Metamorphosis

Author: Franz Kafka (Austria), translated by Xie Yingying, Zhang Rongchang, et al.
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: Kafka is the pioneer of modernist literature, and "The Metamorphosis" is one of his representative works. If you want to understand modernist literature, the best way is to start by rereading "The Metamorphosis." In "The Metamorphosis," Kafka describes the absurd plot of a small office worker, Gregor Samsa, who suddenly transforms into a large insect that repulses his family. Through this, he reveals the superficial warmth and deep loneliness and strangeness between people—including familial bonds—in a capitalist society, vividly and profoundly portraying the indifference among people. Depicting "all aspects of human life and its realistic details" in a absurd and illogical world is precisely the talent of the famous novelist Kafka. This book includes all of Kafka's short and medium-length stories, totaling 76 pieces, including such renowned works as "The Metamorphosis," "In the Penal Colony," "Before the Law," "The Country Doctor," "During the Construction of the Great Wall of China," "A Report to an Academy," "The Research on a Dog," and "Josephine the Singer, or the Mouse People." These stories all employ techniques such as symbolism, metaphor, and exaggeration, with vivid plots and concise, fluent language. The stories are bizarre and fantastical, lacking definite time and place, and without clear cause and effect, giving readers a dreamlike, mysterious, and peculiar sense. The protagonists in his works are almost always in a helpless situation, each with their own goals in the strange and bizarre world, but they often end in failure. The academic community has long held divergent views on the evaluation of Kafka and the meanings of his works, with no consensus. It is precisely this uniqueness that has made people tirelessly contemplate and study them for decades, and it is the reason for their enduring charm. This book includes all of Kafka's short and medium-length stories, totaling 76 pieces, including such renowned works as "The Metamorphosis," "In the Penal Colony," "Before the Law," "The Country Doctor," "During the Construction of the Great Wall of China," "A Report to an Academy," "The Research on a Dog," and "Josephine the Singer, or the Mouse People." These stories all employ techniques such as symbolism, metaphor, and exaggeration, with vivid plots and concise, fluent language. The stories are bizarre and fantastical, lacking definite time and place, and without clear cause and effect, giving readers a dreamlike, mysterious, and peculiar sense. The protagonists in his works are almost always in a helpless situation, each with their own goals in the strange and bizarre world, but they often end in failure. The academic community has long held divergent views on the evaluation of Kafka and the meanings of his works, with no consensus. It is precisely this uniqueness that has made people tirelessly contemplate and study them for decades, and it is the reason for their enduring charm.