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The Metamorphosis
The Metamorphosis (German: Die Verwandlung) is a novella by Franz Kafka, first published in 1915. The story begins with a traveling salesman, Gregor Samsa, waking to find himself transformed into a "monstrous vermin".
184 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2025
12 people are currently reading
111 people want to read
About the author
Franz Kafka
3,334 books39k followersFranz 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 His major novels The Trial, The Castle, and Amerika were left unfinished and unpublished during his lifetime.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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
December 18, 2012
Nangis! Sad Ending yang bagus sekali. Saya jadi penasaran dengan gaya penulisan kafka pada novel aslinya.
~Ada yang menangis mengharapkan kepergian kta. Ada yang menangis tidak ingin kita pergi. kadang kita merasa diri begitu penting untuk orang lain, mungkinkah demikian? apakah kita benar-benar penting untuk orang lain sampai ketidakhadiranpun menjadi sangat tidak diharapkan. Tidak. Ternyata kita tidak begitu penting. God bless those tears for me. Itu yang saya dapat setelah membaca komik ini :D
~Ada yang menangis mengharapkan kepergian kta. Ada yang menangis tidak ingin kita pergi. kadang kita merasa diri begitu penting untuk orang lain, mungkinkah demikian? apakah kita benar-benar penting untuk orang lain sampai ketidakhadiranpun menjadi sangat tidak diharapkan. Tidak. Ternyata kita tidak begitu penting. God bless those tears for me. Itu yang saya dapat setelah membaca komik ini :D
August 23, 2010
salah satu karya klasik favorit saya. kali ini diinterpretasikan lewat komik. rasa gerak-gerik tokoh ala manga jepang masih tercecap.
July 13, 2018
Komiknya aja depresif gini, gimana novel aslinya? Haaaaah...
March 6, 2025
i'm not a big fan of the writing style but that's just an opinion...it feels like someone wrote it very quickly for an english class. although i do love a good metaphorical book for some reason i had a hard time picking up the meaning in this one :/ the layout of the home, side characters, and the titles in which the characters are called change repeatedly. most details were also written pretty vague on purpose !
June 24, 2025
Prosta, a jednocześnie głęboko poruszająca historia. Niepokoi, uwiera, kończy się zarówno szczęśliwie, jak i nie. Ponadczasowa. Ciekawe posłowie przygotowane przez badaczy Kafki, które nakreśla okoliczności powstania „Przemiany” oraz jej odbiór (czytałam praskie wydanie).
July 6, 2025
What a sad little person he was and a sad little bug he became. RIP legend ❤️
February 3, 2026
This book is an excellent view into disability, in my mind, and hits quite close to home. The story is sad but realistic, despite the absurd premise, and I appreciate it a lot. Great story.
July 1, 2025
This was my first Franz Kafra book and it moved me to think about the influences that people and events have on our lives. Not so much on Gregor's life, but how his Metaphorosis affected the family dynamics and his mother, father and sister's lives. His change from the provider for the family to a useless insect that had to be provided for, as he did for his family, forced his family to become providers for themselves.
The translation was done well and the writing flowed well. The story was simple but with a lot of physcological and social meanings that, frankly went past me until I sat and thought about the book. This type of story is not something I read and wanted to try something different and I really got different. I'll probably remember this book more than many others I have read.
The translation was done well and the writing flowed well. The story was simple but with a lot of physcological and social meanings that, frankly went past me until I sat and thought about the book. This type of story is not something I read and wanted to try something different and I really got different. I'll probably remember this book more than many others I have read.
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July 29, 2023#Review
"Metamorphosis" It is the Short story or novella written by Franz Kafka, originally written in German later translated in English.
It is the story about Samsa family, a family who was living very normal life but it got dishevelled by the transformation of Gregor Samsa. The bread feeding member of the family, who worked day and night to feed his family and strived to tackle all the debts of his family.
Then, suddenly he woke up one day by transforming into Vermin or Insect and from that moment his life altered completely. The story is about the alienation, family needs, dependence, individuality and escapism. That how your body structure decides the fate of your life, how your existence is reliable on the appearance and the functions of your life. How the worries of gaining everything, snatch the present time of your life.
The world functions only on balance, it functions on give and take. What you offer the world, the world offers you the same, what you serve the world, the world serves you back the same. Same formula is applicable on the families too, being the member of a family when you work for its needs you are important for it, but when you can't offer it anything then family offers you the same services but the services would be for temporary time period. They soon would stop giving you the same and you would be forsaken like alone soul. Because the balance can only be maintained through exchange.
This is the human nature it is social animal, it connects with society for his/her needs. When there is no need left for it, there is no connection left for it too.
#AthoughtprovokingStory
Chahat Batool
"Metamorphosis" It is the Short story or novella written by Franz Kafka, originally written in German later translated in English.
It is the story about Samsa family, a family who was living very normal life but it got dishevelled by the transformation of Gregor Samsa. The bread feeding member of the family, who worked day and night to feed his family and strived to tackle all the debts of his family.
Then, suddenly he woke up one day by transforming into Vermin or Insect and from that moment his life altered completely. The story is about the alienation, family needs, dependence, individuality and escapism. That how your body structure decides the fate of your life, how your existence is reliable on the appearance and the functions of your life. How the worries of gaining everything, snatch the present time of your life.
The world functions only on balance, it functions on give and take. What you offer the world, the world offers you the same, what you serve the world, the world serves you back the same. Same formula is applicable on the families too, being the member of a family when you work for its needs you are important for it, but when you can't offer it anything then family offers you the same services but the services would be for temporary time period. They soon would stop giving you the same and you would be forsaken like alone soul. Because the balance can only be maintained through exchange.
This is the human nature it is social animal, it connects with society for his/her needs. When there is no need left for it, there is no connection left for it too.
#AthoughtprovokingStory
Chahat Batool
October 9, 2012
Pikiran saya berkecamuk setelah membaca buku ini. Samsa yang telah berusaha keras demi menjaga keharmonisan dan membayar hutang hutang keluarganya akhirnya mengerti arti sebuah keberadaan. Hanya karena ia berubah menjadi serangga tiba tiba saja perlakuan keluarganya berubah. Kafka benar benar keren, saya sampai terbawa suasana dan terombang ambing cerita. Hidup ini, peristiwa ajaib. Setiap hari kita menemukan kepalsuan tapi kita diam dan percaya bahwa kebaikan itu ada.
January 2, 2013
Ini komik dari buku Kafka, Metamorphosis. Saya belum baca aslinya, jadi nggak tau seperti apa bukunya dan gaya ceritanya, tapi komik ini (graphic novel? Uhuk) menceritakannya dengan bagus sekali. Gambarnya ekspresif dan penuh emosi, membuat saya ikut merasa ngeri dan jijik dan merenung lama setelah bukunya selesai.
February 8, 2013
suka sama ceritanya yg tragis, tapi gak begitu suka baca komik.
ada kutipan dari Franz Kafka di halaman terakhir, "Mungkin ada di antara pembaca yang menganggap 'Metamorphosis' ini mengenai kejadian sehari-hari yang diberi bumbu keajaiban. Pendapat anda salah. Kejadian biasa sehari-hari itu sendiri adalah keajaiban. Aku hanya mencatat hal itu...
ada kutipan dari Franz Kafka di halaman terakhir, "Mungkin ada di antara pembaca yang menganggap 'Metamorphosis' ini mengenai kejadian sehari-hari yang diberi bumbu keajaiban. Pendapat anda salah. Kejadian biasa sehari-hari itu sendiri adalah keajaiban. Aku hanya mencatat hal itu...
October 17, 2013
Kurang paham juga ni buku ini. Tapi merasuk juga imajinasi serem kalo suatu pagi tiba-tiba kita berubah jadi serangga. Mengingat penulisnya, mestinya ini buku yang dalem. Tapi mungkin karena dalam bentuk kartun, dengan cerita yang ringkas, nggak mendalam, jadinya saya kurang nangkep maksudnya. Atau mungkin sayanya aja yang gak ngerti.
March 20, 2015
Gagal paham ceritanya. Masa bisa tiba-tiba jd serangga sih? kalo kek spiderman kan masih masuk akal, nah ini, cuma karena ditimpa kesialan besoknya jd serangga? kalo gitu udah jd serangga dari dulu dong aku -_-
mungkin versi manga nya ini yg terlalu ringkas, atau aku nya aja yg gagal paham :v
mungkin versi manga nya ini yg terlalu ringkas, atau aku nya aja yg gagal paham :v
February 3, 2025
Creepy, personal and intimate.
A really dark and simple tale about abandonment, change, reflection, self worth and abuse. I read this in Prague not knowing until Chapter 2 that this author is from Czech. Crazy!
A really dark and simple tale about abandonment, change, reflection, self worth and abuse. I read this in Prague not knowing until Chapter 2 that this author is from Czech. Crazy!
May 22, 2012
Mungkin kalau baca novelnya, saya bisa lebih menangkap filosofinya.
January 11, 2013
Hmmm, membaca ini saya jadi semakin tertarik baca novelnya, sayangnya belum jodoh dengan buku itu.
June 8, 2013
Humanity is dead
June 29, 2022
Interesting concept with poor execution. nothing happens
January 29, 2024
if i woke up as a giant roach i too would be pretty upset
February 18, 2024
3.5 / ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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February 16, 2025I'm glad I can now say that I have voluntarily read a classic. I think I didn't fully absorb it or understand what Gregor's metamorphosis was supposed to represent but it was certainly unique.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews