I suspect interpreting Kafka says more about the reader than the author so here's some insight into my psyche:

Gregor's family are losers. Gregor takes over the "bread winner" position after his father's business fails and provides enough money for the family to live as well as help to pay down the large debt his father's business incurred. The rest of them are fine to let him and sit on their asses. Gregor's father is perfectly healthy, but is happy to mooch too. Then, we find out that his father has been squirreling away Gregor's money on the side to boot.

Gregor works for five years in this manner, never missing a day of work, and the first day he is ill they are jerks. Yet, when the vermin dies and they are employed, they all sit down quick to write letters of excuse for themselves. When the vermin's alive it's an excuse to not leave the house; when he dies they can't work.

They deplore the fact that the vermin cannot understand them despite evidence to the contrary when he hears them talk and follows their instructions (eg. to get back in the room, etc.). Furthermore, they make no effort to communicate with him. I'd like to think if a loved one turned into an insect and I decided to keep them alive in a bedroom of my house, I would get around to trying the blatantly obvious "Hiss one for yes, two for no" routine.

In short, f--- you Gregor's family. You suck.

اونجا، اونجایی که آدم میتونه فرار کنه، میتونه خودش رو آزاد کنه، گرمای تن آدم های دیگه رو حس کنه، توی موج ها غلت بزنه، اونجا، اونجایی که دریا تنگ بغلش کرده، اونجا دیگه آدم احتیاجی نداره دست به دامن بالا بشه. ولی اینجا، اینجا که هر جا چشم بگردونی نگاهت به دیوارها میرسه، اینجا رو اصلا برای این خلق کردن که همیشه سرت رو به آسمون بگیری و دنبال نگاه رحمت باشی.
سوءتفاهم از آلبر کامو

من بدون هیچ تصوری، خوندن یکی از آثار کافکا رو تو برنامه‌م گنجونده بودم و تنها اثری که ازش داشتم محاکمه بود. تا اینکه سهیل، مسخ رو بهم معرفی کرد و چقدر ازش ممنونم که باعث شد به دنیای تاریک اما در عین حال ملموس کافکا، پرت شم

What a shocking beginning.........

Gregor Samsa is a devoted son working as a traveling salesman, a stressful job he abhors, in order to support his parents and seventeen year old sister, but looks forward to the time when all their debts will be paid so he can finally make a change.......... but not the kind he soon experiences.

n  "As Gregor Samsa awoke from unsettling dreams one morning, he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous vermin. His many legs, which were pathetically thin compared to the rest of his bulk, flickered helplessly before his eyes."n

In this weird little story, a whole family undergoes changes that bring about a variety of emotions for the reader. It left me feeling simultaneously mad and sad.

THE METAMORPHOSIS is an unusual read and great classic that should not be missed for fans of sci-fi; and although I did not particularly care for the ending, found it unputdownable.

n  (Interesting to note that within his household, Franz Kafka "grew up with feelings of inferiority, guilt, resentment and confinement".......much like Gregor.n

Arabic/English Review
First read I got the impression; pretty disgusted yet very sad
قرائتي الأولي لها شعرت بشئ من الحزن والكثير من القرف والاشمئزاز

Second read,more emotional & sympathy for Kafka Samsa
القراءة الثانية شعرت بمشاعر حزن أكثر..وتعاطف مع كافكا,أقصد سامسا

READ..FEEL..RE-READ
هي قصة تقرأها..تشعر به..وتعيد قرائتها
لذا قرأتها لمرة ثالثة وأخيرة وكم شعرت بالحزن والاكتئاب

تخيل أنك كنت العائل الوحيد لأسرتك، ثم أصبحت عاجزا وعبئا علي تلك الأسرة
لمجرد انك صرت بحالة جعلتك...غريب الأطوار
تشتاق للجلوس معهم في الجلسات الاسرية الدافئة الحميمة والتي كان يمنعك عنها دائما عملك وتجوالك لكسب لقمة العيش...والان ومع عجزك وملازمتك المنزل, يمنعك عجزك ومرضك وغرابة اطوارك من نفس الجلسات الاسرية التي افتقدها وانت لست بالمنزل
لأن , تخيل, ان مرضك هذا يجعلك منفرا لهم..كالمسخ

ضع نفسك مكان كافكا ,عذرا, سامسا وانت تقرأ تلك القصة..فهو ايضا كان عمله يجعله بعيدا عن البيت كثيرا لدرجه انه في مذكراته قال ان سفريات عمله منعته من جعل تلك الرواية افضل , أقصد هنا كافكا بالفعل
وكذلك تلك العلاقة المعقدة بينه وبين ابيه من العوامل المشتركة بين كافكا وسامسا بطل الرواية لتشعر انهما فعلا ..واحد

كما ان هناك بعض الأجزاء التي توضح ان غرابته هذه جعلته شخصا افضل نوعا ما, فمثلا هو في النهاية بدأ يتذوق جمال الموسيقي بالرغم من انه لم يكن يجب الموسيقي كثيرا قبل ذلك كما اعترف وهو يفكر بارسال اخته الي الكونسرفتوار

مما يجعلك تشعر انه نوع من انواع المرض النفسي , ربما الأكتئاب من الواقع المظلم والرغبة في مستقبل أكثر جمالا..ومن منا لم يشعر بهذا الأكتئاب وهذه الرغبة؟
هذه الرغبة قد تجعلك فعلا..غريب الأطوار في مثل ذلك العالم المظلم
العمل الشاق الذي ييجرد انسانيتك ويجعلك كمجرد حشرة تسعي للرزق

فحتي الأغلفة التي ظهرت للرواية والتي أشرف عليها كافكا لم يكن بها حتي صورة للحشرة, وإنما للعائلة أو لشخص يخفي وجهه


عاما كل تلك المشاعر شعرت بصدق كتابتها ووجعها وألمها
يجب ان تقرأ بالفعل
بالنسبة للنهاية فعلا شعرت بانها غريبة,كان يمكن ان تكون افضل كما اعترف كافكا نفسه ولكنها تظل ملائمة ورمزية..ويكفي انه شعر باحاسيسه كل من قرأ الرواية..وشعر بمعاناة كافكا


Third read was after all that rant in my edition which I only liked a few of it all- It didn't tell me more than I already 'felt' about the story, some articles add more deep understanding to what I've already understand..but some was OVER-Analyze..may be away of what Kafka wanted to tell...

It's very sad story indeed, imagine that you become a burden on your family for unknowing, incurable sickness ,after you've been the sole support for your family....how you've been 'killing' yourself for bread winning to them..now they even can't look at you probably.

I've read Kafka's letters ,and with some of his real life sad story, He is a Metamorphosis himself...I felt it's not necessary a True Bug, it may be a sickness of the long time traveling and full time working, it may be just nervous breakdown or some other psychological illness..Who knows..It's a story about Feeling for me..that's why by my second reading I've felt more like the second picture I've add at the review..

And note that the original 1916 early edition's cover there's no an Actual Bug ,as well as most of the early ones.
*
It's a Story about feelings and differences..I won't spoil it for you But read it and try to put yourself in the position of Samsa, and that's very easy since Kafka's writing style here is very easy yet very classic well written.

I felt how much he'd been longing for warm time with the family that hard work always kept him away of that...and then being sick..

I felt how hard for his family to accept him..how they can't stand look at him and felt sorry for them..it's human nature after all..

I felt how this "metamorphosis" progress even made him a bit better from inside, As when he learn how to taste the music -while he mention he didn't like it before- ...how it made him feel more responsible for his family, but can't do a thing now...

I felt very sad for the family..and of course more sorry for him...Samsa / Kafka..

And the rating is up from 3.5 to 4 just because Kafka's admitting -at the extra in this edition- that:

I am now reading The Metamorphosis at jome and find it bad.
"from The Diaries of Franz Kafka. Oct.20, 1913n

n
Well,first read for me I felt it can be better,although I still felt very sad..but I also hate how was the ending at all,the last 4 or 5 pages after the death,not the death itself I get it but it really can be better..well,his admitting that at his diaries made my rating higher.

Great antipathy to "Metamorphosis." Unreadable ending.
Imperfect almost to the foundation. It would have turned out much better if I had not been interrupted at the time by the business trip.
"from The Diaries of Franz Kafka. Jan.19, 1914n

n


Well,Rest in Peace Kafka, your work has been felt by millions of people..
May God Bless your soul.


Mohammed Arabey
From May 31 2014
To June 13 2014

PS : Since I've read a 200 pages edition of a 50 pages only novel, I Know how it feels to read long rant about a novel, It's Kinda boring..So I've tried to make my review short...but couldn't :) sorry

When I was a teenager, the first Kafka book I read was from my mom's collection, The Judgment. It left me completely baffled - I couldn't understand it at all and thought it was about a schizophrenic patient. The Metamorphosis was relatively easier to read, but I still couldn't grasp the deeper meaning and only focused on the plot. I even felt a sense of rejection, wondering how someone could write such a story and how it became a classic.

It may sound a bit far-fetched, but when I was in college, there were many things in the textbooks that I couldn't understand. Not understanding made me frustrated, and after a while, I wanted to give up. It was my mom who enlightened me. When it comes to reading, she said that if you don't want to stay at the level of "reading" and want to understand the connotations of a text, the author's experiences and writing background are the first things to study. Only then can you accurately "position" a classic. If what the author wants to express coincides with your situation or unblocks your inner turmoil, then regardless of others' comments, it is a good text for you.

Returning to this novel, reading it again as an adult, I grasped many points, but it also made me feel uncomfortable because these points were cruel and real.

Firstly, what is the essence of life?

Gregor is a traveling salesman who hates the immense pressure, his predatory boss, and the ceaseless traveling day after day, year after year. "Getting up early every day makes people dumb." He didn't turn into an idiot but a mammoth bug. “If not for my parents, I would have quit years ago." His life is for his parents and family, but deep down, he hates his job. "But no matter what, I still have to get up now. I have to catch the five o'clock train." Many of his complaints are just talk; he wouldn't actually do anything about them. Despite all his complaints, he wouldn't quit this job because it maintains his family's current status. Deep down, he loves his family. Whether this love is purely for his family and considering them remains to be further discussed.

So, what is the essence of life?

Is it for a seemingly more comfortable life? Material needs are fundamental. If he finds an easy, comfortable job, his salary might not be enough to support his family's current lifestyle. But on the other hand, if life were a bit tougher, but he lived comfortably, and the family lived harmoniously, pursuing a "happiness index," why not? I think this is related to Gregor's (representing those who work for a paycheck in jobs they don't love) "love" for his family. This love also carries a desire to be valued. Providing a fulfilling life for his family makes them dependent and respectful of him. Is this related to his confidence, his status at home, or the expectations his family places on him?

Or is it because society's development has become increasingly distorted, with fewer people thinking about the essence of life and instead mechanically measuring everything by material standards?

Secondly, people are selfish, but often this selfishness is nature, naturally nature.

The story mainly describes a family. When an irresistible factor appears, the family's bond slowly loosens, especially shown in their confusion and hesitation about whether Gregor is still their family. After the pillar of the family, Gregor, turns into a bug.

Father: From still wearing his uniform at home, it can be seen that he cares about reputation - face. He's angry that his once-proud son has become a ridiculous bug, even throwing apples at him, but still has some reluctance, so he doesn't actively say to abandon him. His love for the family is shallow and limited.

Mother: She seems the least selfish. She loves her son and doesn't want to give up on him, but she is more characterized by weakness and indecisiveness. Her love is mixed with ignorance, as she doesn't believe Gregor will always be a bug like his father and sister do. She still lives in the past, thinking he'll turn back into a human one day. So, her apparent lack of selfishness is based on her belief that Gregor might return to being human and their previous life might be restored.

Sister: I think she’s the most successfully portrayed character. Initially, she cares most for Gregor after he becomes a bug, but she is the first to propose giving up on him. Internally, she may have struggled for a few days but eventually saw Gregor as just a bug. Her care for him stems partly from feeling it is her duty and partly from wanting to take on some family responsibility now that she is an adult. Her care isn't purely out of love for her brother but mixed with selfishness. When Gregor runs out while lodgers are listening to her play the violin, her frustration and anger surface, and she is the first to propose stopping caring for Gregor, revealing her selfish nature.

These 3 characters are ordinary family members, exhibiting common selfishness often not seen as selfishness. They seem normal and harmless but are so hurtful after Gregor turns into a bug.

Thirdly, does love exist?

Gregor loves his sister, willing to provide for her expensive music school education. He finds her mediocre violin playing beautiful and captivating. She cares for him most after his transformation, feeding him daily and cleaning his room. To avoid scaring her, he covers himself with a blanket. Initially, it seems like a heartwarming yet tragic story. But no one expects that she is the first to propose abandoning Gregor, making him give up on living. Kafka doesn't seem to express what true love should be but shows that the love we see can destroy things (Gregor in the story) when faced with uncontrollable factors.

The Metamorphosis isn't about describing a story. Discussing what turned Gregor into a bug is meaningless because I think Kafka’s intention is to objectively present human nature through an absurd story. It's not beautiful, but it can't be blamed - it's basic and honest human nature. The biggest lesson for me is not to have overly idealistic fantasies about human nature, not to blame or praise it easily. That way, you won't be disappointed - perhaps the lowest form of self-protection.

I used to describe my approach to life as "moderation." Recently, I realized that moderation is an attitude, not about being neutral and smooth in actions. If one attains the state of moderation, reading Kafka wouldn't feel heavy or oppressive.

4.6 / 5 stars

|| 1.0 star ||

This might be one of the most mind-numbingly boring things I have ever had the displeasure of reading. It’s the most ridiculous nonsense imaginable.

It’s about someone turning into a giant beetle, but it’s actually about absolutely nothing. I’m sure there are people willing to scream bloody murder about some supposed deeper meaning that was going on here, but lemme tell you; that’s bullcrap.
It’s really just about a pathetic dude, stuck in the body of a beetle, doing absolutely nothing but sit in his room (he literally never leaves that house, not even once) and narrate his dull and insignificant life as a giant beetle to us. Oh, and we get a few scenes with his awful and ungrateful family treating him like absolute trash all because he was just so damn ugly, so that was fun too, I guess.

No but seriously. Where exactly was I supposed to find the artisticity, the emotion, the raw message or the brilliant storyline here?? It’s about NOTHING.
If a book has no meaning whatsoever without it needing to be explained by outside forces then it’s NOT a good story.
I know that’s a controversial take and I’m sure that all the pretentious hipsters would want to kill me for saying it, but in my opinion, it should be an obvious fact for anyone not stuck up their own arse. Sorry not sorry

“I cannot make you understand. I cannot make anyone understand what is happening inside me. I cannot even explain it to myself.”

So, this business man wakes up one morning to discover that he has somehow mysteriously morphed into a disgusting, putrid, orangey cockroach.

No, this isn't Donald Trump's autobiography...

Kafka's Metamorphosis played as much to my subconscious anxieties as it did to my conscious ones, like those nightmares most of us have about our teeth falling out, or our home falling apart. I came away feeling like I had just watched a David Lynch film (*see: Eraserhead).

I enjoyed this and I'm not 100% sure why. Maybe I liked it because it can be exhilarating to face one's fears, like skydiving, or bungee jumping, or marriage?

n  n    Book Reviewn  n
4 out of 5 stars to The Metamorphosis, written in 1915 by Franz Kafka. I think most people are familiar with the premise of this book, and rather than do a normal review, I thought maybe I'd question how on earth Kafka came up with this one? It was such a great way to tell the story and teach a lesson... a man wakes up as a giant beetle? (I secretly suspect he came across a huge cockroach in his apartment while in NYC one day). And how do you deal with such a change? Your family is afraid. They are embarrassed. You can talk. What's really going on here? What is Kafka trying to say about life? We're all insensitive? Liars? Fakes? Humorists? Nutty? So many things to read into here... it's a run book, too. When you're a bug life's quite different. Have you ever managed something like that before? No. So how did Kafka come up with all the little things to make it real? I'm glad he did as this book helps you enjoy reading when you may be forced to read some classics at a younger age that don't appeal to you. As an more mature reader, you find all the symbols and beauty in the messages with this one. I believe I read it twice, possibly some excerpts for a third instance. Each time, it gets better. I would love to see a really good film or TV Adaption... purely to witness the metaphorical views a director would incorporate on the big screen or the stage. The words are amazing, but it's what you experience by reading it that makes it such a wonderful book.

n  n    About Men  n
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It was no dream.

Gregor Samsa awakes one day, changed forever. How unpredictable is life, one moment leading to a new labyrinth of existence where forward is the only motion available, our scars and choices following us in a tuneless parade with few interested spectators. Despite our lives being a personal struggle, it is constantly judged, criticized and appraised by all those whom we encounter. Oh, the injuries we inflict upon one another. We alienate and assume instead of communicate, we fear differences and we yell when we should love. Strange how the ones we love tend to be the ones we hurt, or hurt us the most. Kafka’s classic story The Metamorphosis is an alarming tale of alienation and hurt that seems fantastical on the outside to house a bitter pill of reality that has roots in us all. What is most compelling about Kafka is his ability to construct a tale from personal anxiety and injury that broadcasts as a universal message to all that read it, honing in on the guilt, loneliness and frustration in every heart. Gregor’s terrifying tale of transformation is a powerful rendition of guilt and the failure to succeed in a father’s eyes that utilizes religious imagery and fantastical occurences to drive the knife into the reader’s heart and soul.

Gregor lives a life of solemn servitude to his job and, most importantly, his family. His job is a necessity to support a family whose debts accrued by the now-unemployed father are being repaid by the fruits of Gregor’s labor. While Gregor has provided the family with a modest home which he shares with them, the debt seems an unquenchable burden he can never fulfill. In the original German, the word schuld means both ‘debt’ and ‘guilt’¹, a critical texture to the text ironed away by translation that opens a gateway of understanding Gregor’s father issues. There is the guilt at being unable to satisfy the father, to live up to the father, and the senior Samsa is a quick tempered man. Kafka struggled with a strained relationship with his own abusive father, a struggle that he transformed into a literary theme permeating much of his artistic output. Much of Kafka’s life soaks into this work, much like the constant slamming doors he often complained of in his own household with his family.

Despite his transformation, what initially upsets Gregor most is that he is missing work. I felt this sting deep within myself, being the head of a household and barely making ends meet despite long hours. The burden of the working class is to be so dependant on a job as life-blood creating a system of guilt and depraved necessity that pulls us from bed to work despite any affliction; we must work, we must provide, we must survive. To stumble is to die, yet even staggering onward seems just a slow suicide climbing towards an unattainable surface from our pit of existence. Gregor feels this, the reader feels this, and Kafka’s magic has been unleashed. To fail to work is yet another failure in the eyes of the obdurate father, but also in a society that is built to enrich the upper classes on the blood and sweat of the working class and at their expense. At its very core, this story is a critique of capitalism and the absurdities of upholding such a system.

