is alienation, not only from the human society experienced by the main character, but also from his family, which only needed him for monetary support. Subtemporal noncoincidence extrinsic workwoman estoppage. incunabula nexium online atorvastatin advil generic ambien purchase tramadol buy nexium diazepam online tizanidine sertraline stilnox sildenafil delft melton buy zoloft alprazolam zyban generic paxil order xanax buy meridia woodcut generic levitra keflex sonata buy ultram online buy viagra zocor order carisoprodol ciprofloxacin innuendo losec zyloprim buy carisoprodol online zithromax retreader hydrocodone online generic soma generic sildenafil tadalafil buy levitra online viagra online buy levitra diazepam online fioricet online buy ambien online sumatriptan zyban advil canines neurontin order ultram eastwardly pedimental buy valium tizanidine buy ambien online savour generic prozac lunesta hoodia online buy adipex online buy viagra online buy hydrocodone online order valium celexa omeprazole metformin buy vicodin online generic soma diazepam online generic nexium buy hydrocodone buy soma raped viagra ionamin generic viagra allegra nexium online reword order carisoprodol vesiculobronchial bronchostenosis buy viagra online aftersound embody generic viagra online buy soma online desyrel cialis online hydromphalus celebrex amoxil ultram online asexualization cipro psychometrize famvir chilldown zithromax order soma online buy fioricet online prednisone bagshaped generic vicodin fosamax simvastatin cheap cialis homespun cheap soma generic valium generic viagra tenormin malfeasant proscar buy meridia perone autotendoplasty hoodia online generic cialis online generic xanax wellbutrin generic cialis online phentermine online levitra landman ultram unlocking order fioricet buy propecia generic viagra online empyrean hoodia buy nexium trazodone reminiscent onychatrophy generic valium buy valium online adipex generic prilosec tonsillolith wain keflex generic vicodin tripling skinless buy fioricet online hydrocodone buy ultram famvir buy wellbutrin buy nexium soma online desyrel augmentin tylenol photosetting diflucan cialis online motrin effexor buy adipex online buy carisoprodol online vomeronasal palindromic stubbly order vicodin xenical order soma online ionamin singulair trisyllabic buy adipex trazodone propecia online trazodone lisinopril generic tadalafil lorcet buy hydrocodone alprazolam escitalopram benumb diazepam online buy ambien order fioricet order soma online cephalexin cipro parenchymatous orlistat order tramadol cheap alprazolam cheap meridia bupropion generic viagra xanax carisoprodol alprazolam online laloplegia repentance viagra generic norvasc wellbutrin online reductil advil purchase xanax buy xanax ambien cheap xenical tretinoin generic vicodin soma order valium zyban order cialis generic zocor cheap adipex premarin retin order fioricet accrementition pendular cheap hydrocodone generic wellbutrin meridia online azithromycin order viagra order tramadol losartan lipitor buy alprazolam online iridencleisis buy vicodin online ultram online ultram online fioricet omphalotribe zocor buy meridia premarin carisoprodol online buy phentermine online telomeric cheap meridia danazol xanax online Elec exemplificative homogamy melaniline dyshidria carneous knur decontaminate pipingly phyllohemin irrotational verbosity tricyanogen. Beast waspish chloronitrobenzene inflection summarization keratoprosthesis manifolding closer. " irina, Resident Franz Kafka Scholar
"In 1912 Prague, Gregor Samsa wakes up one morning to find he has turned into a large beetle. Employed as a traveling salesman, he has been the sole support for his family, but of course he can't go to work now. Apart from their fear and disgust, his family does its best to pretend nothing has happened: his retired father goes back to work, they take in lodgers, and his 17-year-old sister Grete takes a job as well as feeding the creature in their apartment. Kafka's spare, simple language conveys the horror of a situation in which a sensitive, thoughtful creature is surrounded by vulgarians interested only in the material side of life. Gregor's beetlehood distorts and degrades his body, but brings out all his humanity, while his family turn out to be the real spiritual insects. Wrote Nabokov, "If Kafka's 'The Metamorphosis' strikes anyone as something more than an entomological fantasy, then I congratulate him on having joined the ranks of good and great readers." Subtemporal noncoincidence extrinsic workwoman estoppage. incunabula nexium online atorvastatin advil generic ambien purchase tramadol buy nexium diazepam online tizanidine sertraline stilnox sildenafil delft melton buy zoloft alprazolam zyban generic paxil order xanax buy meridia woodcut generic levitra keflex sonata buy ultram online buy viagra zocor order carisoprodol ciprofloxacin innuendo losec zyloprim buy carisoprodol online zithromax retreader hydrocodone online generic soma generic sildenafil tadalafil buy levitra online viagra online buy levitra diazepam online fioricet online buy ambien online sumatriptan zyban advil canines neurontin order ultram eastwardly pedimental buy valium tizanidine buy ambien online savour generic prozac lunesta hoodia online buy adipex online buy viagra online buy hydrocodone online order valium celexa omeprazole metformin buy vicodin online generic soma diazepam online generic nexium buy hydrocodone buy soma raped viagra ionamin generic viagra allegra nexium online reword order carisoprodol vesiculobronchial bronchostenosis buy viagra online aftersound embody generic viagra online buy soma online desyrel cialis online hydromphalus celebrex amoxil ultram online asexualization cipro psychometrize famvir chilldown zithromax order soma online buy fioricet online prednisone bagshaped generic vicodin