The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (Free Audio Book in English Language)

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  • Опубликовано: 26 дек 2024

Комментарии • 1 тыс.

  • @sarcasmprophet2423
    @sarcasmprophet2423 Год назад +1052

    The classical embodiment of "Would you still love me if I was a worm ?"

  • @sandeepsingh-we3ub
    @sandeepsingh-we3ub 3 года назад +504

    Hats off to the narrator, who made it a 100 times better listen.

    • @l_______I
      @l_______I Год назад +7

      yeah, he actually ended up doing some narration for baldur's gate 3, wild, right?

    • @Raw_Skull
      @Raw_Skull 11 месяцев назад +2

      @@l_______I wait fr??? Thats actually so badass wtff😭😭

    • @l_______I
      @l_______I 11 месяцев назад +32

      @@Raw_Skull nah, I was just spreading misinformation on the internet, wild, right?

    • @rebeccadavis583
      @rebeccadavis583 10 месяцев назад

      so true! Read it twice and couldn't connect with it. Listened to it once and I am finally understanding it

    • @adamw7777
      @adamw7777 2 месяца назад

      ​@@l_______ISpreading misinformation is one of the most enjoyable activities you can do. Congratulations, I fell for it! 😅

  • @MarkHalberstram
    @MarkHalberstram Год назад +718

    The bit where Gregor drapes the sheet over the couch to spare his loved ones the pain of seeing him, hoping they will remove the sheet, and silently accepting it when they do not, almost made me cry.

  • @AntDoesStuff_
    @AntDoesStuff_ 4 года назад +1307

    People here from english class but im here from genuine interest waking up as a depressed bug with a abusive family sucks

    • @Aldarinn
      @Aldarinn 3 года назад +14

      I think you have a good job and the world and everything except you are a good while at all times thst relate to be a bit difficult for the day yoi and not be a bit difficult for the day yoi and not be a bit difficult for the day yoi and not be a bit difficult for the day yoi and not be a bit difficult for the day yoi and not be a bit difficult for the day yoi and not be a bit difficult for the day yoi and not be a bit 1st sem e ache kina janina and the world and everything except you are a good while at all a bit difficult for the day yoi and not be a bit difficult for the day yoi and not be a bit difficult for the day yoi and not be a bit difficult for the day yoi and not be a bit difficult for the day yoi and not be a bit

    • @pjp332
      @pjp332 3 года назад +8

      I’m here for both lol

    • @F.E.M.T.O
      @F.E.M.T.O 3 года назад +5

      bro same

    • @TheTaquitoProject
      @TheTaquitoProject 3 года назад +5

      Replace bug with garden gnome and you have Heinz Doofenshmirtz from Phineas and Ferb. Am I the only one who sees this connection?

    • @hellrazor9040
      @hellrazor9040 3 года назад

      Same reason bro:(

  • @sierrafarnum9689
    @sierrafarnum9689 7 лет назад +1789

    I think this book is about a guy who forms severe depression or a physical illness that makes him unable to support his family like he used to. He feels guilty for not doing so and the mental or physical illness makes others look down on him, he can't communicate with others and he feels more like a burden than a person.

    • @meursault7030
      @meursault7030 7 лет назад +191

      I agree with you. I think it's generally agreed to be an indictment of capitalism by showing what happens when you suddenly wake up disabled in some way.
      I suddenly found myself unable to leave my house and sometimes even my bedroom over the past year, and having just now listened to this, I can tell you how eerily spot-on the whole thing is.

    • @9000ck
      @9000ck 6 лет назад +70

      Yep and its also about the assumptions, narcissism, cruelty, ignorance, grief and impotence of his family and manager.

    • @joshmoore9068
      @joshmoore9068 6 лет назад +10

      He is a soldier in a coma

    • @shoaibaly
      @shoaibaly 5 лет назад

      👍

    • @emawerna
      @emawerna 5 лет назад +56

      I think Gregor suffered from a stroke on the left hand side, probably non-dominant because he can still drag himself around. A stroke would leave him with severely slurred speech and make it difficult to eat. He is only perceived as being vermin though details of the story are also exaggerated to sell him as an actual insect.

  • @crunchwrapp
    @crunchwrapp 2 года назад +350

    Thirty two minutes in the impression of Gregor I have gotten is a man who is so focused on everything else; work, family, reputation, reliability, etc. that even if he woke up as a insect practically disabled until he learned a new set of cognitive skills, he would still blame himself for being late for work.

  • @SokwanNhep
    @SokwanNhep 10 лет назад +419

    00:20 Chapter 1 Part 1
    24:00 Chapter 1 Part 2
    41:47 Chapter 2 part 1
    1:04:22 Chapter 2 part 2
    1:28:07 Chapter 3 part 1
    1:56:13 Chapter 3 part 2

    • @DJxJE55E
      @DJxJE55E 9 лет назад +2

      Is this the short version?
      I'm asking cuz my school needs me to read it and I want to just listen to it ( im not too good at reading) so the short version is 55 pages about I think
      Long is 200+ I think

    • @SokwanNhep
      @SokwanNhep 9 лет назад +11

      This is the full version

    • @angiewagner9232
      @angiewagner9232 8 лет назад +17

      +DJxJESSE this is the full version. It's a novella which is normally quite short.

