Metamorphosis and Other StoriesMetamorphosis and Other StoriesMetamorphosis is one of the most terrifying stories ever written. A man wakes up one morning to find himself transformed into a giant insect. Kafka describes the reactions of his family - at first horrified, then kind, wrathful, despising, and finally negligent. This haunting parable on human reaction to suffering and disease has already become a classic.
Other stories in this volume, which contains the best of Kafka's short stories, are The Great Wall of China, Investigations of a Dog, The Burrow, In the Penal Colony, and The Giant Mole.
Having finished this book, I thinking I may finally be getting a feel as to what the term Kafka-esque means, but don't ask me to explain it.
Kafka, in my opinion, that being the only one I am capable of giving, is a bit weird, right? Perhaps weird is the wrong word, unusual, or different, interesting perhaps, or even unique (though I seriously doubt the validity of the latter) may all be more appropriate, but for the sake of argument, or lack thereof, let me choose weird. To tell a story of a man who changes in to an insect for no logical, rational, or perceptible reason, has to be classed as being at least slightly weird, surely?
Starting with that story, to be perfectly frank, the opening sentence of Metamorphosis had to have been one of the greatest let-downs ever...
As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.
It seems too cheap and bland, totally incompatible with the rest of the story, which seems never to be forced, and perhaps forever flowing; and that, to me, is what these stories show, that no matter how unbelievable the story, or bizarre the premise, the story seems to flow with a certain ease, that is admirable. The Burrow for instance, is perhaps one of the last things many people would think of when writing a short-story, and yet the way it flows, and you feel you understand the logic and feelings that seem to ease from the character, and then, as I assume is meant, these flowing words erode the surface and we get in to the meaning, we see analogies with 'reality,' if I dare use that word in any true sense. We relate not specifically to the exact instances, but to the generalities of life as a whole.
However, despite my seeing this existence of depth, I fail really to get involved with the stories, that is except two, Metamorphosis, which, after the initial stumble, is a truly fascinating work, and the equally disturbing In the Penal Colony. That is not to say I failed to enjoy the others, The Great Wall of China had a certain truth and beauty to it, Investigations of a Dog was simply rather curious, and yet perhaps this and ...Great Wall... had the most accessibly quotable passages. And as for The Giant Mole it really seemed to evoke anything within me, and could be seen as to let the side down, despite seeming perfectly logical in it's progression, it never really got going to anything more than a slow trot, and then frittered out.
Score 8/10
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