The Metamorphosis
by Franz Kafka · Die Verwandlung
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1915
- Form
- Novel
- Language
- German
- Length
- Short · 60 ppunder 120 pages
- Difficulty
- Approachable1 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendThe Metamorphosis, translated by Stanley CorngoldBantam Classics, 1972An accurate translation with a useful note on the German; the Norton Critical Edition uses the same translator.
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A novella of about sixty pages. Gregor Samsa, a travelling salesman who supports his parents and sister, wakes one morning to find himself changed into a monstrous insect. He cannot go to work; his family is first horrified, then burdened, and finally relieved when he dies. The story is told without explanation or metaphor, in a flat matter-of-fact prose that treats the impossible event as an ordinary domestic problem.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns The Metamorphosis are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
