The Metamorphasis and Other Stories

by Franz Kafka

Genres: Classics, Fiction

Paperback

Published January 1, 2003

About the author

Franz Kafka was a German-speaking writer from Prague whose work became one of the foundations of modern literature, even though he published only a small part of his writing during his lifetime. Born into a middle-class Jewish family in Prague, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Kafka grew up amid German, Czech, and Jewish cultural influences that shaped his sense of displacement and linguistic precision. His difficult relationship with his authoritarian father left a lasting mark, fostering feelings of guilt, anxiety, and inadequacy that became central themes in his fiction and personal writings.
Kafka studied law at the German University in Prague, earning a doctorate in 1906. He chose law for practical reasons rather than personal inclination, a compromise that troubled him throughout his life. After university, he worked for several insurance institutions, most notably the Workers Accident Insurance Institute for the Kingdom of Bohemia. His duties included assessing industrial accidents and drafting legal reports, work he carried out competently and responsibly. Nevertheless, Kafka regarded his professional life as an obstacle to his true vocation, and most of his writing was done at night or during periods of illness and leave. Kafka began publishing short prose pieces in his early adulthood, later collected in volumes such as Contemplation and A Country Doctor. These works attracted little attention at the time but already displayed the hallmarks of his mature style, including precise language, emotional restraint, and the application of calm logic to deeply unsettling situations. His major novels The Trial, The Castle, and Amerika were left unfinished and unpublished during his lifetime. They depict protagonists trapped within opaque systems of authority, facing accusations, rules, or hierarchies that remain unexplained and unreachable. Themes of alienation, guilt, bureaucracy, law, and punishment run throughout Kafka’s work. His characters often respond to absurd or terrifying circumstances with obedience or resignation, reflecting his own conflicted relationship with authority and obligation. Kafka’s prose avoids overt symbolism, yet his narratives function as powerful metaphors through structure, repetition, and tone. Ordinary environments gradually become nightmarish without losing their internal coherence. Kafka’s personal life was marked by emotional conflict, chronic self-doubt, and recurring illness. He formed intense but troubled romantic relationships, including engagements that he repeatedly broke off, fearing that marriage would interfere with his writing. His extensive correspondence and diaries reveal a relentless self-critic, deeply concerned with morality, spirituality, and the demands of artistic integrity. In his later years, Kafka’s health deteriorated due to tuberculosis, forcing him to withdraw from work and spend long periods in sanatoriums. Despite his illness, he continued writing when possible. He died young, leaving behind a large body of unpublished manuscripts. Before his death, he instructed his close friend Max Brod to destroy all of his remaining work. Brod ignored this request and instead edited and published Kafka’s novels, stories, and diaries, ensuring his posthumous reputation.
The publication of Kafka’s work after his death established him as one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century. The term Kafkaesque entered common usage to describe situations marked by oppressive bureaucracy, absurd logic, and existential anxiety. His writing has been interpreted through existential, religious, psychological, and political perspectives, though Kafka himself resisted definitive meanings. His enduring power lies in his ability to articulate modern anxiety with clarity and restraint.

Reviews

[Cali · Rating 3 out of 5]

this happened to me once

[Gita · Rating 3 out of 5]

weird but good. the bones are there, but the style is nearly incoherent to read. perhaps it is the translation.

[Meiling Hunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

#JusticeforGregor

[M Z · Rating 4 out of 5]

thought provoking and absurd. loved.

[catie seegmiller · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh, kafka. we in it now.

[Hannah Boltz · Rating 5 out of 5]

What the hell, sure

[emilymustdie · Rating 3 out of 5]

honestly disappointing. i’ve always tried to like his work and i’ve realised after pushing through this collection of stories that his work simply isn’t for me. Kafka’s ideas are nothing short of perfect but i personally find his writing style insufferable to the point where i have to force myself through stories where the main plot line should be enchanting. I personally loved the judgement and the penal colony and found that the stories really shone through the writing. Overall it may just be an issue with the translation i read but i don’t think i’ll read anymore of his work because it feels like a chore. Kafkas ideas are charming and lighthearted whilst really leaving you thinking but it’s just not for me.

[Ava Grefrath · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not suffering from clinical depression, I'm merely Kafkaesque.

[Trenton Class]

You can listen to this whole story on a drive to Santa Barbara and back.

[lyn 🫐]

only read the metamorphosis but good reads hates me and doesn’t have that as an option.

[Zarathustra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Literally me lol :3

[Emi Fennessy · Rating 4 out of 5]

intriguing, depressing

[Lzabelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only read the Metamorphasis, not the Other Stories but it was quite a silly tale that made me laugh from the images it put in my head.

[Abs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gross. Repulsive. Riveting! I loved it and I found that the symbolism and the writing is so easy and clear. I loved it!

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I loved metamorphosis. I also really liked the judgement, in the penal colony, and the hunger artist. It feels like Kafka just has an idea and totally riffs off it wherever it goes. It sometimes felt sort of surrealist or like a fever dream. The low-ish star rating is for all the pieces together and it makes sense given I think he actually didn’t want most of these stories published. A lot of the short stories don’t really go anywhere and feel like a maladaptive daydream that he just wrote down. Like paints a scene but probably meant more to him than to me. I also hear that he was really good with words and this is a translation so I’d probably appreciate it more if I could read German.

[Jess Grootenboer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short book read it while tanning but man it sits heavy. I was very confused at first why I was reading a book about a literal cockroach (idk if it was acc a roach but seemed like it) but it gives burnt out oldest sibling energy. I finished it and it made me never want to work in corporate America where you’re simply a shell of a human only as valuable as your physical well being. Shout out casey for the rec

[Naomi Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Filled with some pretty epic short stories that would be a 5 (metamorphosis, penal colony, etc) but kinda tough bouncing between so many other unrelated short stories and without feeling very immersed in the story having it suddenly end

[Jade Star · Rating 5 out of 5]

OH my gosh do i love his writting skills!! he explains how random things that most people dont care about make us feel the most human!! AND THE WAY HE DESCRIBED FAMILY DYNAMICS WAS PWRFECT!!! amazing, EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ THIS

[Maia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for AP Lit and was disappointed by how mid it was! Did not live up to the hype given to it by my fave movie The Squid and The Whale

[Shihab Ahmed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh man, subhanallah, that was a depressing short story.

[sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on true events (me)

[Carly McClear · Rating 3 out of 5]

A classic but lowkey dragged on...

[Katrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ⭐️ this says a lot about society!

[Lily Bowie]

amazing

[Ryan Cunningham · Rating 4 out of 5]

ima get a pet beetle and name him gregor, ill take good care of him

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had a lot of stories, some quite boring, but others were very fun to read. It was very worth while if you enjoy Kafka or philosphy

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A depressing view of modern society

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

happened to a friend once

[Helpmereadmore · Rating 3 out of 5]

????

[genesis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Morphed unexpectedly.. fire