The father and the Father seem united in the character of the elder Samsa. Kafka himself struggled with his Jewish identity, made plain in his diaries. As Vladimir Nabokov points out in his exquisite  lectures on The Metamorphosis², the number three is pivotal to the understanding of the story.

n   The story is divided into three parts. There are three doors to Gregor’s room. His family consists of three people. Three servants appear in the course of the story. Three lodgers have three beards. Three Samsas write three letters.n

Three, of course, representing the Holy Trinity (there are many other important details surrounding three, such as the clock tower striking three after Gregor retreats into his room, or Gregor standing on his three hind legs since the fourth was damaged beyond repair). The rejection and unfulfillment of the father is also Gregor’s failure to be valuable in the eyes of the Father, God, and perhaps this may be the cause of the unexplained (and rather unquestioned for the most part) transformation that has befallen the poor man. The fatal blow pinning Gregor to the ground like a crucified Christ (while this may be a slight stretch, there are other Christ-like references such as the sudden pain in Gregor's side much like the spear in the side while on the cross) is an Edenic apple thrown from the father, rotting and festering in him like our sins until we breath our last.

‘All language is but a poor translation,’ said Kafka, made evident in Gregor’s failure to communicate in his new form. Communication is the cornerstone of understanding others, and being stripped of his voice severs his link to his family and humanity. ‘That was the voice of an animal,’ the office chief exclaims after Gregor attempts to communicate with them through language. With his loss of language, his family slowly ceases to view him as Gregor but as a dumb beast, easing them into letting go of their notions that he is still Gregor. He is now an unproductive, dumb hindrance to their lives and they begin to forget him and move on to a productive life of work and family without him. It is like an invalid aging relative, many continue to care for them out of respect for their memory, but the person slowly becomes a chore or a burden and not a human-being in their minds. Another view of Gregor in his new state is that of a person stricken by crushing depression or other mental or emotional ailments where those around them begin to view them by their illness and not their soul. They forget the person that is still there, the person they know and love, and dwell on the chasm forged between them. It is human nature, it makes it easier to cope. How many people walk away when times get tough, even abandon the ones they love because it is easier to convince yourself they are not the person you loved than it is to fight for them or fight for what was once had. Kafka’s genius is that he took a personal experience and related it as a universal parable with endless interpretations, each unique and equally valid as they blossom within each respective reader.

It is interesting that the story occasionally translates Samsa into a cockroach whereas Vladimir Nabokov has asserted that Samsa is, in fact, a beetle. Kafka prohibited artistic depictions of Samsa and wrote him with an intentional vagueness. ‘Kafka wanted us to see Gregor’s new body and condition with the same hazy focus with which Gregor himself discovers them,’ theorizes translator Susan Bernofsky

Rereading this story was a rewarding experience and I very much connected with it. Gregor was a traveling businessman, and I am a traveling delivery driver. The musings on the plight and unique depression of long hours in strange faraway places hit home, as well as the notion from everyone else that traveling in such a manner is some royal treat. Granted, I greatly enjoy the work and the freedom of being, essentially, a professional vagrant, yet there is a tinge of alienation being a person without an anchor, always on the move, always chasing a horizon. The feelings of guilt, of alienation, the struggles with family, everything range true plucking my heartstrings like a guitar to form a foreboding yet fantastic melody. Kafka is as relevant to the modern reader as he was in his own time with themes that illuminate us with their timeless insight into society and the individual.

4.5/5

I cannot make you understand. I cannot make anyone understand what is happening inside me. I cannot even explain it to myself.

¹ There is an interesting article recently published by the BBC on ‘the German’s debt psyche’ and the cultural relationship between debt and guilt stemming from the word schuld.

² There is a wonderful film adaptation of Nabokov’s lectures with Christopher Plummer as Nabokov. You can watch it here.

Any day you wake up as a cockroach is a shit day.

¡ME ENCANTA ESTE LIBRO! Tengo tanto que decir y al mismo tiempo nada.
Kafka me ha ofrecido una experiencia inolvidable. Un viaje a través de (la que yo considero) una gran metáfora, sobre la importancia que juega la familia en nuestras vidas, la manera que esta influye en nuestras elecciones laborales aunque no nos guste demasiado lo que tenemos en la mesa y como esta misma mesa puede voltear en nuestra contra cuando tomamos una decisión que no parece ser la correcta.

Como ya dije, una gran metáfora con una final que me hizo rabiar y llorar por un par de horas. Quien no haya leído aún a Kafka, se está perdiendo de un grande.