Reviews with content warning for Grief - The Metamorphosis

A lot of these stories didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, and I don’t know if that’s due to the writing style or poor translation. Maybe it’s just the summer humidity making my brain foggy. Interpreting Kafka’s writing feels like deciphering a riddle, and I mean that as both criticism and praise.

Contemplation (1913) – 4.5☆

A beautifully written series of vignettes romanticising the mundane. It’s more like a collection of poems than a sequence of chapters; there’s no narrative structure or throughline connecting each part. It serves as an enticing introduction to Kafka’s writing, like an instrumental opening track.

The Judgement: A Story for F (1913) – 3.5☆

This one felt incomplete, like a chapter from a longer story. I felt I was lacking context. I did a little research and it seems the German version contained some double meanings that got lost in translation, thereby obscuring the metaphor. Still, I didn’t dislike it, and I can appreciate what Kafka was going for.

The Stoker: A Fragment (1913) – 2.5☆

Ironically, this story actually was intended to be the first chapter in a novel, but it didn’t leave me wanting more like The Judgement did. If I had to sum up The Stoker in one word it would be “dull.” I just didn’t care.

Metamorphosis (1915) – 4.0☆

The main event, my reason for buying this book. I liked it and I can definitely see why it’s considered a classic, but I just can’t shake the feeling that I’m missing something.

It strikes me as an allegory for disability. Gregor used to be the breadwinner of the household, and now that he can’t work he’s seen as a burden. His family is ashamed of him, and though they claim to “tolerate” his presence, they do everything they can to hide him away and they avoid him as much as possible. Further, he has become inhuman. He’s a monstrosity, and by the end of the story his mere existence is taken as evidence that he is a threat, and therefore as justification for fatal neglect.

Once again I did some research, and apparently there are many differing interpretations of Gregor’s sorry state. I even saw one theory that

the title actually refers to Grete’s maturation from a carefree girl to a responsible young woman. That would explain the odd shift in focus at the end of the story, but I’m not sure that’s the final piece of the puzzle I was looking for.

It’s a thought-provoking tale, I’ll say that much! There’s a lot to chew on. It’s a fascinating blend of realism and fantasy with a surprising amount of depth.

In the Penal Colony (1919) – 2.5☆

Another dull story.

The torture machine was convoluted and ridiculous so it didn’t have whatever horrifying and/or erotic effect Kafka was going for. I think he was trying to make a point about the criminal justice system, about how those in power are so perversely obsessed with punishment that it doesn’t matter to them whether or not their actions actually constitute any kind of “justice.”

I’d honestly recommend watching the 1985 Doctor Who serial Vengeance on Varos instead of reading this – it plays with a lot of the same ideas, plus more.

A Country Doctor: Short Prose for My Father (1920) – 3.5☆

More poetic vignettes à la Contemplation, with higher highs and lower lows. It’s difficult to rate these collectively. My favourites were definitely Jackals and Arabs, an intriguing story commenting on colonialism and the self-appointed messianic role of Europeans, and A Report to an Academy, which was really poignant in its frank discussion of assimilation as a survival strategy. Some of the other stories were forgettable, impenetrable, sometimes feeling stubbornly pointless (though perhaps that pointlessness was the point, I don’t know). Overall, I think there’s more good than bad in this collection of short prose.

The Hunger-Artist: Four Stories (1924) – 3.5☆

Though listed as “Four Stories” I will review them together because they were grouped together. First Sorrow was simple but effective. My only real complaint is that maybe it’s a little too short; it would have been nice to see more of the trapeze artist’s craft before introducing the problem of travel and the rest of the narrative after that. A Little Woman reminded me of an ex. A Hunger-Artist was an evocative and sympathetic look at performers relying on attention almost literally as a means of sustenance. Josefine, the Singer, or The Mouse People struggled to hold my attention.

Aeroplanes in Brescia (1909) – 3.0☆

A quaint historical snapshot. The romantic descriptions of the little planes in flight makes me think of Porco Rosso even though that’s set a couple of decades later.

Great Noise (1912) – 3.0☆

It doesn’t have much to say and I don’t have much to say about it. It’s only half a page long, though, so it’s not like it overstays its welcome.

The Coal-Scuttle Rider (1921) – 3.5☆

A simple but effective tale of class conflict, of the haves leaving the have-nots to die preventable deaths if they cannot pay for what they need.

Content Warnings

mayr3adsab00k's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark 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

5.0

Content Warnings

fujo_cat's review against another edition

Go to review page

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 ⭐

Content Warnings

More...