    • @naveedwani4982
      @naveedwani4982 Год назад +1

      Tnkx

    • @getjinxedhoe422
      @getjinxedhoe422 11 месяцев назад +3

      Even 9 years later, you are an absolute life saver

  • @hansonwinx7843
    @hansonwinx7843 3 года назад +482

    Funny to realize that the time-span of the entire story, from his first change to his death (and even after his death), the family is still living on Gregor's money, as he had said he left them enough to last for at least 2 years! Dark comedy like this describe human's treacherous and self-justifying nature so perfectly!

    • @noahmclaughlin7921
      @noahmclaughlin7921 Год назад +41

      This makes me hate them even more. They mooched off of him, abandoned him when he became a nuisance, and fucking celebrated when he died

  • @csc626
    @csc626 8 лет назад +1167

    Chapter One 0:00
    Chapter Two 41:45
    Chapter Three 1:28:04

  • @Nikkizsche
    @Nikkizsche 3 года назад +387

    :( that was fucking depressing. Some people die not knowing their worth or living to the fullest while others die in the luxury of knowing that they lived a life and a worthy one. Poor Kafka. If only he knew the impact his books would have left and that he was a great writer.

    • @jeanettep1086
      @jeanettep1086 2 года назад +3

      Well said

    • @ericburow6436
      @ericburow6436 2 года назад +4

      That's hitting the nail on the head.

    • @Official_dotti
      @Official_dotti 10 месяцев назад +2

      Truth is we humans that are whole are not appreciative of wat we have we think its our right meanwhile some people dont get to live the life they wanted

    • @justinradford4858
      @justinradford4858 9 месяцев назад

      Agreed

    • @Boo-dc8vr
      @Boo-dc8vr 8 месяцев назад

      Very well said

  • @OrthodoxChristian809
    @OrthodoxChristian809 5 лет назад +411

    Everyone turns their backs on those who become depressed or mentally ill. They consider your death to be preferable to having you around as you become an embarrassing burden.

    • @deemellott3885
      @deemellott3885 4 года назад +26

      Not everyone, friend. There are some who love us no matter what we are. ☀️

    • @roseredmayne
      @roseredmayne 4 года назад +36

      This story is very realistic because often times people who "care" are only there for the mentally ill until it gets inconvenient for them or when they feel as if they did enough so they don't have to feel guilty.

    • @usernameluis305
      @usernameluis305 4 года назад +10

      @@roseredmayne its funny cause the ones who are there only to feel like they can be relieved from having to do more, will be the first ones to quit on you

    • @randomizedeverything
      @randomizedeverything 4 года назад

      Wtf

    • @thothheartmaat2833
      @thothheartmaat2833 3 года назад +9

      theyre the ones who made you that way by abusing you and telling you they love you while they treat you worse than cowshit... it was their plan to kill you all along as your life insurance payout is their last chance to profit from you once your child support and gov benefits runs out for them..

  • @apdoblackpearl
    @apdoblackpearl 4 года назад +650

    Besides feeling anger, sadness and grief over how Gregor is treated because we can so relate to him, what about the moments when we are like the conniving and entitled lodgers, the unbearable boss, the ungrateful family, the friends that disappear or the uncaring stranger ... the book inspires empathy told from a perspective of understanding

    • @lorishu48103
      @lorishu48103 3 года назад +11

      You mean like opportunistic or mundane commonplace exploitation?

    • @hansonwinx7843
      @hansonwinx7843 3 года назад +15

      The story derives sympathy mostly from Gregor's point of view.

    • @drhyshek
      @drhyshek Год назад +1

      Well said!

  • @Cbear11205
    @Cbear11205 8 лет назад +486

    It kills me that she was like "if only he could understand us. :(" LIKE DUDE YOU DIDNT TRY TO SEE IF HE COULD

    • @AutumnDay122
      @AutumnDay122 8 лет назад +10

      Fo real tho

    • @fiziksisfun5317
      @fiziksisfun5317 6 лет назад +83

      A simple "hiss if you understand us gregor!" would have done the trick! But they never thought to try :/

    • @ElectricPid
      @ElectricPid 6 лет назад +69

      They never wanted to believe it was him

    • @Kickiusz
      @Kickiusz 6 лет назад +16

      John
      How about "Hey dog, bark star spangled banner while hopping every 10 seconds or so and then lap the room square-root-of-nine times counterclockwise if you understand me"?

    • @lorishu48103
      @lorishu48103 3 года назад +16

      She didn’t want to know

  • @lynnhathaway3755
    @lynnhathaway3755 5 лет назад +457

    The narrator is fantastic!

