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Monday, June 26, 2017

The Metamorphosis - Recap

Yesterday, I was reading a comic caper written by a debutant author on Juggernaut Books. The book was okay except I failed to get intimate to any of the characters. The humour was mostly in the form of punchlines, often delivered without an effect.

I got bored.

I decided that I am not under oath to finish this book right now though I will finish it, eventually. But not today.

Reading The Metamorphosis was on my mind for a long time. Three months to be exact and I'd made at least three attempts to get past the first page, and I failed.

A week back, I saw, it was about only eighty-four pages, and I thought Eighty-Four pages! This could be easy and I could tick off one more reading goal on Goodreads. It is a different matter that I am yet to declare my reading goals, publicly.

So, I embarked upon the journey to read about a Salesman Gregor Samsa who was morphed into a beetle, overnight.

Kafka doesn't delve into the reason of transformation of  Gregor Samsa, but as a reader, I felt compelled to know the reason of this sudden transformation. Based on the information available, I'd two deductions -- either he drank a portion at a shady tavern, or a bug bit him at some textile company.

Unlike me, the reasons of Gregor's condition were the least of the concern for the author and his protagonist. To them, their major concern was that it would be impossible for Georg who is the sole breadwinner, to conduct his duties for the family in the form of a bug.

Slowly, I started enjoying adventures of the vermin that was Gregor Samsa.  His attempts to open the doors of his room which he bolted on the previous night, out of habit, were hilarious to say least.

On two occasions, he babbles out throwing the reader into a fit and scaring away the chief clerk of the company. The world - his sister, father, and mother, and the chief clerk cannot hear him anymore. His words are eerie squeals to them.

At this point, I felt Kafka loved to tease his readers and I also felt that this man knows humour.

GregorSamsa was confined his room, his sister was the only one who attempts to understand him. His father and mother have been left bewildered.

His father has also been left with the important matter of dealing with the finances in the present condition.

Visibly, the family is stressed and worried but they hope that someday Gregor will transform back into a human.

For three months, Gregor Samsa witnesses his family's financial and emotional suffering and regrets his inability to do anything about it.

After a while, Gregor begins to enjoy his life as a bug. His office work, his travel rumination, the chief clerk, all of them become a distant memory to him.

On the other hand, with time becomes difficult for the family to comprehend that Gregor could come back.

Layer upon layer, Kafka digs into the mindset of Samsa household, their feelings and response to the events. As a reader, I devoured these relationships struggle and transformation.

Surprising among these are his dad's transformation.

In a world, which widely divides itself over smallest of reasons, Kafka's hundred-year-old novella brings out the harsh realities of relationships, which ironically aren't different across the globe.

Upon finishing the novel I felt light. I felt there's this another dimension in which I could walk. I felt I am drugged.

I wanted more!

TL;DR - The blogger thinks that the was a literary genius and people must read him.
You can read the book for free here.