The Transformation (Metamorphosis) and Other Stories: Works Published During Kafka's Lifetime (Classic, 20th-Century, Penguin) [Paperback]

Franz Kafka (Author), Malcolm Pasley (Editor, Translator)

Book Description

Series: Classic, 20th-Century, Penguin | Publication Date: March 1, 1995

A companion volume to "The Great Wall of China and Other Short Works", these new translations bring together the small proportion of Kafka's works that he thought worthy of publication. This volume contains his most famous story. "The Transformation", more popularly known as "Metamorphosis". Other works include "Meditation", a collection of his earlier studies; "The Judgement", written in a single night of frenzied creativity; "The Stoker", the first chapter of a novel set in America; and, "A Fasting Artist", a collection of stories written towards the end of Kafka's life. There is also a fascinating occasional piece, "The Aeroplanes at Brescia", Kafka's eye-witness account of an air display in 1909. Taken together, these stories reveal the breadth of Kafka's literary vision and the extraordinary imaginative depth of his thought.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (March 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140184783
• ISBN-13: 978-0140184785
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 4.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #230,310 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The works of Kafka published in his lifetime, October 30, 2005

By 

Shalom Freedman "Shalom Freedman" (Jerusalem,Israel) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Transformation (Metamorphosis) and Other Stories: Works Published During Kafka's Lifetime (Classic, 20th-Century, Penguin) (Paperback)

This volume contains the works of Kafka published in his lifetime: The Metamorphosis, Meditation, The Stoker, The Judgment, The Hunger(Fasting)Artist, Airplanes of Brescia.
One of the pieces, the Metamorphosis (In this volume called ,"Transformation") is one of Kafka's most famous work. Gregor Samsa who woke one day to discover himself to be a crawling creature, and whose plight as insect is taken to be the family situation of Kafka is one of the major characters of twentieth - century Literature.
Kafka disturbs, and brings us to a level of fear and anxiety perhaps no other writer can. How he does this with sentences of incredible beauty is both chilling and mysterious.
His work is parabolic, symbolic and seems to suggest to us more about the imprisoned and lost situation of Mankind than we would somehow really like to know.
Perhaps reading him is not for everyone.
But for those ready to bear the uncanny weight of literary beauty this is the answer.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Suicide, Transformation Into a Bug, Torture: Standard Kafka Stuff, July 23, 2006

By 

J. E. Robinson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Transformation (Metamorphosis) and Other Stories: Works Published During Kafka's Lifetime (Classic, 20th-Century, Penguin) (Paperback)

Woops, I gave away the plots!

This contains the best and most interesting short stories, including "The Stoker." Also, it has his best and most innovative work "Transformation" or "Metamorphosis." "The Stoker" became chapter one of his book "Amerika." It is a less traumatic and scarry story than most of Kafka's works - including most of the stories in the present collection. By the way, they are not all scarry or dark, but being "dark" is a Kafka theme running through many of his works.

The present book is a mixture of short and long works. The short works cover a huge range of subjects from very simple to gruesome. One has to be a little bit carefully in selecting a Kafka collection because not everyone is equal. Some are just 200 pages long. This is a bit longer.

The three main stories are dark stories - all in the Kafka tradition. Without giving away the plot details, some will find "The Penal Colony" a bit hard to digest. Similarly, The Judgement is a dark tale.

My favourites in this group are "Metamorphosis" and "The Stoker." After reading the latter book, I read Kafka's "Amerika" and felt a certain disappointment. "The Stoker" is the best part of that longer novel "Amerika."

Anyone reading this book should follow up and read one of Kafka's longer works to obtain a better overall understanding of his writings. I thought that "The Castle" was his best novel and the most interesting work, followed by the unfinished and more complicated "The Trial." His other novel "Amerika" is far behind the other two, and if you read "The Stoker" there is no need to waste time reading that novel.