    • @randomizedeverything
      @randomizedeverything 4 года назад +4

      I hate books

    • @tyronebiggums8660
      @tyronebiggums8660 4 года назад +10

      @@randomizedeverything moron

    • @F.E.M.T.O
      @F.E.M.T.O 3 года назад +3

      @@tyronebiggums8660 hehe

    • @kirinyagadriver1021
      @kirinyagadriver1021 3 года назад

      Oh man I hate the narrator so much. His tonal variations make the book worse for me. They're not very good. But that's me

    • @minhlephamngoc7615
      @minhlephamngoc7615 3 года назад +1

      @@kirinyagadriver1021 💃🏼😑😵‍💫😵‍💫🤫😑

  • @gbdeck200
    @gbdeck200 8 лет назад +291

    story was just so sad, he always thought of his family and they ended up treating him poorly
    just such miscommunication
    sad end and they'll never know he cared

    • @chileanguyfleegman
      @chileanguyfleegman 7 лет назад +30

      gbdeck200 that's what happens when people appreciate you for your economical quality and not for the person you are. the bug is the manifestation of how they saw him .

    • @lorishu48103
      @lorishu48103 3 года назад +5

      Yes heartbreaking and brilliant how as a bug Gregor still has the most humanity

  • @kristenspencer8134
    @kristenspencer8134 6 лет назад +436

    This makes just want to go back in time and give Franz Kafka a hug 👊🏼😩

    • @Люськаандалузка
      @Люськаандалузка 4 года назад +9

      Hmm...same? I just like hugs, in general.

    • @preayus
      @preayus 4 года назад +48

      Give him a bug

    • @jarrydhorn7049
      @jarrydhorn7049 4 года назад +5

      I don’t understand the emojis, or at least I hope it doesn’t mean what it appears to mean.

    • @numbdigger4552
      @numbdigger4552 4 года назад +12

      @@jarrydhorn7049 he gonna beat his meat according to emoji language

    • @junlee3515
      @junlee3515 4 года назад +2

      van gogh too

  • @irenefang246
    @irenefang246 Год назад +64

    Sadly, from the chapter 1, even when the family was not aware of the problem of Gregor yet but somehow they showed some negative attitude towards the poor man simply because they were afraid of him losing his job rather than worried about his health. The poor didn’t even take a day off for many years to make a living for the family but still…

  • @gennyyy18
    @gennyyy18 4 года назад +141

    Gregor was possibly going through regrets and discouragement from others as he fills his mind with problems. He might be disabled or had a physical injury. For instance, "It struck him how easy all of this would be if someone were to come to his aid. Two strong people would have been quite sufficient. They would have only had to push their arms under his arched back to get him out of bed". Therefore, this shows he feels like a burden to his family since his purpose before was to work and pay off a debt his family owes.

    • @gennyyy18
      @gennyyy18 4 года назад +2

      Also, as a bug... it's little right?... hard to hear... quite muffled behind the wooden doors as he speaks to his family members... I'm thinking that's his inside voice in his mind... with all his worries and feelings of not working.... he feels guilty? not so sure... this is a theory... LOL

    • @twinklemarak1723
      @twinklemarak1723 Год назад +1

      He was depressed, I don't know how people can't get this easy symptoms

    • @toreq1127
      @toreq1127 10 месяцев назад +2

      @@twinklemarak1723 that wasnt the point of the book

    • @twinklemarak1723
      @twinklemarak1723 10 месяцев назад +1

      @@toreq1127 Our literature professors always told us, "There is no right or wrong answer."

    • @toreq1127
      @toreq1127 10 месяцев назад +1

      @@twinklemarak1723 i agree but in my opinion, objectively more important points can be made with the book

  • @offensivebird
    @offensivebird 9 месяцев назад +84

    Poor Franz Kafka really said :" would you love me if I was a worm"

  • @dudewithaniphone
    @dudewithaniphone 2 года назад +197

    This is a sad story some of us can relate to. The exact same thing happened to me, except I transformed into a blind mole. I spent weeks digging around in my basement as my wife and kids got more and more annoyed that I wasn't producing like I used to. Finally one of them (I don't know who) "accidentally" stepped on me and squashed me, and they eventually found a better person to care for them, although word on the street is the new guy is looking more and more mole-like every day.

    • @jamie.777
      @jamie.777 2 года назад +3

      😊👏😝

    • @jacquelinea3358
      @jacquelinea3358 Год назад +8

      Your mole man analogy reminds me of The Incredible Shrinking Man. That is also a dark tale of a diminished and then forgotten husband and father. It's supposed to end on an up note but I didn't find it cheery. Great story though.

    • @SheGeek78
      @SheGeek78 4 месяца назад

      Oh well, you've still got your iPhone

    • @redginger4224
      @redginger4224 4 месяца назад

      Sounds like maybe the one who chose to replace you could be the problem

    • @alastor8091
      @alastor8091 16 дней назад +1

      Bitches aint shit but hoes and tricks, my brother. God be with thee. Peace and Love.

