or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
36 used & new from £3.68
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Metamorphosis and Other Stories (Penguin Modern Classics)
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book

Metamorphosis and Other Stories (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)

by Franz Kafka (Author), Michael Hofmann (Introduction) "I heard the carts going past the garden fence, and sometimes I could see them too, through the shifting gaps between the leaves ..." (more)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
RRP: £8.99
Price: £6.44 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £2.55 (28%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Want guaranteed delivery by Tuesday, November 10? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
29 new from £3.68 7 used from £4.26
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover £9.99 £9.99 23 used & new from £3.75
Paperback (New edition) £1.50 £1.50 62 used & new from £0.01
Library Binding Order it used
Audio CD (Audiobook,CD,Unabridged) £24.94 £22.45 10 used & new from £21.31
Audio Download (Unabridged) £8.79 £6.70
Unknown Binding Order it used

Frequently Bought Together

Metamorphosis and Other Stories (Penguin Modern Classics) + Notes from the Underground (Dover Thrift) + Crime and Punishment (Penguin Popular Classics)
Price For All Three: £9.87

Show availability and shipping details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Notes from the Underground (Dover Thrift)

Notes from the Underground (Dover Thrift)

by F.M. Dostoevsky
4.7 out of 5 stars (11)  £1.25
Crime and Punishment (Penguin Popular Classics)

Crime and Punishment (Penguin Popular Classics)

by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
4.6 out of 5 stars (76)  £2.18
The Idiot (Wordsworth Classics)

The Idiot (Wordsworth Classics)

by F.M. Dostoevsky
4.5 out of 5 stars (15)  £1.99
The Outsider (Penguin Modern Classics)

The Outsider (Penguin Modern Classics)

by Albert Camus
4.5 out of 5 stars (62)  £6.48
The Trial (Vintage Classics)

The Trial (Vintage Classics)

by Franz Kafka
4.2 out of 5 stars (26)  £5.09
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Paperback: 298 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin Classics; New Ed edition (25 Jan 2007)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 014118812X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0141188126
  • Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.8 x 2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 11,763 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #3 in  Books > Fiction > 20th Century Classics > Kafka, Franz
    #91 in  Books > Fiction > Short Stories

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

Review

aI think of a Kafka story as a perfect work of literary art, as approachable as it is strange, and as strange as it is approachable.a
aMichael Hofmann


Product Description

This collection of new translations brings together the small proportion of Kafka’s works that he thought worthy of publication. It includes ‘Metamorphosis’, his most famous work, an exploration of horrific transformation and alienation; ‘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 fascinating occasional piece, ‘The Aeroplanes at Brescia’, Kafka’s eyewitness account of an air display in 1909. Together, these stories reveal the breadth of Kafka’s literary vision and the extraordinary imaginative depth of his thought.
See all Product Description
Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
I heard the carts going past the garden fence, and sometimes I could see them too, through the shifting gaps between the leaves. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Search inside this book:

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
 
(8)
(4)
(6)
(2)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(2)
(2)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Metamorphosis and Other Stories (Penguin Modern Classics)
92% buy the item featured on this page:
Metamorphosis and Other Stories (Penguin Modern Classics) 4.4 out of 5 stars (14)
£6.44
The Picture of Dorian Gray (Wordsworth Classics)
3% buy
The Picture of Dorian Gray (Wordsworth Classics) 4.3 out of 5 stars (69)
£1.99
The Outsider (Penguin Modern Classics)
2% buy
The Outsider (Penguin Modern Classics) 4.5 out of 5 stars (62)
£6.48
The Catcher in the Rye
2% buy
The Catcher in the Rye 4.1 out of 5 stars (273)
£4.91
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

