Franz Kafka and his Metamorphosis

From a certain point onwards there is no longer any turning back. That is the point that must be reached. -Kafka

The Metamorphosis

A book should serve as the axe for the frozen sea within us. -Kafka

This short novella is the most famous of Kafka's stories and has defined him in the public consciousness. When people think of Kafka the imagery of Gregor Samsa as a giant, bed-ridden bug is what usually comes to mind. More commentary has been written about this story than any other work of Kafka, except maybe The Trial. Here is some of the best commentary available on the web. Enjoy.

The Metamorphosis and Links to Commentary

By believing passionately in something that still does not exist, we create it. The nonexistent is whatever we have not sufficiently desired. -Kafka

• The Metamorphosis.
  Read the complete text of the story, as translated by David Wyllie,
  in this beautifully produced E-book put out by Globusz Publishing.
• Nabokov on The Metamorphosis.
  Read Vladimir Nabokov's lecture on the story.
• Commentary by Karen Bernardo.
  Read Karen Bernardo's commentary for Storybites.com.
• Commentaries collected and edited by Harold Bloom.
  This site of 141 pages, put out by Questia, contains scholarly
  criticisms of The Metamorphosis collected and edited by probably
  the greatest literary critic since Dr. Samuel Johnson.
• Commentary by Jack Coulehan.
  Read the summary and commentary by Jack Coulehan for the
  Literature, Arts and Medicine database at N.Y.U.
• Commentary by Lincoln Archer.
  Read Lincoln Archer's commentary for the BBC.

Site created by Stephen Anderson for course LIS 650 at the Palmer School for Library and Information Science Feb 2005. Dr. Thomas Krichel, Instructor.

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