  • @CouchMan88
    @CouchMan88 10 месяцев назад +35

    The metamorphosis was not just of Gregor into a bug but it’s about the family changing, mostly the sister at the end. Gregor sacrificed his life for his family but it made them weak and they had to rely on him for everything. His family had to learn to provide and care for themselves.
    Gregor took care of all 3 of his family members himself and didn’t complain. Then when the tables get turned the 3 of them could hardly care for Gregor combined and they didn’t want to do it because it was a burden for them. In the end the family was better off without him but if Gregor not became a bug he still would have sacrificed his own life and happiness for his family.

    • @Talktosoraida
      @Talktosoraida 4 месяца назад +2

      I agree

    • @candide1065
      @candide1065 Месяц назад +1

      Finally one actually thoughtful interpretion and not another over-simplistic zoomer-projection take about "depression" or what not.

  • @wafflesthearttoad6916
    @wafflesthearttoad6916 11 месяцев назад +26

    I was gunna make a meme about waking up as a bug and going back to bed like nothing happened after I finished the book, but now I’m just really mad at Gregor’s family.

  • @bunnyskiddadle1477
    @bunnyskiddadle1477 2 года назад +22

    "im only mentioning this incidentally" was by far my favorite line

  • @mariamfouziawairimu7991
    @mariamfouziawairimu7991 4 года назад +106

    Very inspiring.... Eye opener...... left me wondering about my own life. What transformations have I undergone lately? How am I adjusting to the changes?
    How do significant people fit in or react to my transformation?
    What really motivates me to go on engaging in economic activities?
    Who is at the center of my struggles? Who gains? Do they appreciate me as ME or do they just value me for as long as I can be instrumental in helping them fulfill their needs?
    Do I experience a sense of freedom, autonomy ... or do I feel trapped and powerless?
    What support systems can I honestly count on should (God forbid) I be incapacitated in any way?
    How can I deal with loss and grieve in a healthy way?
    How do I communicate my needs, emotions..., experiences?
    How would I react to a situation where my struggles for a system were not valued should I not be able to continue to be productive- at the family level and the community level. Does my employer truly value meas a human being?
    As a helper, do I empower my clients to identify their strengths or do I become a permanent crutch?

    • @apdoblackpearl
      @apdoblackpearl 4 года назад +10

      Your comment is truly underrated. I agree that these are some of the same questions that should be raised or perhaps were intended by the author. I also think that the story is told intentionally a way where most readers are appalled at how Gregor is treated after all he did for them, and it inspires an empathy for his situation and feelings but that can be applied to our lives where we have been Gregor or the family members or one of the lodgers or even the boss or friends that disappeared. If you can feel that much anger towards their behavior or response, would you still be angry after realizing it was you responding or acting coldly, disgustingly etc. Love this book.

    • @mariamfouziawairimu7991
      @mariamfouziawairimu7991 4 года назад +1

      @@apdoblackpearl Salaam aleikum. I expressed my thoughts... You have yours and that's ok. Doesn't make mine underrated.

    • @apdoblackpearl
      @apdoblackpearl 4 года назад +3

      @@mariamfouziawairimu7991 I didn't mean it in a bad way...I really like your comment, I don't know if I expressed that well

    • @mariamfouziawairimu7991
      @mariamfouziawairimu7991 4 года назад

      @@apdoblackpearl It is well. Salaam aleikum.

    • @rosschops9509
      @rosschops9509 3 года назад +3

      @@apdoblackpearl I get it. You appreciated the comment and wanted to assert the same. The sentiment was clear.😀

  • @starkillermarex
    @starkillermarex 3 года назад +91

    I honestly don't think Gregor really changed into a bug but that he got depressed and disgusted with his job and current responsibilities. So, he began to separate himself and slowly died from the pain.

    • @Official_dotti
      @Official_dotti 10 месяцев назад +4

      You dont get the point

    • @maitri_negi
      @maitri_negi 7 месяцев назад

      HE DIES!?

    • @5ivelivesordie
      @5ivelivesordie 5 месяцев назад

      @@maitri_negiLOL

    • @candide1065
      @candide1065 Месяц назад

      @@Official_dotti He got the point better than 99% of the other comments, lol. And he knows interpunction.

  • @leothelion6245
    @leothelion6245 4 года назад +21

    man the monstrosity of the family and society in general!!! the duty and loyalty that gregor feels constantly to people who have done nothing to earn it!!! they way they blame gregor, deny him his humanity- GOD. shout out everyone whose identifying with gregor rn therapy will help

    • @F.E.M.T.O
      @F.E.M.T.O 3 года назад

      human psychology my friend

  • @karismae7812
    @karismae7812 9 лет назад +444

    Thanks so much for this, saved me from reading the story myself for my English class.

    • @queendedo5481
      @queendedo5481 6 лет назад +34

      karisma e you should really read it it is masterpiece in our school we don't have this kind of homework but I read it anyway believe me you won't regret it

    • @jamiepereira930
      @jamiepereira930 6 лет назад +1

      Same! 😂

    • @bethanypaige3785
      @bethanypaige3785 6 лет назад +1

      That's why I'm here loll

    • @daviddawson1718
      @daviddawson1718 5 лет назад +12

      Child, listening to a recording is not equal. This is Kafka, get off your lazy ass and read a fuckin book

    • @adrianloza7352
      @adrianloza7352 5 лет назад +52

      David Dawson ok boomer

  • @benshapirosgreatuncle4060
    @benshapirosgreatuncle4060 Год назад +8

    This narrator is one of the best I’ve ever heard, subtly but phenomenally read!

