Metamorphosis

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1900s
1900s literature
20th
20th century
A01=Franz Kafka
absurdism
absurdist
Author_Franz Kafka
Category=FBC
Category=FYC
Category=FYT
century
classic
classic literature
czech
czech literature
eq_anthologies-novellas-short-stories
eq_bestseller
eq_classics
eq_fiction
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
existentialist
forthcoming
german
german classic
german literature
horror
jewish
jewish literature
kafkaesque
literature
novella
overwork
persecution
prague
short
short story
story

Product details

  • ISBN 9781035072378
  • Dimensions: 93 x 150mm
  • Publication Date: 17 Sep 2026
  • Publisher: Pan Macmillan
  • Publication City/Country: GB
  • Product Form: Hardback
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The strange, captivating story of transformation and despair. This renowned twentieth-century German literary classic is now published in a new translation by Shaun Whiteside.

Gregor Samsa, a dedicated and hard-working travelling salesman, awakes one morning to a horrific realization. He finds himself changed beyond recognition. Insect-like, enormous and completely disorientated, he cowers in his bedroom, desperate to escape this nightmare.

Gregor’s cruel boss and his family are appalled. Formerly the only breadwinner, Gregor is shut in his room and is all but abandoned by his household, with only his sister bothering to bring him scraps of food. As days turn into months, tensions rise in the house; and eventually Gregor’s family abandon him completely, leaving him to fend for himself.

Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library, a series of stunning, pocket-sized classics, bound in cloth with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition of The Metamorphosis includes an introduction by academic Karolina Watroba.

Born in Prague in 1883, the son of a self-made Jewish merchant, Franz Kafka trained as a lawyer and worked in insurance. He published little during his lifetime and lived his life in relative obscurity. He was forced to retire from work in 1917 after being diagnosed with tuberculosis, a debilitating illness which dogged his final years. When he died in 1924 he bequeathed the – mainly unfinished – manuscripts of his novels, stories, letters and diaries to a friend, the writer Max Brod, with the strict instruction that they should be destroyed. Brod ignored Kafka’s wishes and organized the publication of his work, including The Trial, which appeared in 1925. It is through Brod’s efforts that Kafka is now regarded as one of the greatest novelists of the twentieth century.

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