THE METAMORPHOSIS, IN THE PENAL COLONY, AND OTHER STORIES PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Franz Kafka | 328 pages | 14 Nov 1995 | Schocken Books | 9780805210576 | English | New York, United States The Metamorphosis, In the Penal Colony, and Other Stories PDF Book If you want to know what happens next, go read the story, I'm not sure I could tell you anyway. It stuck with me for years but I never got around to reading anything else by Kafka until now. Kafka touches upon fundamental philosophical and political issues here. The suffering that many see A Hunger Artist A deep story that raises questions like 1. What if he were to say he was sick? I need to watch that. That the temporal shift to a happy future often does not have its own essence - perhaps we have ceased to exist until then. Get A Copy. But Kafka goes on to point out that perhaps beauty, or one of the great qualities of existence is its own discontinuous, within the continuous death-life. Their decisions and actions are heartbreaking, but logical. To this doorkeeper there comes a man from the country and prays for admittance to the Law. The lack of dialogue practically increases the family tragedy practically irreversible. Had Brod complied, it is possible, but I think doubtful, that we might not have heard of Kafka at all, that his status — in English anyway — might be closer to that of, say, Robert Walser, whom, by the way, Kafka admired. Sort order. The finale comes as follows: "Now he has not very long to live. What are our most secret desires camouflaged in what we show to people? His eyes watered with contentment as he gulped down the cheese, the vegetables, and the sauce in rapid succession. Jun 24, Tom Mc Kenna rated it it was amazing. Reconsidering the story, we realize, as so often in Kafka's pieces, that the value judgment with which we may have identified ourselves in the course of our reading collapses under later evidence. To the devil with it all! Before the Law is a magnificent metaphor of the limits we put upon ourselves. Religious or political extremism? I remember standing reading the first page and laughing at the situation and the character's reactions. Another work, "The Judgement" has a strange and sudden turn. I hate mice. About Franz Kafka. The Metamorphosis, In the Penal Colony, and Other Stories Writer Open Preview See a Problem? Joachim Neugroschel Translator. Gregor's transformation adds up to the impossibility of communication between him and his family; they can not communicate with the insect, nor Gregor with too much; though he understands what others are saying. A thought- provoking, sometimes heartbreaking sequence of stories based on a group of real people held Believe in every praise you read from the critics. And what "darkness"? This collection of stories left me repulsed "The Metamorphosis" , disgusted "In the Penal Colony" , irritated "The Stoker" , or bored all inclusive. Each judges and classifies the other with its own truths. Jan 28, Roberta rated it really liked it Shelves: must-read-classics , , short-story. But for the time being I'd better get up, since my train leaves at five. Anyway, by that time someone from the firm will be here to find out where I am, since the office opens before seven. It struck me as such a unique story and surprisingly emotional. This leads us to the story's other major theme, the officer's affiliation with the Old Commandant, whose "strength of conviction" he still shares. But while the machine may enable the condemned person to "see" after the sixth hour, it does not offer him a chance to repent and to survive. At the university, he joined a student club, named Lese- und Redehalle der Deutschen Studenten, which organized literary events, readings and other activities. Welcome back. Say what you will about Kafka - he's flowery, bombastic, difficult, surreal, incomprehensible - he still retains a unique and incredible style unlike any writer who's ever lived. Kafka makes points about the human condition and politics withe subtlety and metaphor, in ways that you need to think about and ponder, to allow layers of meaning to sink in. He slid back again into his original position. Ultimately, neither system can last because neither can meet all of man's needs by itself. The description of the torture device, a machine that carves the sentence of the condemned prisoner on his skin before letting him die, all in the course of twelve hours, was disturbing. ALL of it. Does marketing act as a springboard for it? During his lifetime, he published only a few short stories and never finished any of his novels, unless "The Metamorphosis" is considered a short novel. And just now he had better not for the life of him lose consciousness; he would rather stay in bed. Crazy-good stories! It is nothing short of inspirational for horror writers and for the mind that is open to reading between the lines of some positively phenomenal writing. The stories collected here are those that Kafka allowed to appear between covers at various points in his life — he was the author of seven books, not bad going for someone we are encouraged to think of as a publication-averse recluse — and, in an appendix, three further pieces that appeared in periodicals. This is why the old system has had to give way to the new one, at least for the time being, but this is also why the Old Commandant will rise again when the new system will have worn itself out. Weird, eerie and entirely 'different' to anyone else. I really enjoyed The Stoker fragment, though it seems like it would work better as a chapter of the full book than a short story. Neugroschel does an unbelievably fantastic job translating nearly all of his minor works, and brings out the painstakingly descriptive method of Kafka's writing style, as well as his Say what you will about Kafka - he's flowery, bombastic, difficult, surreal, incomprehensible - he still retains a unique and incredible style unlike any writer who's ever lived. Ever since they got into my Christmas decorations in the garage we have been having an out and out war. I was delightfully surprised at the matter of fairness of it all. The fall was broken a little by the carpet, and Gregor's back was more elastic than he had thought, which explained the not very noticeable muffled sound. It was especially Dostoevsky's preoccupation with the interaction between guilt, suffering, and redemption which fascinated Kafka. My Preferences My Reading List. First of all he wanted to get up quietly, without any excitement; get dressed; and, the main thing, have breakfast, and only then think about what to do next, for he saw clearly that in bed he would never think things through to a rational conclusion. The human elements and emotions are laid bare to the cell-level, but amazingly in very short prose. Believe me when I say you'll be dazzled, you'll be moved, and they will stick with you for years to come. Michael Hofmann did a great job introducing the Kafka-esque elements the 3 Kafka times in simple terms which are easily shown to have turned complex when interactions and conflicts happen and unfold in the stories. That's not a spoiler, unless you know zero things about Kafka. Taking a month to finally finish, the slow progress was a source of frustration, and the more frustrating thought is that Kafka would have probably found that entirely too funny. Sep 15, Nathan Bas rated it liked it. The Metamorphosis, In the Penal Colony, and Other Stories Reviews Human beings have to have their sleep. I hate mice. In the Penal Colony continues this theme of human cruelty and isolation and pushes it to factor eleven. This argument is carried further in the scene in which the officer claims that to collect evidence against a condemned man would only cause confusion in his mind and that there is no need to explain the sentence; the condemned man will learn it best through his suffering. Even the human element within the freed man does not really interest him. He not only manages to somehow capture what it would be like to be a giant bug down to the fun of running across the ceiling , but also the stomach-turning revoltingness of it too - the clack of the mandibles, the too-large body, the preference for rotten food. The place of power where we place ourselves over others - through social hierarchies such as the relationship of father and son and the ideas we develop, for example the supposed "pity" we feel for others, we constantly put ourselves above of others. He represents an enlightened and progressive system, which, however, does not meet Kafka's undivided acceptance as a meaningful alternative to the old system, as we shall see later. Date of Birth: July 3, To my mind, it's inferior to The Metamorphosis, perhaps because it is so unrelentingly morbid. At the end of his life, Kafka asked his lifelong friend and literary executor Max Brod to burn all his unpublished work. Dec 28, Kurt rated it really liked it. For a moment everything remained quiet. His sister initially tries to care for him, but it becomes pretty evident that not only is everyone repulsed by him, but that they actively wish him harm. I tried to ignore it. More Details Both times, the story really stayed with me - though I have to say, I don't think I really truly grasped its full horror until I read it a third time this time in my thirties! Meanwhile, his writing had taken a new turn in with the outbreak of the tubercular illness from which he was to die in The first time I read it, I devoured it.