14 Reviews
5 star:
 (9)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
82 of 88 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars 462nd interpretation of the Metamorphosis, 13 Oct 2002
By Gareth Turner (London, England United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Metamorphosis (Dover Thrift) (Paperback)
Metamorphosis is one of the most famous works in 20th C literature, and possibly has the most memorable opening lines in the history of story telling, - 'As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning after disturbing dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into an enormous insect'. The standard interpretation of this allegorical tale is that Gregor's transformation from hard working travelling salesman, providing for his family, to a grotesque useless insect that provokes disgust and pity and ultimately rejection by his family, represents physical disability, and society's treatment of it. I can see this in the story, but I read Kafka as essentially portraying his nightmare of the barrier between the public and personal inner world being removed. The private mental life, with its sensitive and raw secrets, its ugly and embarrasing little features, the desires and instincts that we strive to keep hidden, and/or are forced to repress. The bug is the embodiment of the ugly and raw inside turned out, exposed for all the world to see. Particularly nightmarish for Gregor (kafka) is the fact that those who see are those he loves and whose rejecton he fears most of all - his family.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Greatest Writer of the twentieth century?, 15 Aug 2003
This review is from: Metamorphosis and Other Stories: Works Published In Kafka's Lifetime (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)
This book has been taking up space in my cupboard for a few months, since I had to read metamorphosis for my English degree. Yesterday I picked it up again, having graduated, and have only put it down since to write this.
Kafka is perhaps the most brilliant writer of the last century in perception and the way he can imaginatively express his ideas. 'Metamorphosis' is the most famous tale here, using the central metaphor of a man who awakes to find himself transformed into an insect, but the other stories have just as much to offer.
I was particularly surprised by the early 'Meditations' that appear here. The Editor notes that Kafka told his publisher to stop printing them, embarassed by what he saw as his early failings. This view is not born out by the shorts that appear here, each one taking a situation, observing the human behaviour taking place with humour but sympathy. Kafka makes the reader aware of the absurdity of his characters actions, but at the same time we are led to inherently understand the reasons for them. He never sacrifices a basic humanity.
'The Judgement' and 'The Stoker', the latter of which is the first chapter of the uncompleted novel 'Amerika', are strikingly effective stories. Any fans of Ishiguros 'The Unconsoled' should read these to see where that writers style comes from.
Kafka seems to be able to render the uncertainties, and lurking terror in the commonplace situations that take place in the modern world, in a light which every reader can share in. He expresses the inexpressible, instinctive doubts that anyone can feel at certain times. The unlikely situation of the one page parable, 'The Sudden Walk', is perhaps my favourite, as he depicts the sudden euphoria of taking action, in however small a respect. Again, we see the slight absurdity of the feelings this arouses, but see the subjective truth in them.
This collection has reinvested my faith in the sublime quality of literature that appears too rarely these days. I will definitely be reading the novels. A necessity for all literature fans.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
37 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Kafka: a tortured existentialist genuis, 7 Sep 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: The Metamorphosis (Dover Thrift) (Paperback)
Metamorphosis is quite probably the greatest short story ever written. When I read it I always see it as a book about alienation, a theme that was later to be picked up on by the existenialists. This may go to explain why as a group they held Kafka in such high esteem. In the story Gregor Samsa awakes one morning to find that he has been turned into an insect. The rest follows on from here. The change is showing how indivduals can become ostrasiced by natural differences, something that perhaps they are not even aware of. What surprises us in the book is not the fact that Samsa is an insect but more the attiude he takes to this, and the shocking social consquences of what has happened. The change in the a cockroack is simply symbolic of something that aroses disgust, something that we do not like, makes us feel uncomfortable and also something that we ternd to look down on. Having a large one in our house woulkd not be pleasant. This may sound nasty but it could be comaprtive to a baeggar, Kafka though is symapthetic to this and his portayal of Samsa is very touvhing. This idea that Metamorphosis is an exploration of al;ienation is backed up by closer analysis of some of his other works. Here we see people who becpome almost divorced from reality by a nightmarish and inexplicable bureacracy. Read this book now, then rerad it again, think some and then again.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars The Metamorphasis
A suprisingly realistic story with insights on every page to the authers self hatred and scared childhood.

An interesting read and a truly literalised metaphore.
Published 7 days ago by Lewis Carter

4.0 out of 5 stars Predjudice
For anyone who has ever considered themselves to be above prejudice or discrimination, then this is a must read. Read more
Published 1 month ago by I. Sample

5.0 out of 5 stars Transfiguration of the Family
`Metamorphosis' tells the tale of Gregor Samsa, a man who awakens to find he has turned into an insect. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Simon A. Woodhart

2.0 out of 5 stars No Butterfly
One of the classics they recommend you to read but even the better title story is long winded and of little interest. Read more
Published 2 months ago by A. Ward

5.0 out of 5 stars Metamorphosis -Kafka
The Dover Thrift edition is good value. It won't break the bank. I had never read Kafka before and approached this slim volume of short stories with a little trepidation... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Kafka Fan

4.0 out of 5 stars Imaginative writing, good reading
If you are considering reading this book, it is made up of a composition of small, and some fairly larger, stories. Read more
Published 5 months ago by H.P.J.M.

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting read
I don't know all the metaphorical significance of this book, but I feel on the surface that the book is an intersting read, that you want to know what is going to happen to the... Read more
Published 17 months ago by C. L. Heffer

5.0 out of 5 stars Here goes yet another interpretation
Metamorphosis is one of the most famous works in world literature, and possibly has the most memorable opening lines in the history of story telling, - 'As Gregor Samsa awoke one... Read more
Published on 3 April 2006 by Bruno

5.0 out of 5 stars Creepy yet gripping
Although the creepiness of this short by Franz Kafka is apparent from the opening, disturbing paragraph, its true weirdness isn't made clear until halfway through the story... Read more
Published on 17 Jul 2005 by Phil Glew

4.0 out of 5 stars Strange yet brilliant in ways
It was not my choice to read this book - it is a set book for an English course. If it hadn't have been for the course, I may not have ever read it. Read more
Published on 18 Sep 2003 by Brida

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject










i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.