    • @balls2442
      @balls2442 Год назад

      Yeah you could see the effort he put in, very expressive reading

  • @KLAW.kompany
    @KLAW.kompany 3 года назад +14

    This is the third time I've listened to this audiobook, this narrator is the better one on RUclips.

  • @That.Capricorn
    @That.Capricorn Год назад +88

    This is a story about love and disability, weakness, and staying longer than you're welcomed..
    So heartbreaking yet realistic.

    • @safr4n
      @safr4n Год назад +2

      man turns into a bug and people see a metaphor for love and disability

    • @That.Capricorn
      @That.Capricorn Год назад +13

      @@safr4n Yes. I drew the connection based on my mother's life.
      She became extremely ill as a result of her depression and psychosis early in her life but went undiagnosed until recently. The way people treated this man for turning into an insect resembles the way my mother was treated after being struck with mental illness.
      So that's why it resonated with my life so much and that's where I drew the comparison from.

    • @safr4n
      @safr4n Год назад +4

      @@That.Capricorn thats sad man hope her depression goes away

    • @That.Capricorn
      @That.Capricorn Год назад +4

      @@safr4n thanks, appreciate it

    • @candide1065
      @candide1065 Месяц назад

      What? It's literally world literature by Kafka, not some Jane Austen novel.

  • @motivationandknowledgewths6685
    @motivationandknowledgewths6685 Месяц назад +4

    A man is loved only upon conditions; only if he provides.

    • @alastor8091
      @alastor8091 16 дней назад

      On one hand, I hate it, on the other, I see the logic in it. Truly, if a man can't provide, what good is he to anyone or anything?

  • @Lunar.67
    @Lunar.67 8 месяцев назад +14

    When i first began to read thsi story all i knew was that he turned into a giant bug. I thought it would be kind of humorous. Him anf his family being concerned with work istead of him being transformed into a big was absurd at first, but I soon found out the sheer terror this story contained...

  • @samzeeify
    @samzeeify 8 лет назад +76

    i think Gregor's life wasn't that good as a human being .. i don't know what has changed since the conditions of his family didn't change to the best .. but it turned out to be the salvation of their misery .. thanks so much for the efforts .. much appreciated

    • @lorishu48103
      @lorishu48103 3 года назад +10

      It seems he destroyed his humanity in spirit through sacrificing his soul for the superficial affection of his family which ended up being a fantasy

  • @nearlygodalchemy
    @nearlygodalchemy 2 года назад +9

    Whoever or wherever you are David Lewis Richardson, I have fallen in love with your voice.

  • @bubz4196
    @bubz4196 10 лет назад +503

    I think Gregor was more in the form of a beetle rather than a mosquito.

    • @davidrichardson7156
      @davidrichardson7156 10 лет назад +55

      Close - but not quite - the pic is of a 'Dance Fly' (Empis livida) not a mosquito - Kafka is actually purposefully vague about what type of insect Gregor becomes (in the original German) - the cleaner refers to him as a 'dung beetle' but some experts suggest she is being intentionally offensive or ironic. So it is probable Gregor did become some kind of beetle but not quite definite - and besides, I liked the picture :)

    • @SCP-mg1ur
      @SCP-mg1ur 9 лет назад +53

      Hes a cockroach.

    • @horrorpill
      @horrorpill 5 лет назад +9

      The cleaning lady call him a "dung bettle", while he is interested in rotten food; probably some sort of fly.

    • @every_username_is_taken
      @every_username_is_taken 5 лет назад +22

      In the beginning of the German version, he isn't even referred to as an insect. Some versions translate it as "vermin". But what he does, or doesn't look like, doesn't matter.

    • @deadsi
      @deadsi 5 лет назад +3

      I reckon something like a woodlouse, or that kind of build anyway, segmented body and many legs

  • @meryammizan
    @meryammizan 2 года назад +8

    your voice is perfect for this book omg

  • @nasrinvahidi5515
    @nasrinvahidi5515 4 года назад +35

    When the favorite son falls from grace, everyone benefits.
    Some people worry about people who depend on them, but a lot of times everything will move on just as good if not better.

  • @superutils
    @superutils  12 лет назад +63

    I've read a textual version of this book and loved it, too. And my plan is to upload the classics by Conan Doyle right after the Grimms' Fairy Tales.

  • @BigVorst
    @BigVorst 4 года назад +74

    This book just fills me with loads of existential dread, fear, anger and remorse... I don't think I can stomach to read or listen to it again.

    • @lorishu48103
      @lorishu48103 3 года назад +7

      I ended up crying through the final third of it

    • @4nem0ne
      @4nem0ne 3 года назад +12

      Man I feel the opposite, I feel understood. Like it's nice hearing someone write about this reality and in a empathic way.

