Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - Metamorphosis and Other Stories (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)

Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Metamorphosis and Other Stories (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) by Franz Kafka

13 reviews

krytykesa's review against another edition

emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Reread.

It surprised me how drastically I changed my mind about the main character thought the years. The man who I despised in school, now became the most relatable character. His first stress reaction was a desire to sleep it out (and inability to do so because he couldn’t turn on the right side, just like me); his work is an obligation and his social role is the one that is expected; he is depressed but he still capable to show more love and empathy than his family.
It’s a sad story and yet not “the small pathetic” man is the reason of it. School teacher was wrong. Absurd in this story is his family reaction, their domestic normalised cruelty.

Amazing work!

Content Warnings

ecaps's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

4.5

If you want to read a summary without any spoilers and want to know if you should read the book then YES, read the book

Gregor Samsa one morning finds himself turned into a vermin. His family at seeing this transformation are appalled. His father treats him like a pest. His mother cannot bear to look at her son because of what he has become. His sister is the only one who powers through and cleans up his room, puts out food for him and so on. Gregor does not want to burden his family but it does so happen that he becomes one for them. Before this, he was the breadwinner for the family and wanted to give his parents a comfortable life and the best education to his little sister. They were the only reason he was doing the office job he didn’t like.

My interpretation;

Even after he realises his transformation, Gregor is calm. That aspect really made it even more unnerving for me since being turned into a completely new species one fine morning without any reason would render anyone into a state of shock. There is a part in the beginning where his main priority was not to ask how did this happen but just to get out of bed and convince his family that he is not sick. This calmness in Gregor’s demeanour just seems unusual. But when I think about it the explanation that comes to mind is, in a situation where everyone else is panicking someone has to be calm to handle the situation. In this case, where everyone was panicking Gregor kept calm so that he could keep everyone from worrying.

A human turning into an insect is a way of the author metaphorically describing differently abled people, people who suffer from mental illnesses, people who feel unworthy, alienated from their peers and loved ones, anyone who feels they don’t fit in or are treated like a freak for being different.

Being someone who has experienced these things Kafka has tried to communicate the impact they have on their families and people close to them and how it affects themselves as well. How in their own mind they don’t want to burden their loved ones with their issues but they cannot communicate that and the people around them either pity them or see them and treat them differently. This makes them feel betrayed and they see their existence as unnecessary and even try to take their own lives.
This does not necessarily mean either one of the parties are at fault, it is just a situation that they have landed in because LIFE!. The way circumstances bring out a different side in people and how it affects human relationships is what the story tries to depict.

P.S.: I highly recommend reading the preface before starting the actual book. It gives quite an insight of the authors style of writing and helps you understand his thought process.

Content Warnings

thomgeg's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A lot of this book feels like a personal attack.

Content Warnings

cat12345's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

abken's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Very dark tale of alienating. Characters, events, intentions are not justified, but I think it is more metaphorical/allegorical, so it was not the point to have complex characters that make sense as in a regular magical realism/fantasy work. This was very page-effective and didn't need more complexity or it would have turned into a more literal tale of the literal experience of person turning into a bug and the family's coping instead of a metaphor to alienation and how

socially alienated or depressed people in general feel like - it was not his family who alienated from him, but in my opinion it was about how he felt and how he thought that his death would make them happy again

Content Warnings