The Metamorphosis and Other Stories
'When Gregor Samsa woke one morning from uneasy dreams, he found himself transformed into some kind of monstrous vermin.' With a bewildering blend of the everyday and the fantastical, Kafka thus begins his most famous short story, The Metamorphosis. A commercial traveller is unexpectedly freed from his dreary job by his inexplicable transformation into an insect, which drastically alters his relationship with his family. Kafka considered publishing it with two of the stories included here in a volume to be called Punishments. The Judgement also concerns family tensions, when a power struggle between father and son ends with the father passing an enigmatic judgement on the helpless son. The third story, In the Penal Colony, explores questions of power, justice, punishment, and the meaning of pain in a colonial setting. These three stories are flanked by two very different works. Meditation, the first book Kafka published, consists of light, whimsical, often poignant mood-pictures, while in the autobiographical Letter to his Father, Kafka analyses his difficult relationship in forensic and devastating detail. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.— Google Books
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CONTENTS Biographical Preface Introduction Note on the Text Note on the Translation Select Bibliography A Chronology of Franz Kafka MEDITATION Children on the Highway Unmasking a Confidence-Man The Sudden Stroll Decisions The Trip to the Mountains The Bachelor's Distress The Small Businessman Gazing Out Idly The Way Home The Runners The Passenger Dresses The Rebuff For Gentleman-Riders to Think About The Window on to the Street Wish to Become a Red Indian Trees Unhappiness THE JUDGEMENT THE METAMORPHOSIS IN THE PENAL COLONY LETTER TO HIS FATHER Explanatory Notes
Contains
Short Works (2)
“In der Strafkolonie” [“In the Penal Colony”]
“Das Urteil” [“The Judgment”]
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