    • @ginge5413
      @ginge5413 3 года назад +1

      @@4nem0ne kakashi pfp checks out

    • @jeanettep1086
      @jeanettep1086 2 года назад +2

      It’s a powerful tale but shouldn’t put the fear of god in you. It’s so macabre I couldn’t possibly take it seriously.

    • @roastbeefy0weefy
      @roastbeefy0weefy 6 месяцев назад +1

      I know this is a tough sell, but I read in some David Foster Wallace essay that Kafka's neighbors would complain of him laughing hysterically while he was writing. So, whenever possible, I try to see the dark comedy in them. But yeah, it's incredibly sad and frustrating. At least Gregor expires fulfilled and at peace. He's such a good dude.

  • @dustinbrite2422
    @dustinbrite2422 4 года назад +45

    It seems, in the end, that Gregor(human form) was the true disturbance of proliferation in the apartment. It took his ghastly tranformation to pressure the family to finally provide for themselves for a change. Unjustly, this story exemplifies how vain and selfish people may only be pushed to responsibilty through monstrous circumstance such as Gregor's "Metamorphosis." He was an awfully generous individual who had often made pensive cogitation of his family's wellbeing, a sort of vicariousness that they certainly neglected to reciprocate.

  • @rhobot75
    @rhobot75 6 лет назад +90

    Kafka was direct in his instructions to his publisher that The Insect, Gregor, is NOT to be portrayed in any way, not illustrated. And here you are shoving a mosquito in there. He was a type of BEETLE, a large one, left to the imagination which species.

    • @donaldwhittaker7987
      @donaldwhittaker7987 5 лет назад +13

      Yes. I just heard 3 scholars on the BBC discussing the story and one guy said it was probably a cockroach but that Kafka deliberately made the kind of bug unspecified.

    • @fergal2424
      @fergal2424 5 лет назад

      he was a cockroach.

    • @williamdrouin8063
      @williamdrouin8063 5 лет назад

      Spongeofdoom yes not, it was a big beetle.

    • @gorkemgulan
      @gorkemgulan 4 года назад +1

      Arent all his books published post mortum??

    • @rhobot75
      @rhobot75 4 года назад +10

      @@gorkemgulan Here's an article-- In it, Kafka is noted as telling his PUBLISHER in 1915 his instructions. So, no, not all his books were published post mortem. To quote (see paragraph 3 if you are in a hurry..):
      "If you’ve read Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis in English, it’s likely that your translation referred to the transformed Gregor Samsa as a “cockroach,” “beetle,” or, more generally, a “gigantic insect.” These renderings of the author’s original German don’t necessarily miss the mark-Gregor scuttles, waves multiple legs about, and has some kind of an exoskeleton. His charwoman calls him a “dung beetle”… the evidence abounds. But the German words used in the first sentence of the story to describe Gregor’s new incarnation are much more mysterious, and perhaps strangely laden with metaphysical significance.
      Translator Susan Bernofsky writes, “both the adjective ungeheuer (meaning “monstrous” or “huge”) and the noun Ungeziefer are negations-virtual nonentities-prefixed by un.” Ungeziefer, a term from Middle High German, describes something like “an unclean animal unfit for sacrifice,” belonging to “the class of nasty creepy-crawly things.” It suggests many types of vermin-insects, yes, but also rodents. “Kafka,” writes Bernofsky, “wanted us to see Gregor’s new body and condition with the same hazy focus with which Gregor himself discovers them.”
      It’s likely for that very reason that Kafka prohibited images of Gregor. In a 1915 letter to his publisher, he stipulated, “the insect is not to be drawn. It is not even to be seen from a distance.” The slim book’s original cover, above, instead features a perfectly normal-looking man, distraught as though he might be imagining a terrible transformation, but not actually physically experiencing one.
      Article quoted: www.openculture.com/2015/10/franz-kafka-says-the-insect-in-the-metamorphosis-should-never-be-drawn.html

  • @nasrinvahidi5515
    @nasrinvahidi5515 4 года назад +24

    We can only love the ones we can relate to and if someone has morphed beyond recognition, so sad too bad, life goes on.

    • @lorishu48103
      @lorishu48103 3 года назад

      But In difference be it genetic or human expression comes otherwise impossible out of the box innovation

    • @sudiptamohanty5572
      @sudiptamohanty5572 2 года назад

      Exactly what I hv been thinking

    • @uhhhum
      @uhhhum 26 дней назад

      one of the best analogies

  • @thatonedude7779
    @thatonedude7779 8 лет назад +144

    Now my English homework is done

  • @kroga3549
    @kroga3549 4 месяца назад +7

    So glad Gregor got a second life in Limbus company

  • @thomyoung17
    @thomyoung17 3 года назад +15

    Gregor is Kafka I'm sure he felt like a vermin in his own family with his abusive
    father and mother who always took his father's side. When they take Gregor's writing desk from his room how symbolic of how Kafka must have felt about his art getting no support from his family.

