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A review by elenorpillips
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
5.0
I just finished this and I think there was no better time to have read more than 50% of this book in one sitting.
I'm stuck at home right now and have been ailed with more than just sickness but also boredom. So much so that I finally picked this up again- a book I had started over a month ago and never got around to more than just the first few pages. The entire premise struck me as very odd and since I am only recently getting back into actually reading, I was worried that I wouldn't like it. But I was entirely wrong.
This short story really threw me for a loop. As with any classic, I found myself confused with every page, but this broke the cliche of why most people, including myself, find classics confusing and somewhat difficult to read. The time gap of now and then proves itself to create a barrier of misunderstanding just due to the language and formatting; but this book, thought translated from an entirely different language, was actually easy to read. It was entertaining and the majority of my confusion came from the plot and how it was developed. There is a total of 3 sections (not entirely chapters as each extends over 20 pages) and each one added something entirely new to the story, additions that added more fuel to the existential fire that was burning throughout the entire book.
Being sick myself and reading Gregors thoughts and mindset somehow made this a lot more relatable, though I have not been turned into a bug (which actually would be a lot more preferable to what I feel like). Gregor had a sense of relatability though his circumstances were so farfetched and impossible, but that didn't ever halt his characterization. Personally, I found this story to be surprisingly emotional, especially in the third and final section, and I, admittedly, shed a few tears. The writing is strangely very much to my liking and flowed smoothly from one perspective to another. It was enthralling and I read about the remaining 70ish pages in 30 minutes or so.
This is a story, at its core, about a family trying to adapt and overcome a tragedy within their previously tightly knit family. Though it presents itself as a bizarre and unfathomable tale of supernatural events, it feels so down to earth. Reminiscing on it now is only adding more depth to it than I had initially thought.
This is a true 5 stars for me. It was fantastically written, but also fabulously disguised as nothing but a short unrealistic occurrence about a man who is turned into an insect. Books that can hide their intricacy are the best stories in my opinion.
Do yourself a favor and try it, though it may not be for everyone, it's unexpectedly, but certainly for me.
I'm stuck at home right now and have been ailed with more than just sickness but also boredom. So much so that I finally picked this up again- a book I had started over a month ago and never got around to more than just the first few pages. The entire premise struck me as very odd and since I am only recently getting back into actually reading, I was worried that I wouldn't like it. But I was entirely wrong.
This short story really threw me for a loop. As with any classic, I found myself confused with every page, but this broke the cliche of why most people, including myself, find classics confusing and somewhat difficult to read. The time gap of now and then proves itself to create a barrier of misunderstanding just due to the language and formatting; but this book, thought translated from an entirely different language, was actually easy to read. It was entertaining and the majority of my confusion came from the plot and how it was developed. There is a total of 3 sections (not entirely chapters as each extends over 20 pages) and each one added something entirely new to the story, additions that added more fuel to the existential fire that was burning throughout the entire book.
Being sick myself and reading Gregors thoughts and mindset somehow made this a lot more relatable, though I have not been turned into a bug (which actually would be a lot more preferable to what I feel like). Gregor had a sense of relatability though his circumstances were so farfetched and impossible, but that didn't ever halt his characterization. Personally, I found this story to be surprisingly emotional, especially in the third and final section, and I, admittedly, shed a few tears. The writing is strangely very much to my liking and flowed smoothly from one perspective to another. It was enthralling and I read about the remaining 70ish pages in 30 minutes or so.
This is a story, at its core, about a family trying to adapt and overcome a tragedy within their previously tightly knit family. Though it presents itself as a bizarre and unfathomable tale of supernatural events, it feels so down to earth. Reminiscing on it now is only adding more depth to it than I had initially thought.
This is a true 5 stars for me. It was fantastically written, but also fabulously disguised as nothing but a short unrealistic occurrence about a man who is turned into an insect. Books that can hide their intricacy are the best stories in my opinion.
Do yourself a favor and try it, though it may not be for everyone, it's unexpectedly, but certainly for me.