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Metamorphisis
One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin. He lay on his armour-like back, and if he lifted his head a little he could see his brown belly, slightly domed and divided by arches into stiff sections. The bedding was hardly able to cover it and seemed ready to slide off any moment. His many legs, pitifully thin compared with the size of the rest of him, waved about helplessly as he looked.
62 pages, Paperback
Published February 4, 2023
8 people are currently reading
95 people want to read
About the author
Franz Kafka
3,213 books38.3k followersPrague-born writer Franz Kafka wrote in German, and his stories, such as "
The Metamorphosis
" (1916), and posthumously published novels, including
The Trial
(1925), concern troubled individuals in a nightmarishly impersonal world.
Jewish middle-class family of this major fiction writer of the 20th century spoke German. People consider his unique body of much incomplete writing, mainly published posthumously, among the most influential in European literature.
His stories include "The Metamorphosis" (1912) and " In the Penal Colony " (1914), whereas his posthumous novels include The Trial (1925), The Castle (1926) and Amerika (1927).
Despite first language, Kafka also spoke fluent Czech. Later, Kafka acquired some knowledge of the French language and culture from Flaubert, one of his favorite authors.
Kafka first studied chemistry at the Charles-Ferdinand University of Prague but after two weeks switched to law. This study offered a range of career possibilities, which pleased his father, and required a longer course of study that gave Kafka time to take classes in German studies and art history. At the university, he joined a student club, named Lese- und Redehalle der Deutschen Studenten, which organized literary events, readings, and other activities. In the end of his first year of studies, he met Max Brod, a close friend of his throughout his life, together with the journalist Felix Weltsch, who also studied law. Kafka obtained the degree of doctor of law on 18 June 1906 and performed an obligatory year of unpaid service as law clerk for the civil and criminal courts.
Writing of Kafka attracted little attention before his death. During his lifetime, he published only a few short stories and never finished any of his novels except the very short "The Metamorphosis." Kafka wrote to Max Brod, his friend and literary executor: "Dearest Max, my last request: Everything I leave behind me ... in the way of diaries, manuscripts, letters (my own and others'), sketches, and so on, [is] to be burned unread." Brod told Kafka that he intended not to honor these wishes, but Kafka, so knowing, nevertheless consequently gave these directions specifically to Brod, who, so reasoning, overrode these wishes. Brod in fact oversaw the publication of most of work of Kafka in his possession; these works quickly began to attract attention and high critical regard.
Max Brod encountered significant difficulty in compiling notebooks of Kafka into any chronological order as Kafka started writing in the middle of notebooks, from the last towards the first, et cetera.
Kafka wrote all his published works in German except several letters in Czech to Milena Jesenská.
Jewish middle-class family of this major fiction writer of the 20th century spoke German. People consider his unique body of much incomplete writing, mainly published posthumously, among the most influential in European literature.
His stories include "The Metamorphosis" (1912) and " In the Penal Colony " (1914), whereas his posthumous novels include The Trial (1925), The Castle (1926) and Amerika (1927).
Despite first language, Kafka also spoke fluent Czech. Later, Kafka acquired some knowledge of the French language and culture from Flaubert, one of his favorite authors.
Kafka first studied chemistry at the Charles-Ferdinand University of Prague but after two weeks switched to law. This study offered a range of career possibilities, which pleased his father, and required a longer course of study that gave Kafka time to take classes in German studies and art history. At the university, he joined a student club, named Lese- und Redehalle der Deutschen Studenten, which organized literary events, readings, and other activities. In the end of his first year of studies, he met Max Brod, a close friend of his throughout his life, together with the journalist Felix Weltsch, who also studied law. Kafka obtained the degree of doctor of law on 18 June 1906 and performed an obligatory year of unpaid service as law clerk for the civil and criminal courts.
Writing of Kafka attracted little attention before his death. During his lifetime, he published only a few short stories and never finished any of his novels except the very short "The Metamorphosis." Kafka wrote to Max Brod, his friend and literary executor: "Dearest Max, my last request: Everything I leave behind me ... in the way of diaries, manuscripts, letters (my own and others'), sketches, and so on, [is] to be burned unread." Brod told Kafka that he intended not to honor these wishes, but Kafka, so knowing, nevertheless consequently gave these directions specifically to Brod, who, so reasoning, overrode these wishes. Brod in fact oversaw the publication of most of work of Kafka in his possession; these works quickly began to attract attention and high critical regard.
Max Brod encountered significant difficulty in compiling notebooks of Kafka into any chronological order as Kafka started writing in the middle of notebooks, from the last towards the first, et cetera.