  • @djnima
    @djnima 4 года назад +19

    Has anyone noticed that Kafka himself died in a manner somewhat similar to Gregor? He died of hunger at the age of 40, for he was not able to eat to to throat blockage.

  • @Littlebricksfusion
    @Littlebricksfusion 10 лет назад +30

    Kind regards from Germany
    Just stopping by to give my like and say thank you to you all for posting that story

  • @darryllouis6865
    @darryllouis6865 8 лет назад +38

    one of the greatest books i've ever read !

    • @elliiluce274
      @elliiluce274 3 года назад +4

      Did you and I read the same thing?

  • @nhonho4071
    @nhonho4071 3 месяца назад +2

    13:36 quote
    56:27 quote
    1:02:26 setting
    1:07:26 mother
    1:13:02
    Mother- old weak - asthma
    1:23:59 how father went from old self to new self (if you skip a bit before, you can get description )
    1:28:11
    Grete “she had become a salesgirl” and father
    1:31:33 “father had to report to work at 6 o’clock alludes to gregor’s old life
    1:56:30 hyperbole

    • @beam8381
      @beam8381 3 месяца назад

      taking notes on yt comment😂smarr

  • @SpeedyWinds
    @SpeedyWinds 10 лет назад +16

    Wow!!!! This is the first time, I listen to an audiobook and I have to admit that I enjoyed. THANK YOU!!!

  • @maitri5265
    @maitri5265 3 года назад +9

    Chapter 1:
    Part 1: 0:00:00
    Part 2: 24:01
    Chapter 2:
    Part 1: 41:45
    Part 2: 1:04:20

  • @roseredmayne
    @roseredmayne 4 года назад +28

    Gregor is the burden? He is the one supporting a young girl and two grown adults!

  • @Gaurugan
    @Gaurugan 3 года назад +10

    I stumbled upon Katka from playing Resident Evil Revelations 2, and i've got to say. This has got to be a gut wrenching feeling of a downward spiral of losing that feeling of humanity and wanting nothing more than to leave all responsibility behind to become nothing more than dead in a way. Also, becoming a bug. Fuuuuuck, squash me into a goop splatter if i have more than six legs. This was well written even with just having three chapters, and by the way it ends i have a feeling the sister would have been next into following that bugs life.

  • @sheikaejulius4441
    @sheikaejulius4441 3 года назад +10

    I'm writing a story based on this kafkaesque idea, I've decided to listen to this book reading because of it. My eyesight is quite poor but I'd attempt to read it physically if I could.

  • @superutils
    @superutils  12 лет назад +15

    Chapter 1 part 1 @ 0:00:20
    Chapter 1 part 2 @ 0:24:00
    Chapter 2 part 1 @ 0:41:47
    Chapter 2 part 2 @ 1:04:22
    Chapter 3 part 1 @ 1:28:07
    Chapter 3 part 2 @ 1:56:13

  • @408Magenta
    @408Magenta 10 лет назад +26

    For LibriVox, very well narrated and an excellent book. Thank you! I nice discovery.

  • @brandodavidveracevallos2124
    @brandodavidveracevallos2124 6 месяцев назад +2

    I began to listen this audiobook to increase my listening

  • @justinc5151
    @justinc5151 5 лет назад +63

    Play back speed .25 can be used to torture people

  • @JesterKeii
    @JesterKeii 5 месяцев назад

    I need more solo narration from this guy omgg, i am just obsessed!

  • @reallymusa_
    @reallymusa_ 4 года назад +56

    Tokyo ghoul is based on this story, I see how ishida recreated kaneki after Gregor, I see how both characters live similar oaths qnd I see why both stories are soo beautiful

    • @camiloalonso3709
      @camiloalonso3709 2 года назад +1

      the comment I was looking for, still hoping it gets a decent animation

    • @iggynub
      @iggynub 2 года назад +13

      Damn, I don't see the similarity at all

    • @Shiroi0moi
      @Shiroi0moi 2 года назад

      If it's still not too late to ask, I'd love to know how they are similar, since I've only been familiar with Tokyo Ghoul briefly

    • @sm1purplmurderedme583
      @sm1purplmurderedme583 2 года назад +8

      except metamorphosis is good lmao, tokyo ghoul is awful from season 2 onwards

    • @anyways4438
      @anyways4438 Год назад +4

      Kaneki is simply a bad, inconsistent character (at least in the anime), while Gregor is, no matter how absurd of a situation he's in, realistic.

  • @007RAJKOify
    @007RAJKOify 9 лет назад +297

    he can take care of entire family by himself while they cant take care of him..............what a nice family that even cant clean his room.

    • @reluctantlydancing
      @reluctantlydancing 7 лет назад +44

      I think that it says a lot about how Kafka saw capitalist society and what happens when people are no longer "useful." Gregor can't provide for them anymore and so they abandon him. I think it says a lot about how society views disability and old age.

    • @dividednations44
      @dividednations44 5 лет назад +4

      his family is two old people and a teenage sister.

