Can someone help me understand why this piece of literature is considered so great? I read it and didn't get it. Not that i didn't like, i just thought it didn't even came close to my favorites.

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Anonymous Thu Feb 19 20:22:57 2015 No.6165659 [Reply] [Original]

Can someone help me understand why this piece of literature is considered so great? I read it and didn't get it. Not that i didn't like, i just thought it didn't even came close to my favorites.

>>	Anonymous Thu Feb 19 20:28:34 2015 No.6165690 >>6165659 lol

>>	Anonymous Thu Feb 19 20:32:21 2015 No.6165712 Lrn2philosophy

>>	Anonymous Thu Feb 19 20:33:08 2015 No.6165717 it`s a metaphor for aids

>>	Anonymous Thu Feb 19 20:33:47 2015 No.6165719 The ending is beautiful. Like in anons family.

Anonymous Thu Feb 19 20:35:37 2015 No.6165728

>>6165659
I posted this same thread a week ago.

My take is that he doesn't literally turn into a bug, but gives up on continuing to slave away as a salesman. He lives off the delusion that he'll "recover" and eventually pay for grete to go to the consevatorium (he brings this up in the beginning/middle/and end), but when this dream is finally crushed towards the end (with even grete dispising him) all of his hope is lost. He dies and she is freed from his burden.

Just think the story over again or reread it and take away what you can. I see it as someone solely living off of a delusional fantasy (helping grete). With the delusion crushed so is his will to live. Others will point more towards a story about how people are valueless without making money.

Sorry for my half-baked thoughts.

Anonymous Thu Feb 19 20:56:01 2015 No.6165819

>>6165659
It's fatalist literature at it's best. Just as anything Kafka wrote there are endless possible interpretations. I prefer Das Urteil in this aspect. It's just really fun figuring the meaning out for yourself and comparing to what others got out of it.
Most common interpretation is what >>6165728 mentioned in the second paragraph of his post

>>	Anonymous Fri Feb 20 02:38:10 2015 No.6167048 >>6165659 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E9aOuf6eI8

>>	Anonymous Fri Feb 20 02:42:21 2015 No.6167060 File: 20 KB, 320x180, image.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] He was schizophrenic, and compared the state of being a vermin to his own personal mental illness-- his family saw him as a wretched vermin

>>	Anonymous Fri Feb 20 03:02:35 2015 No.6167108 I dunno but he couldn't have been a very good entomologist to imagine an apple to pierce the hard carapace of a man-sized insect.

>>	Anonymous Fri Feb 20 03:05:44 2015 No.6167116 >>6167108 Maybe not but that scene was hilarious nonetheless.

>>	Anonymous Fri Feb 20 03:12:53 2015 No.6167131 >>6165659 >? I read it and didn't get it. Not that i didn't like, i just thought it didn't even came close to my favorites. clever

Anonymous Fri Feb 20 03:29:44 2015 No.6167159
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>>6167108
>The great Russian novelist Vladimir Nabokov once remarked that "if Kafka's The Metamorphosis strikes anyone as something more than an entomological fantasy, then I congratulate him on having joined the ranks of good and great readers"

One day Anon, one day you'll join us in the sun.

>>	Anonymous Fri Feb 20 03:51:03 2015 No.6167196 File: 57 KB, 640x432, image.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>6167159 >tfw validated by nabokov

>>	Anonymous Fri Feb 20 04:09:52 2015 No.6167233 >>6165659 The unsustainable of relationships build on economic dependence.

>>	Anonymous Fri Feb 20 04:28:13 2015 No.6167257 I don't get it, like how could he turn into a bug? That's impossible lol This book is stupid

>>	plebcore virgin/loser Fri Feb 20 04:31:55 2015 No.6167266 something something gender roles something something capitalism commentary something something isolation and loneliness His second weakest work, the first being The Trail. Short stories is where Kafka shines.

Anonymous Fri Feb 20 04:33:07 2015 No.6167270

>>6167159
Um, is Nabakov saying most readers don't understand what they're reading and that comprehension of The Metamorphosis makes a person a great reader than I will lose faith in this world and all the little balls of cancers that think they are living.

