The Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka

Translation:  Ian C. Johnston, Narrator Luke Daniels

There is a backstory to me picking this up. If you have been following my blog for awhile, you will know that my knowledge of famous literary works/classics is piecemeal at best. My information came from people around me, and I only knew as much as they did or rather whatever they felt was appropriate to share with me. Over time, college and meeting different people I am beginning to find out things that are more common knowledge that I would have first assumed. One such tale was this book. A couple of friends decided to go to an art exhibition (or sorts). It was the first time I visited something like that, and while a lot of it was fascinating, some just had a couple of us laughing for no apparent reason. My favourite piece (even before I knew what it signified) was:

We took a lot of photos with it, but I did not know what the word metamorphosis signified. A friend told me the brief synopsis of the tale, I found it intriguing, and when I saw an audible version available on KU, I had to listen and update myself.

It is a very brief story, it begins with a man who wakes up and finds himself transformed. His first thought, however, is how he was to go to work and support his family. Despite his worries, things turn out quite decently for them, and this I felt was the crux of the narrative, or at least my take away from it. We worry about a lot of things throughout our daily routines, and some of us may not worry enough, but until the events come to pass, we can never really know how much worry and effort was the accurately required amount. There is a lot of description, and I would not say many people would love it. It has that unfinished quality although it does have a significant ‘The End’ built-in. It is the kind of story that can be dissected in multiple ways and leave almost everyone dissatisfied. I am sure it is studied by people who do degrees in English or even psychology-related courses, I am too lazy to check if that is true.

Although I would not recommend it to everyone if this brief review of a tiny book translated to English for our convenience intrigues you, do check it out! I will look forward to what you take away from it.

My last KU review was: Blood on the tracks and my queue now looks like this:

       

As you can see, I added at least one lighter book but if you know of any good lighter books on KU I am listening!!