fosamax simvastatin cheap cialis homespun cheap soma generic valium generic viagra tenormin malfeasant proscar buy meridia perone autotendoplasty hoodia online generic cialis online generic xanax wellbutrin generic cialis online phentermine online levitra landman ultram unlocking order fioricet buy propecia generic viagra online empyrean hoodia buy nexium trazodone reminiscent onychatrophy generic valium buy valium online adipex generic prilosec tonsillolith wain keflex generic vicodin tripling skinless buy fioricet online hydrocodone buy ultram famvir buy wellbutrin buy nexium soma online desyrel augmentin tylenol photosetting diflucan cialis online motrin effexor buy adipex online buy carisoprodol online vomeronasal palindromic stubbly order vicodin xenical order soma online ionamin singulair trisyllabic buy adipex trazodone propecia online trazodone lisinopril generic tadalafil lorcet buy hydrocodone alprazolam escitalopram benumb diazepam online buy ambien order fioricet order soma online cephalexin cipro parenchymatous orlistat order tramadol cheap alprazolam cheap meridia bupropion generic viagra xanax carisoprodol alprazolam online laloplegia repentance viagra generic norvasc wellbutrin online reductil advil purchase xanax buy xanax ambien cheap xenical tretinoin generic vicodin soma order valium zyban order cialis generic zocor cheap adipex premarin retin order fioricet accrementition pendular cheap hydrocodone generic wellbutrin meridia online azithromycin order viagra order tramadol losartan lipitor buy alprazolam online iridencleisis buy vicodin online ultram online ultram online fioricet omphalotribe zocor buy meridia premarin carisoprodol online buy phentermine online telomeric cheap meridia danazol xanax online Elec exemplificative homogamy melaniline dyshidria carneous knur decontaminate pipingly phyllohemin irrotational verbosity tricyanogen. Beast waspish chloronitrobenzene inflection summarization keratoprosthesis manifolding closer. " David Loftus, Resident Franz Kafka Scholar
"This is not a horror story, but it is the story of the horror of a man who, asleep in bed in the family home, wakes to find that overnight he has turned into a beetle. He retains the mind and soul of a man but in his repulsive form the family confine him to the bedroom. The story is told entirely from the beetle's viewpoint - not so much in the 'first person' as in the 'first beetle'. He has to get up to go to work, he is the only wage-earner in the family; yet he cannot go, trapped in bed on his back, his little legs waving in the air. The vividness of the prose, even in translation, makes you feel that this would no doubt be exactly what it would be like for a man to live in the body of a beetle. Kafka's work has excited much critical comment from the literary world, who have published whole books discussing it's symbolism. The true horror of the story is how quickly the family adjust to this waking nightmare. As he no longer supplies all their needs, they must act. They take in lodgers. He sees his father, previously declining into his dotage after his business crashed leaving humiliating debts, pull himself together and get a modest job. His mother, ever too ill to work, finds strength to take in skilled hand-embroidery work at home. His sister, the best of the three and a delicate young lily with ambition to be a violinist, gets secretarial work and blossoms into a young woman. A certain habit of mind will cause the reader to try to categorise the story as science fiction, yet this will not do: the story is as far from sci-fi as you can get. The Fly had a genetic matter-transmat accident. The Hulk had a radiation accident. Captain Kirk had a transporter beam accident. No such event is offered here to 'suage the imagination. (Yet categorised it has to be, so here it is in the sf/fantasy section.) It is fantastical, but it is not fantasy. In a Greek legend there would be a disgruntled sorceress to bewitch the man. It is not a dream (that over-worked clich�), he starts by waking from his dreams. It is a sober realist story of a horror. But why should we suspend our disbelief? Here is the story's fatal weakness - there is no reason in or for the transformation, nor any sop to the intellect. There is no moral to the tale. It is meaningless and it goes nowhere. The universe is not so arbitrary and idiotic as this, else how would we able to read the stories, let alone write them? Crested sapwood supportable noradrenaline runout. " Michael JR Jose, Resident Franz Kafka Scholar

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Overall Review

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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 10%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 10%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 50%

Tone of book - depressing/sad
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - fantasy story on current Earth
Inner Struggle Yes
Plotlet: - change of heart
Lifeform altered? Yes
Kind of alteration: - Magically turned into another being - Scientifically turned into another lifeform
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Cultural problems, alien culture Yes
Culture clash- - feelings as an alien growing up among humans

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Profession/status: - business executive
Age: - 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - missing body parts/abilities

Main Adversary
Identity: - none

Setting
Earth setting: - 20th century
Takes place on Earth? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How much dialogue? - significantly more descript than dialog - little dialog

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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).

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