With this startling, bizarre, yet surprisingly funny first sentence, Kafka begins his masterpiece, The Metamorphosis. It is the story of a young traveling salesman who, transformed overnight into a giant, beetle-like insect, becomes an object of disgrace to his family, an outsider in his own home, a quintessentially alienated man. Rather than being surprised at the transformation, the members of his family despise it as an impending burden upon themselves.

A harrowing - though absurdly comic - meditation on human feelings of inadequacy, guilt, and isolation, The Metamorphosis has taken its place as one of the most widely read and influential works of 20th-century fiction. As W. H. Auden wrote, “Kafka is important to us because his predicament is the predicament of modern man.”

FRANZ KAFKA (1883–1924), one of the major fiction writers of the twentieth century, was born to a middle-class German-speaking Jewish family in Prague. His unique body of writing, much of which is incomplete and was mainly published posthumously, is considered by some people to be among the most influential in Western literature, inspiring such writers as Albert Camus, Rex Warner, and Samuel Beckett.

©Public Domain (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

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Product details

Listening Length	2 hours and 3 minutes
Author	Franz Kafka
Narrator	Ralph Cosham
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com.au Release Date	27 April 2011
Publisher	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B00NPB8UEE
Best Sellers Rank	89,299 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) 84 in Metaphysics (Audible Books & Originals) 265 in Science Fiction Anthologies & Short Stories 293 in Political Fiction (Audible Books & Originals)

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Eliza

Classic story

Reviewed in Australia on 10 September 2018

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Finally read this classic and discovered why Kafka and insects are often tied together. Haunting and sometimes horrifying story of transformation and dysfunctional families.

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Philip Lawson

Great concept

Reviewed in Australia on 8 June 2017

I just love how an apparently absurd situation is dealt with so seriously. A book that requires many more readings for me to properly grasp I think.

One person found this helpful

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Diksha Suman (@beingsheblog)

Reality and change, a story worth reading :)

Reviewed in India on 3 August 2018

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My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.7

The title is quite attractive especially for a person like me who loves biology.

This book holds a story of Gregor Samsa, a travelling salesman, who wakes up one day to discover that he has metamorphosed into a bug or you can say a horrible vermin. And with this change starts the real struggle of Samsa trying hard to reconcile his humanity with his transformation.

And talking about people around him for whom he was once a perfect hard working man was now a trouble and a horrible thing to deal with, with loads of emotions like (grief, hatred, resignation, endurance, and then explicit detestation)
It’s more like a person who has been affected by a disease like AIDS and people stay away from him because they fear that what if they get the virus transferred into their system.

The writer has penned down something which is very real and tragic at the same time. As if he wanted us to understand that, Suddenly something happens in our lives and everything is changed and what is left behind is hope for better things ahead even if its impossible.

The book is all about how can a change affect you, how will people treat you after that change and what it feels like being a weak one, how it feels being isolated by the ones who adore you once, how difficult is to exist when you are no more a human, how cruel can people be when you are suddenly of no use, how people forget everything you did to them just when you collapse.

You should definitely read this book for a change. Kafka has done a really good work here. If you read about Kafka, you will come to know that his books throw light on his life.

I am impressed, I am going to grab The Trial now, another masterpiece by him.

132 people found this helpful

Ajit Dukka

Kafka is not for everyone

Reviewed in India on 17 July 2017

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Now I understand what "kafkaesque" really means.
Beware, this is not a pleasant read.
Surely a little depressing.
Wanted to throw away this book but could not do so until I finished it.
Now I want to read this author's other books.

107 people found this helpful

Stefin speaks

Simple yet profound

Reviewed in India on 7 January 2019

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This author is a genius. Through this book, he trying to highlight his own life experience, especially how he was to his parents and siblings. Got this book delivered in like 2 days. Read it in 1 day (Around 100 pages only).
Verdict:
1. Cheap just rs 69 , I guess that it’s worth spending.
2. Great quality pages
3. Easy to read. you may get lost sometimes though.

If you are an avid reader, Franz Kafka’s books are a must read. ( go for "The trial"

37 people found this helpful

Poppy Sinclair

Self Sacrifice - a Virtue?

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 March 2015

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Many facets of human nature are demonstrated in this story of which, for me, self sacrifice is paramount.
To what extent is it a virtue? Perhaps to the point where resentment creeps in, as it does when Gregor is counting the years he must work to pay off his father's debt after which he can leave his work for something he wants to do.
Is it a virtue when one becomes an 'enabler'? When Gregor can no longer support his family each one finds profitable work, which they could have done far sooner had Gregor discerned the time to withdraw his support. In this instance his self sacrifice became not only futile but damaging, both to himself and his family.
Is self sacrifice valued by the recipient? Perhaps, if the recipient is not made dependent; but dependence breeds resentment when the sense of entitlement is thwarted; this is demonstrated by Gregor's family's attitude when he is no longer of use to them.
Is self sacrifice reciprocated by the beneficiaries? When Gregor needs support it is not forthcoming. He becomes an embarrassment, something to be shut away, shunned and eventually discarded completely.
Galatians Chapter 6 seems to nicely suggest the need for balance: Verse 2: 'Go on carrying the burdens of one another'. Verse 5: 'For each one will carry his own load'.

5 people found this helpful

hal_the_gal

A weird and thought-provoking book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 July 2013

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Much has been written on this classic I'm sure. It is a short book that is a quick, absorbing and easy read but what does it all mean? It is about a man who wakes up to find himself an insect and it follows the effect this has on his family and how he comes to terms with the change and adapts to it. Without having read any text studies on the book, I am assuming it is about feelings of alienation and being 'different' - this can be experienced in many ways, eg the emotional difficulties of being a teenager, or the lack of acceptance that a person might feel if they are homosexual. Gregor is disenchanted with life also, in a job he hates and feeling he is responsible for his family, this too provides a theme of being trapped in a life from which there is no escape. Many questions are left unanswered. Although an easy book to read, it is not an easy book to analyse.

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