Kafka wrote all his published works in German except several letters in Czech to Milena Jesenská.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 7, 2025
Too bizarre for my liking
December 19, 2025
Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka
The setting takes place in 20th century Europe during the industrial revolution. There are 3 main characters, Gregor, Gregor’s father and Gregor’s sister. Throughout the story Gregor is hit with the feeling of alienation and isolation as he wakes up as a cockroach. He feels useless in society and hated by his family for not contributing to the household, and ultimately starves himself to death to find relief. His family then feel the burden of living with him lifted off their shoulders and they look towards the future and move to the country side of their country. The conflict of the story is that Gregor feels trapped under the circumstances of his work-life and the state of his country. Workers are always being exploited so that wealthy people get more money off harsh labor, and Gregor is a victim of it. He works as a traveling salesman and gets burnt out in the beginning after clocking in day in and day out until he physically and mentally cannot do it anymore-- waking up as a cockroach. His father sees that he gave up on working and becomes hostile towards him since Gregor would be the one paying off his debts, and just like his father, his whole family start to resent him (except his sister at first) since they find it a burden on taking care of him. The book ended with Gregor starving himself to end the empty feeling of isolation, which was sad because his family was under the same roof as him, but they always neglected him just because he couldn't work anymore. My favorite part of the book was when his sister would give him food since it showed that at least someone cared about him even when he felt alone. People who would life this book would be those who are interested in fantasy with some history about people living in 20th century Europe.
The setting takes place in 20th century Europe during the industrial revolution. There are 3 main characters, Gregor, Gregor’s father and Gregor’s sister. Throughout the story Gregor is hit with the feeling of alienation and isolation as he wakes up as a cockroach. He feels useless in society and hated by his family for not contributing to the household, and ultimately starves himself to death to find relief. His family then feel the burden of living with him lifted off their shoulders and they look towards the future and move to the country side of their country. The conflict of the story is that Gregor feels trapped under the circumstances of his work-life and the state of his country. Workers are always being exploited so that wealthy people get more money off harsh labor, and Gregor is a victim of it. He works as a traveling salesman and gets burnt out in the beginning after clocking in day in and day out until he physically and mentally cannot do it anymore-- waking up as a cockroach. His father sees that he gave up on working and becomes hostile towards him since Gregor would be the one paying off his debts, and just like his father, his whole family start to resent him (except his sister at first) since they find it a burden on taking care of him. The book ended with Gregor starving himself to end the empty feeling of isolation, which was sad because his family was under the same roof as him, but they always neglected him just because he couldn't work anymore. My favorite part of the book was when his sister would give him food since it showed that at least someone cared about him even when he felt alone. People who would life this book would be those who are interested in fantasy with some history about people living in 20th century Europe.
May 29, 2025
(4.5)
This is a pretty easy book to read for beginners (Mostly because it's a short story) unlike most classical books the writing is fairly easy to understand.
I enjoyed this book a lot. I feel like the whole forming into a bug concept overshadows the actual meaning of the book and more people should know of it. The phrase 'would you love me if i was a worm' would describe this book. It shows how Gregor's family reacted to his change, and it's a reference to Kafka's relationship with his parents, as he was a sad teenager, which strained his relationship with his father.
Its sort of like how you change when you grow up and your parents opinions on you shift if you catch my drift.
This is a pretty easy book to read for beginners (Mostly because it's a short story) unlike most classical books the writing is fairly easy to understand.
I enjoyed this book a lot. I feel like the whole forming into a bug concept overshadows the actual meaning of the book and more people should know of it. The phrase 'would you love me if i was a worm' would describe this book. It shows how Gregor's family reacted to his change, and it's a reference to Kafka's relationship with his parents, as he was a sad teenager, which strained his relationship with his father.
Its sort of like how you change when you grow up and your parents opinions on you shift if you catch my drift.
May 22, 2025
read this when i was 19 n it’s been on my mind so much recently. maybe bc ive been reading kafka’s letter to his father & it’s brought back the mems of reading this. i have no words to describe or explain this book im gna stay mysterious & just say i think it definitely deserves a re read this summer 😈
March 5, 2025
Shoutout Mrs Daken because without her I wouldn’t have been able to understand a single thing happening in this book
August 11, 2025
that was weird. and perhaps slightly pedophilic towards the end. although what's new with male authors atp
November 27, 2025
when your family has so much beef with your state of being they throw an apple at you and let it rot while it’s lodged in your abdomen.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews