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The Metamorphosis
Acclaimed graphic artist Peter Kuper presents a brilliant, darkly comic reimagining of Kafka’s classic tale of family, alienation, and a giant bug. Kuper’s electric drawings—which merge American cartooning with German expressionism—bring Kafka’s prose to vivid life, reviving the original story’s humor and poignancy in a way that will surprise and delight readers of Kafka and graphic novels alike.
“A brilliant illustrated adaptation of Franz Kafka’s famous story. It’s a real pleasure to read and one in which everyone will recognize the existential drama and uncanny wit of the original text."—Susan Bernstein, associate professor of comparative literature and German studies, Brown University
“A brilliant illustrated adaptation of Franz Kafka’s famous story. It’s a real pleasure to read and one in which everyone will recognize the existential drama and uncanny wit of the original text."—Susan Bernstein, associate professor of comparative literature and German studies, Brown University
80 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
87 people are currently reading
1662 people want to read
About the author
Peter Kuper
118 books143 followersPeter Kuper is an American alternative comics artist and illustrator, renowned for his politically charged, socially conscious, and often autobiographical work. He co-founded the influential anthology World War 3 Illustrated, and is best known for his long-running reinvention of Spy vs. Spy for Mad magazine from 1997 to 2022. Kuper has produced numerous graphic novels, including award-winning adaptations of Franz Kafka’s Give It Up! and The Metamorphosis, as well as autobiographical works like Stop Forgetting To Remember and Diario de Oaxaca, documenting life, travel, and social struggles. His illustration work has appeared on covers and in publications such as Time, Newsweek, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, and The New York Times. Kuper’s style often merges comics and illustration techniques, with both wordless narratives and text-driven storytelling, reflecting his belief that the two disciplines are inseparable. He has traveled extensively across Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Southeast Asia, often documenting these experiences in sketchbook journals. Kuper has taught courses on comics and illustration at the Parsons School of Design, the School of Visual Arts, and Harvard University’s first class on graphic novels. He has received numerous awards, including recognition from the Society of Newspaper Designers, the Society of Illustrators, and Eisner and NCS awards for his work. His comics combine sharp political commentary, personal observation, and inventive visual storytelling, establishing him as a prominent figure in contemporary alternative comics and illustration.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 538 reviews
November 5, 2021
5 horror-struck stars! 🌟
Existential parable, anyone?
Fancy waking up one fine day to find yourself in quite the expressionistic state: "transformed in bed into a horrible vermin"! Nonsense, huh? That's what Gregor Samsa thought, too.
Though overly committed and devoted to his salesman job, the sense of perennial insufficiency prevails. Gregor is portrayed as being "condemned to work for a company where they immediately became highly suspicious at the slightest shortcoming". Indeed, the chief clerk absurdly shows up and bluntly showers the family with accusations about the nature of Gregor's professional failings, merely on the grounds that he had not presented himself at work that morning. The situation itself, and the build-up of tension, come across as utterly surreal. Of course, what they tend towards thematically is the over-arching and intensely annihilating forces at play; quintessentially impersonal and traceable to an incontestable authority, though allusively also of personal origin.
Gregor's uncanny predicament, recurrently referred to as "his present state", well, it complicates matters exceedingly; for Gregor and his family, who had gratefully though perhaps in a mode of detached consciousness relied on his income for a long time. A family, therefore, that through a peculiar warping of tightly intertwined happenings, appears to have got infested with the most contradictory impulses of human nature: a sense of prevailing estrangement and underlying resentfulness; bitterness alternated by sporadic bursts of guilt, affection or emotion; a survival instinct that turns family into enemy.
In Kafka's short story, the sense of alienation, deep-rooted anxiety, and horror, are made to inhabit the same space of the preposterous and counter-rational; in some visually compelling ways, it is reminiscent of Polanski's farcical Carnage. In his "current sad and revolting form", Gregor is reluctantly debarred from the very possibility of human affection and relationability. Communication channels are entirely and excruciatingly severed, though he is not spared the double torture: for he is still able to wholly understand and interpret the world he is so harshly, it seems, excluded from. Emblematic is the family's silent decision to leave his bedroom door open, implying a tentatively shared understanding that Gregor must nevertheless keep to his own room. A recurrent theme in Kafka, masterfully developed in his short parable Before the Law: a tantalising openness exceptionally undermined by eternal expulsion.
Thus Kafka's protagonist is consigned to an unjustly liminal existence, to which he paradoxically succumbs with passive acceptance. And yet, how is this excessively tormenting circumstance not unjustly imposed on the family? Gregor's entrapment is chillingly mirrored by his family's own sense of inexorability: one need only momentarily reflect on the sheer episodic recurrence of shock, dread and the full range of excess emotions exhibited in particular by the mother and the sister, whose suffering feels palpably perpetuated to levels that border on the inhuman. Interestingly, the confrontation with the father is of a fairly different nature altogether: the latter's transformation appears to be as inordinate as Gregor's at the beginning of the story, which raises the question of a certain transference of conditions, culminating in that moment that sees the father attempting to bombard the beetle-son with apples, much like the charwoman is seen to both laughingly yet horrifyingly shove the old dung-beetle's body with the broom.
As Kafka hones in on the inexplicable and a transcendental search for meaning, he also extensively remarks on the separateness and alienation of human existence, epitomised in the image of the mother and father leaving the bed "each from his own side". Loss, abyss, and existential crisis feature in every utterance, hinting at concepts that defy discovery and sharply stress the despondency that lies within and ahead.
In equal measure distressing and puzzling, delightful and enchanting. Lovers of the eccentric, the obscure, and the whimsy are likely to derive enjoyment from this classic tale!
Existential parable, anyone?
Fancy waking up one fine day to find yourself in quite the expressionistic state: "transformed in bed into a horrible vermin"! Nonsense, huh? That's what Gregor Samsa thought, too.
Though overly committed and devoted to his salesman job, the sense of perennial insufficiency prevails. Gregor is portrayed as being "condemned to work for a company where they immediately became highly suspicious at the slightest shortcoming". Indeed, the chief clerk absurdly shows up and bluntly showers the family with accusations about the nature of Gregor's professional failings, merely on the grounds that he had not presented himself at work that morning. The situation itself, and the build-up of tension, come across as utterly surreal. Of course, what they tend towards thematically is the over-arching and intensely annihilating forces at play; quintessentially impersonal and traceable to an incontestable authority, though allusively also of personal origin.
Gregor's uncanny predicament, recurrently referred to as "his present state", well, it complicates matters exceedingly; for Gregor and his family, who had gratefully though perhaps in a mode of detached consciousness relied on his income for a long time. A family, therefore, that through a peculiar warping of tightly intertwined happenings, appears to have got infested with the most contradictory impulses of human nature: a sense of prevailing estrangement and underlying resentfulness; bitterness alternated by sporadic bursts of guilt, affection or emotion; a survival instinct that turns family into enemy.
In Kafka's short story, the sense of alienation, deep-rooted anxiety, and horror, are made to inhabit the same space of the preposterous and counter-rational; in some visually compelling ways, it is reminiscent of Polanski's farcical Carnage. In his "current sad and revolting form", Gregor is reluctantly debarred from the very possibility of human affection and relationability. Communication channels are entirely and excruciatingly severed, though he is not spared the double torture: for he is still able to wholly understand and interpret the world he is so harshly, it seems, excluded from. Emblematic is the family's silent decision to leave his bedroom door open, implying a tentatively shared understanding that Gregor must nevertheless keep to his own room. A recurrent theme in Kafka, masterfully developed in his short parable Before the Law: a tantalising openness exceptionally undermined by eternal expulsion.
Thus Kafka's protagonist is consigned to an unjustly liminal existence, to which he paradoxically succumbs with passive acceptance. And yet, how is this excessively tormenting circumstance not unjustly imposed on the family? Gregor's entrapment is chillingly mirrored by his family's own sense of inexorability: one need only momentarily reflect on the sheer episodic recurrence of shock, dread and the full range of excess emotions exhibited in particular by the mother and the sister, whose suffering feels palpably perpetuated to levels that border on the inhuman. Interestingly, the confrontation with the father is of a fairly different nature altogether: the latter's transformation appears to be as inordinate as Gregor's at the beginning of the story, which raises the question of a certain transference of conditions, culminating in that moment that sees the father attempting to bombard the beetle-son with apples, much like the charwoman is seen to both laughingly yet horrifyingly shove the old dung-beetle's body with the broom.
As Kafka hones in on the inexplicable and a transcendental search for meaning, he also extensively remarks on the separateness and alienation of human existence, epitomised in the image of the mother and father leaving the bed "each from his own side". Loss, abyss, and existential crisis feature in every utterance, hinting at concepts that defy discovery and sharply stress the despondency that lies within and ahead.
In equal measure distressing and puzzling, delightful and enchanting. Lovers of the eccentric, the obscure, and the whimsy are likely to derive enjoyment from this classic tale!
January 17, 2025
When in Prague, buy something local. In this case, a book from an author who made the city their home.
I found this graphic novel adaptation of Kafka’s most famous work sold in a bookstore on the same street as my hotel in the Czechia capital. Kafka was a local, in fact, his museum was just a stone’s throw away from my street.
This adaptation was done by Mad magazine veteran Peter Kuper, whose work with Spy vs. Spy was one of the highlights of the magazine in its later years.
In my recent trip across Europe I found that Europeans enjoy their books. Germans love their comics, also the Austrians, and the Donald Duck family a favorite. The Czechs have the best bookstores, cozy, and with character, the walls brimming with their own stories as much as the shelves. The Dutch love their museums, where the shops carry their own books on the exhibits and the artists.
As for the book, Kuper captured the unsettling nature of the Kafka story with his adaptation. Both the art and the lettering captured the skittishness and awkwardness of a former human whose family no longer see him as such.
I found this graphic novel adaptation of Kafka’s most famous work sold in a bookstore on the same street as my hotel in the Czechia capital. Kafka was a local, in fact, his museum was just a stone’s throw away from my street.
This adaptation was done by Mad magazine veteran Peter Kuper, whose work with Spy vs. Spy was one of the highlights of the magazine in its later years.
In my recent trip across Europe I found that Europeans enjoy their books. Germans love their comics, also the Austrians, and the Donald Duck family a favorite. The Czechs have the best bookstores, cozy, and with character, the walls brimming with their own stories as much as the shelves. The Dutch love their museums, where the shops carry their own books on the exhibits and the artists.
As for the book, Kuper captured the unsettling nature of the Kafka story with his adaptation. Both the art and the lettering captured the skittishness and awkwardness of a former human whose family no longer see him as such.
February 11, 2014
A man wakes up one day to find he has been changed into a large insect. The story follows his efforts to deal with this, and his family's reaction to the change. But it's not just a story about a man turning into a insect, it's a clever way of writing about how a family would deal with the main breadwinner in the house becoming unable to work, the way a family reacts to someone who is disabled. It could also be an analogy for how a family treats a member of the family who is now old and needs to be cared for. The man who is now a insect, is forced to live in his room, shut away from the world, for fear that he will frighten anyone who enters the house. The man who once provided for the family, and thought of them above himself, has now become a burden on them, as they are now short of money, and have to find employment. The once able and hard-working man, transformed into a insect, is now rejected, and his family blame him for their financial situation and the fact that they cannot move to a smaller house, because they need to have a room to keep him in. The descriptive quality of the writing is excellent, and although it is a sad and gruesome tale, it is also very funny in parts; I couldn't help laughing out loud a couple of times.
September 10, 2015
This is a great interpretation and adaptation of Kafka's Metamorphosis. The humor and the horror are duking it out in that great spy vs spy way (thank you Peter Kuper) , and sentimentality is beautifully burlesqued and still there is a shifty (shifting) emotional resonance in there.
I love how reading this comic metamorphosis brings out parts of the prose I would not have weighted and makes me want to read the prose again and see what feels new.
One of my favorite tales about literary folk is the one where Kafka is reading the Metamorphosis aloud to Max Brod and laughing so hard he is doubled over and can barely finish. Thank you Kafka, for the pleasure you take in turning a poor, unsuspecting salesman into a desperate cockroach, and for your particular contribution in raising the sick and miserable absurdity of life to a comic art form. And thank you Kuper for reminding me that "high brow" and "low brow" are often wonderfully inscrutable twins when it comes to the greatest of stories, regardless of the form.
I love how reading this comic metamorphosis brings out parts of the prose I would not have weighted and makes me want to read the prose again and see what feels new.
One of my favorite tales about literary folk is the one where Kafka is reading the Metamorphosis aloud to Max Brod and laughing so hard he is doubled over and can barely finish. Thank you Kafka, for the pleasure you take in turning a poor, unsuspecting salesman into a desperate cockroach, and for your particular contribution in raising the sick and miserable absurdity of life to a comic art form. And thank you Kuper for reminding me that "high brow" and "low brow" are often wonderfully inscrutable twins when it comes to the greatest of stories, regardless of the form.
June 12, 2025
" What if I went back to sleep for a while and forgot all this foolishness "
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March 13, 2025great visual representation of kafka’s weird and wacky novella…could’ve done without seeing a roach with a human face though, personally speaking.
January 24, 2018
Un tratto interessante e, a mio avviso, capace di rendere bene l'atmosfera di alcuni passaggi dell'opera. Un bella scoperta! :)
August 28, 2021
Review of Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka
My Rating-3/5
This story is about a guy named Gregor Samsa , who metamorphosed into a giant bug one morning. And then book tells us about the problems faced by him .He faces alienation, embarrassment and disrespect from not only his workplace but also from his own family whose is lead by a patriarch father. To be honest, It was kind of boring and weird .
The Only thing that I liked was the writing style of Franz Kafka.
His writing style is so unique and simple, and very beginner friendly.
Things I didn't like
•} Some parts were just too stretched which was not required.
•} There were no Character development and world building.
Overall,I feel the story was dull and weird . It was okay but I had expected more from Kafka.It was not totally a worth read for Me.
Its absolutely my personal opinion.
My Rating-3/5
This story is about a guy named Gregor Samsa , who metamorphosed into a giant bug one morning. And then book tells us about the problems faced by him .He faces alienation, embarrassment and disrespect from not only his workplace but also from his own family whose is lead by a patriarch father. To be honest, It was kind of boring and weird .
The Only thing that I liked was the writing style of Franz Kafka.
His writing style is so unique and simple, and very beginner friendly.
Things I didn't like
•} Some parts were just too stretched which was not required.
•} There were no Character development and world building.
Overall,I feel the story was dull and weird . It was okay but I had expected more from Kafka.It was not totally a worth read for Me.
Its absolutely my personal opinion.
December 31, 2018
One of the amazing read of this year ! Defiantly want to suggest everyone to read this book.
June 13, 2019
I've had this short classic "on my list" for so long, yet finally got around to reading it. It's one of those that I need time to sit and think about to try to figure out what it meant to me, and then go read other analyses to see what "the experts" say.
What I'm getting out of it now, from my own reading, has to do with being known and appreciated for who we are rather than what's on the outside. It's rather a sobering read for me, to be honest. Do people appreciate and love us for what we do for them, or for who we are? I remember being horrified when reading a book about a woman who had a stroke and was unable to communicate in any way, but had full cognitive ability--trapped in her body. And then I read about Huntington's disease and was similarly horrified. This book rouses similar feelings. It makes me think of older people, no longer able to contribute, perhaps. Are they valued for who they are, or just for what they were able to contribute. People with mental illness. People who look different. What if you used to be slender but are now trapped in a body layered with fat, or you experience an accident resulting in severe scarring--are you now less worthy?
And how does the perception of others affect how we see ourselves? Gregor increasingly lost his humanity as he realized the people he had thought were "his people" didn't see him for who he was, didn't after all appreciate (or even need) him--had never really appreciated him, in fact.
And then we come to the idea that his family was perhaps going to be better off without him. In some way he had enabled them. . .had stunted their growth. Without him, they had to step up and take care of themselves and actually bloomed. This makes me think of parenting.
This little book was so deep, it makes me think I'll come back to it someday and see it completely differently. Rather like Ellison's Invisible Man, I have a haunting feeling that at some point I'll have a lightbulb moment and realize "A-ha! NOW I get it!"
What I'm getting out of it now, from my own reading, has to do with being known and appreciated for who we are rather than what's on the outside. It's rather a sobering read for me, to be honest. Do people appreciate and love us for what we do for them, or for who we are? I remember being horrified when reading a book about a woman who had a stroke and was unable to communicate in any way, but had full cognitive ability--trapped in her body. And then I read about Huntington's disease and was similarly horrified. This book rouses similar feelings. It makes me think of older people, no longer able to contribute, perhaps. Are they valued for who they are, or just for what they were able to contribute. People with mental illness. People who look different. What if you used to be slender but are now trapped in a body layered with fat, or you experience an accident resulting in severe scarring--are you now less worthy?
And how does the perception of others affect how we see ourselves? Gregor increasingly lost his humanity as he realized the people he had thought were "his people" didn't see him for who he was, didn't after all appreciate (or even need) him--had never really appreciated him, in fact.
And then we come to the idea that his family was perhaps going to be better off without him. In some way he had enabled them. . .had stunted their growth. Without him, they had to step up and take care of themselves and actually bloomed. This makes me think of parenting.
This little book was so deep, it makes me think I'll come back to it someday and see it completely differently. Rather like Ellison's Invisible Man, I have a haunting feeling that at some point I'll have a lightbulb moment and realize "A-ha! NOW I get it!"
November 22, 2021
Illustrations were great. Story is about a guy that turns into a bug, and ends with parents delighted that their daughter has become "voluptuous." It's really bizarre.
February 4, 2020
"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect "
Surely it is one of the greatest books for Kafka. But what got me interested the most are the psychological reasons that let him write such a novel !! I've read some reviews of several names from writers to psychologists that were trying to understand the relationship between the father and the sun in the world of Kafka according to him ( to his real father) , Knowing that he wasn't pleased with the matter of fact that his son was completely passionated to writing !!
I really feel curious of what is behind the obvious for this novel. Because when I knew that Kafka laughed reading his novel to his friends, I got surprised... I felt like this book exactly has a hidden part !
" Was he an animal, that music could move him so? ... "
All what I got from the book is how really difficult to live detached from your self, feeling like you are not owning the body that you are carrying for your entirely life ! That your spiritual side isn't related with your physical side 💔 you wish things to be alright but it's not like that simple in your brain. Like there is a hell buried inside your mind!
I really loved that book even thought the end of it broke my heart!
Surely it is one of the greatest books for Kafka. But what got me interested the most are the psychological reasons that let him write such a novel !! I've read some reviews of several names from writers to psychologists that were trying to understand the relationship between the father and the sun in the world of Kafka according to him ( to his real father) , Knowing that he wasn't pleased with the matter of fact that his son was completely passionated to writing !!
I really feel curious of what is behind the obvious for this novel. Because when I knew that Kafka laughed reading his novel to his friends, I got surprised... I felt like this book exactly has a hidden part !
" Was he an animal, that music could move him so? ... "
All what I got from the book is how really difficult to live detached from your self, feeling like you are not owning the body that you are carrying for your entirely life ! That your spiritual side isn't related with your physical side 💔 you wish things to be alright but it's not like that simple in your brain. Like there is a hell buried inside your mind!
I really loved that book even thought the end of it broke my heart!
July 21, 2017
I honestly don't know what to do with this. What was the point of it? I'm used to short stories exploring a strong message or character concept or "what if" scenario. This was a man who becomes a bug, who made no efforts after the first day to find harmony with his family, and they treated him like a cockroach. We listen to him as the family decides where furniture should go in his room, as he realizes he can climb walls, and as he sinks into neglect.
And then he died.
In good news, the narrator for Librivox was quite good at his role, I thought.
I dunno, man. A lot of people have positive associations with this shame-ridden bug-man. I guess maybe I just don't excuse him from trying to take a proactive measure. So, life turned you into a bug. Now what? Stare out windows? Or be your buggy best?
And then he died.
In good news, the narrator for Librivox was quite good at his role, I thought.
I dunno, man. A lot of people have positive associations with this shame-ridden bug-man. I guess maybe I just don't excuse him from trying to take a proactive measure. So, life turned you into a bug. Now what? Stare out windows? Or be your buggy best?
March 27, 2021
Weird shit man.
November 27, 2022
"E se dormissi ancora un po' e dimenticassi tutte queste sciocchezze?"
January 1, 2025
En su momento, leí La metamorfosis de Kafka y me dejó muy mal cuerpo, pero me encantó.
No obstante, ahora veo que no entendí bien los temas del libro (porque tenía como 15 o 16 años).
Casi 20 años más tarde, puedo apreciar la crítica que hace el autor acerca de cómo se aplasta a la clase obrera en este capitalismo en el que vivimos.
Por otro lado, el arte de esta adaptación me ha gustado mucho: este es un libro muy visual y es muy importante que el escarabajo gigante (en mi cabeza, siempre fue una cucaracha) te transmita la repulsa necesaria.
Ha sido todo un acierto.
No obstante, ahora veo que no entendí bien los temas del libro (porque tenía como 15 o 16 años).
Casi 20 años más tarde, puedo apreciar la crítica que hace el autor acerca de cómo se aplasta a la clase obrera en este capitalismo en el que vivimos.
Por otro lado, el arte de esta adaptación me ha gustado mucho: este es un libro muy visual y es muy importante que el escarabajo gigante (en mi cabeza, siempre fue una cucaracha) te transmita la repulsa necesaria.
Ha sido todo un acierto.
Read
November 19, 2024this traumatized me and I forgot abt it until i saw this word and remembered I didn’t add it
shoutout to the sophomore curriculum
shoutout to the sophomore curriculum
June 6, 2013
A comic adaptation of Kafka's famous story of the same name. It's what you'd expect from such an adaptation, really. There's not much new in the way of story (as is preferable with most adaptations) but the visual element actually takes away many of the things that made the text so good, e.g. the ambiguity, the symbolism, etc. In the text there's a constant air of uncertainty. With the added visual element things are much more literal and blunt. Which is why I'm hesitant to call this an adaptation (in the true sense at least). If it were an adaptation it would strive to present the same emotions and thoughts as the material it is adapting did, by means of a different medium. This graphic novel didn't quite fully achieve that. Which is why I see this more as an interpretation rather than an adaptation. It is merely showing a single way to interpret a story that can be interpreted countless ways. So it's better to view this (and indeed many works feigning adaptation as well) as an interpretation rather than a strict adaptation.
So the question must be then, how well was it interpreted? (a bit of a matter of subjectivity, no doubt, but critique-able nonetheless). Well, to start off, the presentation is very nice. The art style has a sense of expressionism and is quite beautiful in all its black & white glory. The lettering is nice too (it's font, not handwritten) and doesn't only appear in speech bubbles or boxes, but instead you'll find the text bending around the corners of the panels or swirling around characters and lingering on their bodies. The text is very involved; part of the story rather than on top of it. The art style, along with the text, do well to reflect the mood of a scene, whether it be anxiety or sorrow.
I daresay that the art style is just as pleasing if not more so than Robert Crumb's rendition of The Metamorphosis in R. Crumb's Kafka. I will say, however, that Peter Kuper took some very obvious influence from Crumb's rendition, especially in regards to character and location designs. I might as well also take this time to mention (and indeed recommend) Caroline Leaf's wonderful animated adaptation, The Metamorphosis Of Mr. Samsa, of which I still believe is the finest portrayal of the story (and the most beautiful too!).
In conclusion it's a fine adaptation (ahem! I mean interpretation) that will amuse nearly all but will surprise very few, especially if you've already read Kafka's story (which I highly recommend).
It deserves a bit more than 3 stars but a bit less than 4 (damn you, Goodreads, give me my half stars!), so a 3.5 it is. Recommended for fans of Kafka, but this is far from substitute.
So the question must be then, how well was it interpreted? (a bit of a matter of subjectivity, no doubt, but critique-able nonetheless). Well, to start off, the presentation is very nice. The art style has a sense of expressionism and is quite beautiful in all its black & white glory. The lettering is nice too (it's font, not handwritten) and doesn't only appear in speech bubbles or boxes, but instead you'll find the text bending around the corners of the panels or swirling around characters and lingering on their bodies. The text is very involved; part of the story rather than on top of it. The art style, along with the text, do well to reflect the mood of a scene, whether it be anxiety or sorrow.
I daresay that the art style is just as pleasing if not more so than Robert Crumb's rendition of The Metamorphosis in R. Crumb's Kafka. I will say, however, that Peter Kuper took some very obvious influence from Crumb's rendition, especially in regards to character and location designs. I might as well also take this time to mention (and indeed recommend) Caroline Leaf's wonderful animated adaptation, The Metamorphosis Of Mr. Samsa, of which I still believe is the finest portrayal of the story (and the most beautiful too!).
In conclusion it's a fine adaptation (ahem! I mean interpretation) that will amuse nearly all but will surprise very few, especially if you've already read Kafka's story (which I highly recommend).
It deserves a bit more than 3 stars but a bit less than 4 (damn you, Goodreads, give me my half stars!), so a 3.5 it is. Recommended for fans of Kafka, but this is far from substitute.
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December 18, 2014 The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka tells the story of a man that works really hard to provide for his family but one day he wakes up into a nightmare.He has become a insect.
The metamorphosis takes place in a house hold with three family members Gregor the hard working son,Grete Gregors sister and his mom and dad. Gregor is a hard working man that takes care of his family and he is also very tired of his boss. Gregors boss makes him feel as if he is so little.One day when Gregor wakes up he is awoken to a nightmare. Gregor is a big giant insect and he doesn't know it until his family starts to treat him like one.
This book was a very awkward book but also sad at the same time. I really enjoyed reading it because there was a great deal of imagery that made me feel like there was a big insect next to me. I found myself feeling bad for Gregor,wondering how it would feel to be treated so low by everyone including his own family.
My favorite part of the book was when Gregor was dreaming of yelling at his boss because his boss made him feel so little of himself.
This book was a great, quick read that left me wondering why Gregor was turned into a insect and not anything else. I would recommend this book to adults and young adults because of the language that is said in this book. I would also recommend this book to anyone who can relate of being treated so small and think so little of them selves. There was nothing inappropriate in this book. But i would worn you to watch out for the language other then that its a great book.
The metamorphosis takes place in a house hold with three family members Gregor the hard working son,Grete Gregors sister and his mom and dad. Gregor is a hard working man that takes care of his family and he is also very tired of his boss. Gregors boss makes him feel as if he is so little.One day when Gregor wakes up he is awoken to a nightmare. Gregor is a big giant insect and he doesn't know it until his family starts to treat him like one.
This book was a very awkward book but also sad at the same time. I really enjoyed reading it because there was a great deal of imagery that made me feel like there was a big insect next to me. I found myself feeling bad for Gregor,wondering how it would feel to be treated so low by everyone including his own family.
My favorite part of the book was when Gregor was dreaming of yelling at his boss because his boss made him feel so little of himself.
This book was a great, quick read that left me wondering why Gregor was turned into a insect and not anything else. I would recommend this book to adults and young adults because of the language that is said in this book. I would also recommend this book to anyone who can relate of being treated so small and think so little of them selves. There was nothing inappropriate in this book. But i would worn you to watch out for the language other then that its a great book.
November 25, 2023
Frank Kafka’s dark surreal vision is given an appropriately skewed graphic treatment. Gregor Samsa’s plight is either a descent into madness or a sad commentary on the transient nature of a wasted life. Samsa believed that all his self-sacrifice as a salesman meant that he was providing for his family. But when he is stricken with a strange transformation (a metaphor for deformity, illness, insanity or crippling injury?), he proves peripheral to his family.
They carry on without him, managing finances, household chores and provender quite well without his help. It’s clear he has become a nuisance, an unwitting terror and a dangerous pest when all he wants is to show how much he loves them. It’s a twisted tale, all right, but at the end, when Gregor’s family shows their not-so-secret relief at his death, you wonder who the monsters really are.
This sad fable of a lost life is here adapted by Peter Kuper in rough etchings of black and white. Facial features are distorted as if seen from an insectile eye and text scrawls and crawls on the page, much like the creepings of a bug. The tale is bizarre with darkness lurking at its corners and tragedy gradually creeping from center stage to a dusty corner and the drawings take you spiraling down into its narrow hole.
They carry on without him, managing finances, household chores and provender quite well without his help. It’s clear he has become a nuisance, an unwitting terror and a dangerous pest when all he wants is to show how much he loves them. It’s a twisted tale, all right, but at the end, when Gregor’s family shows their not-so-secret relief at his death, you wonder who the monsters really are.
This sad fable of a lost life is here adapted by Peter Kuper in rough etchings of black and white. Facial features are distorted as if seen from an insectile eye and text scrawls and crawls on the page, much like the creepings of a bug. The tale is bizarre with darkness lurking at its corners and tragedy gradually creeping from center stage to a dusty corner and the drawings take you spiraling down into its narrow hole.
October 30, 2016
The family of Greogor Samsa reminded me of an Indian family. Anything that goes against the mainstream culture or lifestyle is received with disgust and condemnation. In the end, Samsa's parents are proud of the vanity that their daughter displayed, which is akin to how my parents view women to be. If she is a pretty figure in a family gathering, behaving princess-like and garnering attention from suitors, she is perfect and only then brings pride to her family.
June 18, 2025
I found the graphic novel adaptation of "The Metamorphosis" at a Little Free Library in my neighborhood. I had heard of the original book, but didn't read it before. Nonetheless, the cover grabbed my attention as did the title. So, I took a copy of it and read it tonight.
It looks like this adaptation is meant more for kids. There were definitions for ordinary phrases at the bottom of each page. With that said, I think this would be a great way for a younger person to get into reading classics like "The Metamorphosis". I also felt like there were some great discussion questions at the end of each part.
In addition, I enjoyed the story. It was sad seeing Gregor's struggles. He did what he could to provide for his family and worked very hard. Yet, after transforming into a cockroach, he is seen with disgust and treated horribly. Any appreciation that others had vanished quickly. His struggles were portrayed well and I felt for him.
The metaphors are sadly spot on - not just on a personal level but as a commentary for society as a whole, especially with ableism, inequality, classism, exploitation, and more. We see so many who are seen like Gregor in the world. There is also so much dehumanization (and it's impossible to capture the scale in a book review like this). The Metamorphosis is a great commentary on the injustices that continue to persist.
While this adaptation is a more simplified version (again, I haven't read the original version, but I can tell that this is more simplified), I think it's a good book and I felt that the art captures the story and evokes its themes powerfully. It also has inspired me to read the original version. I hope to do so in the near-future.
It looks like this adaptation is meant more for kids. There were definitions for ordinary phrases at the bottom of each page. With that said, I think this would be a great way for a younger person to get into reading classics like "The Metamorphosis". I also felt like there were some great discussion questions at the end of each part.
In addition, I enjoyed the story. It was sad seeing Gregor's struggles. He did what he could to provide for his family and worked very hard. Yet, after transforming into a cockroach, he is seen with disgust and treated horribly. Any appreciation that others had vanished quickly. His struggles were portrayed well and I felt for him.
The metaphors are sadly spot on - not just on a personal level but as a commentary for society as a whole, especially with ableism, inequality, classism, exploitation, and more. We see so many who are seen like Gregor in the world. There is also so much dehumanization (and it's impossible to capture the scale in a book review like this). The Metamorphosis is a great commentary on the injustices that continue to persist.
While this adaptation is a more simplified version (again, I haven't read the original version, but I can tell that this is more simplified), I think it's a good book and I felt that the art captures the story and evokes its themes powerfully. It also has inspired me to read the original version. I hope to do so in the near-future.
August 22, 2020
3.5 rounded off to 4 🌟
" As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. "
- The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka
The above line clearly tells what the book is about. Gregor Samsa a travelling salesman, wakes up one fine morning to find he transformed into a huge insect.
To be very honest this was an awkward read according to me. It was mostly sad and weird.
But how can you let go of such a read without deciphering an inner message?
So I have two explanations ~
1. This book talks about how the insects are treated in this world. How anything they do are irritating for the human beings. If you read the book you'll get a better idea of it.
2. The way the person who was once the earning member of the family is now a burden for the same. Now if you read the book you'll understand how Gregor in his human form was a treasure for the family whereas when he turned into an insect was suddenly a burden. He was locked up in his room and was feared that if he showed up to outsiders he might frighten the latter. Though I am highly against those who treat people like this but at the end of the day we all know there exist some households that practice this.
Thanks for reading ❤
" As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. "
- The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka
The above line clearly tells what the book is about. Gregor Samsa a travelling salesman, wakes up one fine morning to find he transformed into a huge insect.
To be very honest this was an awkward read according to me. It was mostly sad and weird.
But how can you let go of such a read without deciphering an inner message?
So I have two explanations ~
1. This book talks about how the insects are treated in this world. How anything they do are irritating for the human beings. If you read the book you'll get a better idea of it.
2. The way the person who was once the earning member of the family is now a burden for the same. Now if you read the book you'll understand how Gregor in his human form was a treasure for the family whereas when he turned into an insect was suddenly a burden. He was locked up in his room and was feared that if he showed up to outsiders he might frighten the latter. Though I am highly against those who treat people like this but at the end of the day we all know there exist some households that practice this.
Thanks for reading ❤
March 26, 2023
An obviously classic story so not going to comment much on plot. The illustration fit the tone of the story perfectly and in fact brought out or highlighted certain moments or tonal aspects which I would not have given much attention to before. The style was like a mix of American cartooning and like a woodcut aesthetic and I feel the black and white works excellently. The character design I also thoguht was spot on, especially the father was soo scary. Horror and humor kind of spar throughout and yet the sadness of the situation shines through, the abjection of Samsa as he degenerates further and further shines through. The moment where he comes out to see his violin song, crushing. There are also moments where Kuper really plays with the possibilities of the graphic novel medium, for example the scene where is climbing around his room for the first time, the reader has to keep flipping the book in order to follow the text which also climbs all over the page, this produced a v satisfying effect.
Overall a v v solid adaptation of a classic.
Overall a v v solid adaptation of a classic.
October 24, 2024
The way the illustrations looked was really good, even with the words wrapped around certain art pieces in swirly tracks. The illustrations to the words of the story were actually really cool and well presented. The story of how this hard working man helping his family with earning money his whole life seems bittersweet. But the change from man to beetle? Was interesting, why did it happen? why was it a beetle in his fate? But moving to how his family thought of him afterwords and the other people from his work and people who moved in. They were scared of him and thought he was disgusting. Slowly he was dying and dying without people caring too hard. But once he was done and dead, thats when the tears came out from his family, realizing he was really gone forever. The story within this book is much stronger in meaning, but also with great detailed images to depict the story was even better. I enjoyed that it was also black and white, gave it the darkness i felt like it read aloud.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 23, 2022
Peter Kuper's adaption of Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis is spectacular.
While there are various interpretations concerning Kafka's theme in The Metamorphosis, I tend to agree with Vladimir Nabokov's assessment -- The Metamorphosis is an examination of an artist's struggle to survive in a world determined to destroy him.
Kuper's graphic adaption does not allow for Kafka's hyper-punctuation, but Kuper does make some interesting graphic choices to keep the reader engaged. For instance, one page has to be read as the reader is spinning the book in circles.
Kuper's style of illustration perfectly lends itself to Kafka's story. His artwork is both haunting and stunning. Kuper's drawing of the apple that becomes lodged in Gregor's back particularly fascinated me.
While there are various interpretations concerning Kafka's theme in The Metamorphosis, I tend to agree with Vladimir Nabokov's assessment -- The Metamorphosis is an examination of an artist's struggle to survive in a world determined to destroy him.
Kuper's graphic adaption does not allow for Kafka's hyper-punctuation, but Kuper does make some interesting graphic choices to keep the reader engaged. For instance, one page has to be read as the reader is spinning the book in circles.
Kuper's style of illustration perfectly lends itself to Kafka's story. His artwork is both haunting and stunning. Kuper's drawing of the apple that becomes lodged in Gregor's back particularly fascinated me.
December 14, 2024
So I read this again after like 2 months and I still don't fully get it like I get the moral of the story but only after googling what it was then I put into pieces and clocked💀
Like for me it wasn't clear or obvious enough but maybe it's cuz at some point I stopped actually paying attention to what I was reading 😭
But overall the book and moral of the story are kinda sad but also very true actually. All I'm gonna say is peak times for Greg I'd hate to be in his position 🙏🏻
Also I think Franz Kafka is too much for me cuz as much as I would like to I don't really understand the guy much rn lol. But I'm still planning to read his other stuff like letters to his father and another I forgot the name of.
Like for me it wasn't clear or obvious enough but maybe it's cuz at some point I stopped actually paying attention to what I was reading 😭
But overall the book and moral of the story are kinda sad but also very true actually. All I'm gonna say is peak times for Greg I'd hate to be in his position 🙏🏻
Also I think Franz Kafka is too much for me cuz as much as I would like to I don't really understand the guy much rn lol. But I'm still planning to read his other stuff like letters to his father and another I forgot the name of.
March 21, 2020
Kuper's dark shading and expressionistic tone work well for an adaptation of this bizarre tale. I especially liked the subtle echo of Charlie Brown in Gregor Samsa's belly pattern--an idea R. Sikoryak also played on in his own Peanuts version of "The Metamorphosis." Even the use of different typefaces rather than hand lettering (except for some of Gregor's speech balloons) is effective in this tale of cold and selfish people. The lodgers all being physically identical and speaking in unison is another nice touch. Anyway, overall, lots of great visual choices here; this is a genuine adaptation, not just an illustrated version of the story.
June 23, 2025
Reading The Metamorphosis by Kafka felt like falling into a quiet nightmare. As Gregor transformed into an insect, I saw a reflection of my own fears of isolation and uselessness. The cold indifference of his family unsettled me more than his physical change. Each page deepened my empathy and unease, forcing me to question what it means to be human. This haunting story stayed with me long after I closed the book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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