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/lit/ - Literature

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6104286 No.6104286 [Reply] [Original]

I just don't "get" The Metamorphosis by Kafka. I enjoyed it simply for how Kafka writes, but anything beyond that didn't click. Anyone want to enlighten a plebian like myself? Am I supposed to take something away from it?

So far I've enjoyed penal colony, hunger artist, and the trial much more. The burrow is probably my favorite.

>> No.6104295

Nobody cares if you're too mentally deficient to understand a simple story.

Start a blog so everyone can not read your entries there.

>> No.6104296

it's about becoming neet

>> No.6104308

>>6104295
Alright cool, I'll just go make a DFW thread, maybe throw in some tao lin, add some weak philosophic argument thread and continue this shitty circle jerking board.

Pretentious asshole.

>> No.6104315
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6104315

If you understood those other books what didn't you get about the metamorphosis? Its typical Kafka. Try to imagine the story as if Gregor actually just got some crippling disease or something. It could be about how his family using him to bring in money while not actually caring about him, even before the transformation. The guilt of him feeling as if he is just a burden on the family and the way they treat him just makes it an absurd story. Its open to a lot of interpretation.

>> No.6104324

>>6104286
Well, sure we could go on about alienation, dehumanization of the industrial world, dissolving of family bond, shame, etc etc, but if it didn't click 'aesthetically' then there's nothing anyone can really do to resolve that. You won't like everything highly acclaimed, it's alright.

>> No.6104325

>>6104286
What do you think is there to get? Do you think there should be a lesson in the end, a moral? Or do you want to explore the symbolism that may lie behind it?

>> No.6104332

>>6104315
Thanks. That's a great explanation. I guess my confusion comes from how it seems like this is hailed as one of his greatest stories, while it's my least favorite so far.

>> No.6104339

>>6104324
>You won't like everything highly acclaimed, it's alright.
Thanks, good point.
>>6104325
I'm not sure. I'm just bored and read at the hospital all day. Expand on any of that if you want to.

>> No.6106344

>>6104286

Many ways to read it. I personally like the some Camus in my interpretation of Kafka. After all it is quite absurd

>> No.6106347

It's about himself, (Samsa - Kafka) reread the book and figure out the rest

>> No.6106384

>>6104339
are you in the hospital reading it?

>> No.6106387

One of the reasons why Kafka is considered one of the greatest authors of all time is because there are so many ways to interpret his stuff, and all are valid.

A few hints:

"Samsa" and "Kafka" sound very similarly.

What can you notice about the way it's written in? Look at the language. How does Samsa's transformation into a bug manifest?

Pay attention to the sister.

What do we know about the appartment's architecture?

Family Samsa is jewish.

The son (Gregor) becomes a creature that is lower (or perceived to be lower) than him. The jewish family rejects him. Ever heard that story before?

Have you considered that some parts of the story are not true? For example, the first sentence.

>> No.6106450 [DELETED] 
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6106450

>tfw he's a schizophrenic drama queen

>> No.6106458 [DELETED] 

>>6106387
Does he have incest fetishes for his sister?

>focuses on her throughout the story
>talks about his suprise for her even though he is unable to afford it
>talks about kissing her neck
>ends story about sister turning into a women

Maybe he had blue balls like some shit

>> No.6106578

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E9aOuf6eI8

>> No.6106595

>>6106458
no

>> No.6106738

>>6106384
Yeah I visit someone 8 hours a day and mainly read.

>>6106387
I guess I'm thinking there is more importance with how samsa's main obsession is paying for grete to go to the conservatorium. It's one of the last thoughts he has before dying and her music lures him out for the final time. Once he realizes this will never happen he gives up and dies. Then it closes with the happy prospect that grete will likely fetch a husband, now that he's dead. He lived off the fantasy of being her savior.

>> No.6106810

>>6106387
>The son (Gregor) becomes a creature that is lower (or perceived to be lower) than him. The jewish family rejects him. Ever heard that story before?

I have not heard that particular story of I'm so dumb I cannot remember it. Probably both. Can you educate/remind me please?

>> No.6107335

>>6106810

>Can you educate/remind me please?

Well...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus

>> No.6107366

>>6106458
>first sentence of book is gregor samsa turning into abomination
>last sentence of book is gregor samsa's sister turning into woman
>it must be a hidden incest plot

4chan

>> No.6107413

>>6107335
Oh wow, not the guy you're replying to, but I've really never seen that. Guess I'll have to re-read it with the Jesus metaphor in mind...

>> No.6108984
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6108984

Is this a good place to start with Kafka? Or do the more well-read have a suggestion?

Thanks guys.

>> No.6108996

>>6108984
I don't say this often, so believe me when I say any work is a great place to start with Kafka.

>> No.6109024

>>6108984
yes but don't feel compelled to read them all before you move onto his novels.

if you like reading things from a psychological perspective it may be worth reading the letter to his father first, not recommended if you follow 'death of the author' - although in the end futile since all his protagonists are self-inserts anyway

>> No.6109030

LIVIN' LIKE A BUG AIN'T EASYYYYY

>> No.6109044

>>6108984
I think that's the best place to start. His novels are good but his very short fiction is even better. He was probably the greatest short story writer ever to live.

>> No.6109113

The universe plays a cosmic joke by turning a salesman whose life is metaphorically like a vermin's into an actual vermin.