>>	Anonymous Fri Feb 20 04:38:44 2015 No.6167288 >>6165659 Don't worry, there's nothing to get. There's the focus on dehumanisation and being a burden on his family. I'm the same as you op. It's a neat story and I like it, but it isn't some masterpiece either. Same thing with the Trial.

>>	Anonymous Fri Feb 20 04:43:17 2015 No.6167299 >>6167288 What did you make of The Castle then?

>>	Anonymous Fri Feb 20 04:44:13 2015 No.6167304 >>6167270 it's kind of a dumb quote because it has less to do with reading comprehension than life experience

>>	Anonymous Fri Feb 20 04:47:01 2015 No.6167311 >>6167304 Do most people not understand the book?

Just tap those keys and watch (...) Fri Feb 20 04:51:13 2015 No.6167323

I think the idea is that teachers and lecturers can make so many different readings/interpretations of the work, that it's become so well known. I mean it's such an easy assignment to make, "interpret the themes and metaphors of kafka's metamorphosis (eg, in terms of feminism, alienation, post-modernism, vanity bla bla bla).

The work itself really isn't even noteworthy, I mean I expect this level at high school level. It's just that it can be interpret in such a myriad of ways, including ones deeply personal to the reader, that the reader essentially fills the gaps in the straightforward writing with his own interpretations and readings. It's as if kafka (purposely?) gives you a ball and you've got to run with it, personalizing the work and adding your own meaning and interpretation. Otherwise it's just about a guy straightforwardly turning into a bug.

Personally I thought the book was borderline trash.

>>	Anonymous Fri Feb 20 04:54:07 2015 No.6167331 >>6167323 There is only one right interpretation, always, and it's mine.

Anonymous Fri Feb 20 04:54:49 2015 No.6167334

>>6167323
>Personally I thought the book was borderline trash.

Why of course you did. You're one of the many "aspiring" writers here on /lit/ that are so up their own ass they truly believe they could write a piece of literature that would stand the test of time and be analyzed for centuries upon centuries. But of course this book in particular is just "borderline trash", right?

Anonymous Fri Feb 20 04:55:10 2015 No.6167335

>>6167311

imo:

the book is great in how it expresses certain themes
and those themes don't really resonate with a lot of people

i mean it doesn't take a degree in literature to understand that the story is an allegory for something
but it takes a (for lack of a better word) sensitive person to know what

i guess the people who appreciate kafka the most are the ones that have had similar experiences, but didn't know how to express how they felt, etc

i don't think it's a coincidence that he is esteemed so highly amongst writers, artists etc

>>	Anonymous Fri Feb 20 04:55:33 2015 No.6167338 >>6167299 Haven't read the Castle yet.

>>	Anonymous Fri Feb 20 04:55:40 2015 No.6167339 >>6167323 stop posting anytime

Just tap those keys and watch (...) Fri Feb 20 04:58:03 2015 No.6167343

>>6167334
I'm not an aspiring writer, I don't think any fiction I could write would stand the test of time.

But, why am I expected to think this book is great? You're like one of those people who say "hurr you couldn't fucking even do better" when somebody says "x" is having a bad game.

You don't have to be god to be a critic.

>>	Anonymous Fri Feb 20 04:59:31 2015 No.6167346 >>6167343 >You don't have to be god to be a critic. No but you have to know what you're talking about. In this case, you don't.

Just tap those keys and watch (...) Fri Feb 20 05:03:22 2015 No.6167356

>>6167339
I'm genuinely interested in why you think what I wrote was trash. I thought it was valid. It seems to me to be a waste of your time to just say "hurr don't post", knowing that I wont, and without even explaining why you think I should. I mean, did you write the post as some sort of insult? But I can't be offended when you've offered nothing showing I should value your opinion. I mean I'm open to constructive criticism, or is this just a case of your favourite book being insulted?

Why did you waste your time writing yor post and solving the captcha?

>>	Just tap those keys and watch (...) Fri Feb 20 05:04:33 2015 No.6167359 >>6167346 Why not? Feel free to fill me in on what I'm missing, I'm all ears.

