Metamorphosis and Other Stories: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

I’ve been wanting to read metamorphosis for MONTHSSS, I’m so excited to read this and get into more of Kafkas works!

I just received the book and I must say it stands out. I love the rough cut of the pages! So original. Good paper quality and beautifully laid out.

A book of many of Kafka's works, in chronological order, an anthology of his development as a writer and thinker.Metamorphosis is the main course in this menu - and what a strange and tasty dish. This is a well known tale, man becomes beetle, `the passion of Gregor Samsa' and the redemption of his family, renewed and re-engineered for a brave new future following the death and disposal of "that thing".Beyond Metamorphosis, the book largely comprises Kafka's short pieces, vignettes which can be enjoyed simply for the beauty of the prose or as confrontations to promote further discussion. Some of Kafka's prose is indeed beautiful, but much of it is also unnerving, with very long sentences that feature arguments, counters and predetermined conclusions. This is particularly so with "Josefine, the Songstress or: The Mouse People" the final piece in the book. Josefine's `piping' is examined from every perspective - saviour of the nation, cause of its destruction, good, bad, indifferent, an ever enduring presence.There is also horror in the cold, clinical self destruction of "The Penal Colony" and the psychosis (or is it hyper-reality?) of Kafka's "Unhappiness". I don't know if Kafka and Munch ever met - but it seems they were kindred spirits. From Unhappiness - "I screamed out loud, only to hear the scream which meets with no answer and which nothing can diminish in its power, so that it goes on rising without a counterbalance and cannot even stop after its sound is gone ..." Wonderful - worth reading the book to be left with that thought alone.

All good nice edition

i had to read one of the stories in this collection for school but afterwards the rest of the stories were just kinda there. after reading I would say this is a great introduction to kafka's writing style and other popular works

The paper quality is very good with fairly thick paper with an old fashioned cut. Great cover with nice art work outside and in. Best quality book I’ve purchased on Amazon. Stories are positively Kafkaesk!

Excellent, but the Hofmann translation is a bit odd. Hofmann used "cockroach" instead of the term Kafka would have most liked and what the classic Muir translators used, "insect." It seems small, but I think it's best to honor the writer's wishes, such as when Kafka was given the cover for Metamorphosis, which was of a cockroach, and said, "The insect itself is not to be drawn. It is not even to be seen from a distance." Cockroach is highly specific and is unlike the original German words ungeheures Ungeziefer, which means "monstrous vermin" (supposedly...I don't speak German, so I googled it). I think Kafka wanted the reader to not focus on what specifically Gregor turned into but how his environment and family changes due to his transformation. It's absurdity, of course, but stating cockroach really changes the text and makes you question what else was changed. I'll leave it up to you. It might not be a big deal to others, but, having read both, I preferred the classic Muir translation. (I looked up a recent translation, the 2015 Bernofsky translation, and it was more faithful to what Kafka wanted)I'm not a fan of distorting the writer's words, so I didn't like the Hofmann translation. It was also poorly edited, which was very odd for a Penguin book, but that's a whole other issue I won't go on about. I'll just say there was a mistake in the translators biography on the very first page, a very obvious mistake...a sentence that started with a lower case letter. That set the appearance for the rest of the book. A bit disappointed. The comics for the book are funny though, and the cover art was great (of course, Kafka would have not approved of the cover since it's of cockroaches on the walls).Newer translators are usually easier to read than the older ones, so I was very surprised. I recommend the Muir translation, which is so far close to the original and easiest to understand.

If you're hoping to get the superb Hofmann translation of The Metamorphosis and Other Stories, you must go to this link: http://amzn.to/16u2VrwFor some reason, when you go to the Hofmann-translation book page and click "Kindle Edition," it takes you to this version with a red and black cover that was NOT translated by Hofmann. But hidden away in the "Other Fomats" menu on the book page is a second Kindle edition, which IS the one translated by Hofmann, and that's what I have linked to here.Thanks for reading the brief review, and I hope it helped in your buying decision!