Customer Reviews

The Metamorphosis: Literary Touchstone

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This is a short, disturbing story that haunts the reader long after the book is closed. What is more horrifying, the opening of the story or its rather baffling conclusion? It depends on when you read it. At 13, when I first came across this short story in a collection of Victorian horror stories, I thought the opening was nothing short of brilliant. As the story progressed, I became more and more disenchanted until I reached what I thought was an unsatisfactory and ridiculous conclusion.

Thirty-five years later for my second go-around, I understand what makes this truly a horror story. I still stick with my teenaged impression of the story's opening pages: positively brilliant, ingenious! Now, however, I understand the ending, and it is far more disturbing. Without giving away the ending, Kafka puts his finger on how we treat people of certain populations (think senior citizens, for example) in modern society.

Read The Metamorphosis because by reading a classic such as this, you are expanding your mind, and you will encourage thinking in your day-to-day life -- this is a worthy endeavor on its own. You will surprise yourself by discovering that this classic, however disturbing, is eminently readable. You'll probably find this true of many classics.
The Metamorphosis

Kafka's masterpiece its a wonderful tale of sorrow and melancholy.
A theme of a coming of age and the interpersonal damages of a family cursed by the sudden change of their son.

Existentialism and surrealism at its finest.

I loved this book, and i particularly loved the indents where they explained the symbolism and details on the language and the translations Other wise i would have missed.

Literary touchstone has made this classic a better read for people of our generation