The Metamorphosis is one of the most analyzed stories in history, but still, you can't read it without wondering, What's this story about? Obviously it's a lot more than just an insect fantasy. I suspect Kafka was making fun of bourgeois [middle-class] values and life. This is why the literary establishment loves it so, because it challenges and provokes, it runs counter to the tides of prevailing culture (although mainstream now). The book itself can be seen as an insect.

Listened via the wonderful LibriVox edition by David Barnes. ( )

I read that Kafka should be tackled before Camus. I believe it is true. ( )

This book is an interesting twist on a classic short story. It is presented here as a graphic novel. The textual adaptation is well done and quite faithful to the original. The dark, moody drawings add to the gloomy atmosphere of the narrative. However, in some of the scenes, the sister is depicted as seeming a lot angrier and aggressive than I recall her being in the original story (although I did read that some five years ago now, so perhaps I am remembering incorrectly). Also, the beginning pictorial representations of Gregor as an insect seem more comic than I would have hoped for given the pathos of this story. However, as the story goes on and Gregor’s condition worsens, the resulting drawings of the insect Gregor do look more lamentable so that makes up for the cartoonish beetle we see in the beginning. ( )

http://www.bostonbibliophile.com/2009... ( )

The book that started it all. Possibly even more influential in the horror genre than Lovecraft. Awkward at times but deeply unsettling and seminal. ( )