Anonymous Fri Feb 20 05:10:19 2015 No.6167369

>>6167359

friendly question:
how old are you?

i haven't dealt with the 'it's just lit. people filling in whatever interpretation' argument in years and honestly i don't even have good arguments at this point, to me it's just something you grow out of

the book isn't even about how he turns into a bug
it opens with the guy who's already turned into a bug
it's about what happens after, what happens to his relationships, with others and his own self, etc

it's an exploration of social dynamics, and the turning into a bug thing is just a placeholder for whatever

again the book is not about the whatever, it's about what happens after

>>	Anonymous Fri Feb 20 05:10:34 2015 No.6167370 >>6165728 So it's a critique of NEETdom?

>>	Just tap those keys and watch (...) Fri Feb 20 05:58:01 2015 No.6167469 >>6167369 >it's an exploration of social dynamics, and the turning into a bug thing is just a placeholder for whatever this is just you filling in your interpretation

>>	Anonymous Fri Feb 20 06:02:56 2015 No.6167478 >>6167469 oh ok didn't think you were that kind of person can't deal with that rn sorry

Anonymous Fri Feb 20 06:10:07 2015 No.6167491

>>6165728
I don't agree with you but I think it's a nice interpretation. The interesting thing about Kafka is that despite the surrealism on his stories, you can always relate to them on some level and therefore are open to more than one interpretation (specially true for this one IMO)

>>	Anonymous Fri Feb 20 09:48:00 2015 No.6167950 I never liked allegories and metaphors, so its only natural that i didn't liked the book.

>>	ΟΥΤΙΣ Fri Feb 20 09:53:44 2015 No.6167973 >>6167950 WELL what on earth do you like then? Also, do you still watch My Little Pony?

>>	Anonymous Fri Feb 20 09:58:50 2015 No.6167991 >>6167950 >implying the metamorphosis is an obvious allegory to something ITT: entry level opinions

>>	ΟΥΤΙΣ Fri Feb 20 10:13:26 2015 No.6168032 >>6165659 Because it is deep and profound in a deep way, also because the writing is cleverly deep, but not in a two deep four you kind of way, but a deep way that is deep without the deepity

>>	Anonymous Fri Feb 20 10:14:34 2015 No.6168035 File: 16 KB, 260x457, test.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>6165659 It deals with the issues of modernity, alienation as one of the most prominent traits in capitalist society. The bug is a metaphor for alienation ^^ (pic unrelated)

>>	Anonymous Fri Feb 20 10:16:26 2015 No.6168040 >>6168032 Hold my baguette faggot.

>>	ΟΥΤΙΣ Fri Feb 20 10:18:45 2015 No.6168047 >>6168040 deepity detected

>>	Anonymous Fri Feb 20 10:19:24 2015 No.6168048 >>6165659 Think of Gregor Samsa as Jesus Christ

>>	ΟΥΤΙΣ Fri Feb 20 10:39:07 2015 No.6168099 >>6168048 Too deep for me.

>>	Just tap those keys and watch (...) Fri Feb 20 11:36:48 2015 No.6168288 >>6167478 lol fuck you're an idiot

>>	Anonymous Fri Feb 20 11:53:59 2015 No.6168340 >>6168048 >>6167950 >>6167370 >>6167323 /lit/, what's up with you...

Anonymous Fri Feb 20 13:02:04 2015 No.6168567

>>6167108
>man-sized insect

If you read carefully, there are details that suggest Gregor's body is physically shriveling to a smaller, more insect-like size. That's likely why the apple is able to hurt him through his armor.

>>6167323
>>6167950

I never understood why the fuck people feel the need for this story to be some abstract metaphor where he actually didn't turn into a bug, or to dislike the story because it can't be filed under a neat interpretation.

Acquire some negative capability, you bitches.

>>	Anonymous Fri Feb 20 13:14:05 2015 No.6168617 >>6167370 no. fuck sake.

Anonymous Fri Feb 20 13:34:31 2015 No.6168706

>>6167266
>something something gender roles something something capitalism commentary something something isolation and loneliness

Are you the same person who wrote a review of Siddhartha on Amazon something like
>something something water something something river something ohm something river
?

Shit's too funny

>>	Anonymous Fri Feb 20 13:37:12 2015 No.6168722 >>6167331 This. I'd expect an inability to interpret on /a/, but on /lit/? We're better than that

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/lit/ - Literature