    • @ericburow6436
      @ericburow6436 5 лет назад +9

      I don't think it only connects to a capitalist society this way. But, it connects on a personal level. Whenever personal changes happen, family lives are affected, no matter where you are.

    • @the25thprime
      @the25thprime Год назад +3

      @@dividednations44two old people who are seemingly irresponsible, hate how Gregor feels so accountable to them only. How true he actually contributed not sure since it’s my first go through and it’s the audiobook so I’m new.

  • @shinobimanexe
    @shinobimanexe 10 дней назад

    Wow this really did kick me right in the heart.
    Human nature sure does have many facets and nuances doesn't it.
    A mans desperate love turned into dogged determination to provide for his family is rewarded by absurd cruelty, and in its wake the family learns to stand on strong, and poor gregor is left alone to watch, as he is unable to let them know how much he loves them. How much he cares. How much it hirt him to watch them suffer.
    The love for his family was so great that forgiving their betrayal only seemed sickeningly natural.
    Kafka's heart must have been full of a deep kind of suffering to write such a tale.

  • @TheBigNate505
    @TheBigNate505 6 лет назад +69

    This. is. so. Sad.

  • @cilerman6787
    @cilerman6787 Месяц назад +1

    Thank you so much! You made the read much more enjoyable and engaging.

  • @camdude6670
    @camdude6670 9 лет назад +14

    Read this in my English class 2 years ago. Such a great story, I love Kafka's work.

  • @PeacefulPeteable
    @PeacefulPeteable Год назад +3

    Hasn't called out in 5 years, becomes a bug, and gets embarrassed.
    Dude. I'd be using allllllll that sick time.

  • @rimbluebooks
    @rimbluebooks 4 года назад +7

    The narrator is EVERYTHING 😍🤘💙

  • @deathdogg0
    @deathdogg0 3 года назад +8

    I'm glad for the translation. I still need to read the original german, but this definitely helped me understand the book before trying to read it in German, which I'm learning

  • @rubenvanbelzen1217
    @rubenvanbelzen1217 3 года назад +4

    The story is so sad, it brought tears to my eyes...

  • @tinabean4278
    @tinabean4278 3 года назад +25

    I remember reading this book in high school. Interestingly enough, there's a game on Steam based on the book and I was able to catch it when it was 60% off. Looking forward to playing it. I want to record it, so I'm waiting on a webcam I ordered.

  • @rational-public-discourse
    @rational-public-discourse Год назад +3

    The Narrator has a beautifully English voice.

  • @moras1303
    @moras1303 7 лет назад +4

    Thanks from Colombia-South America.

  • @superutils
    @superutils  11 лет назад +34

    Please do hit the LIKE button if you really enjoyed it. Thank you! :)

    • @sam2026
      @sam2026 7 лет назад

      SuperUtils Software good read

  • @spiritualanarchist8162
    @spiritualanarchist8162 5 лет назад +20

    **Good old Kafka..Always succeeds to depress…;-)

  • @LokiSin-n3l
    @LokiSin-n3l 8 месяцев назад +2

    The part that really hurt me was at the end. The family had forgotten Gregor only mentioning his name on the apartment they are planning to leave and in the end everybody was happier without Gregor. Gregor really loved his sister saying she's clever, smart and i think he gave her money to buy clothe she like but in the end Greta was the one that closed the door on him.
    Gregor downfall makes his family closer and its sad to see that.

  • @koka_pepsi
    @koka_pepsi 8 месяцев назад +4

    Poor Gregor :/
    I'll make sure that if one of my friends or family magically turns into a giant beetle overnight to be very kind to them...

  • @candyloverthegreat871
    @candyloverthegreat871 Год назад +5

    The book was quite sad, but the part where it said that he scuttled around the ceiling and walls was hilarious

  • @samhyvarinen455
    @samhyvarinen455 10 лет назад +18

    Thank you so much for this video. Really helpful

    • @superutils
      @superutils  10 лет назад +4

      Then please do click on LIKE down below the video player. Thanks!

  • @larncieldarknciel440
    @larncieldarknciel440 9 лет назад +31

    I believe Frank didn't finish the book. the ending was a little sour for me, really, but this short story kept my attention from disturbing beginning to the bitter end. I am definitely buying the book. thank you for posting the video.

  • @nerotoxin0661
    @nerotoxin0661 Год назад +42

    I loved when he said "It's Metamorphin' time!" and Metamorph'd all over the place
    by the way, the Japanese title for this story is "Henshin" which is the origin of the signature phrase of the Kamen Rider franchise. If you don't know what that is, it was made by the same guy who made Super Sentai, which was adapted into Power Rangers in the west.

  • @rainmancw9022
    @rainmancw9022 Год назад +1

    Treated bad by others can make a person feel less than human. It's easy to blame the good person when one's own heart is bad. Sooner or later it comes out in the dawning of a new day. Be nice

  • @camdude6670
    @camdude6670 9 лет назад +92

    Not sure that I share your interpretation of what Gregor looks like, with the picture of the mosquito. I believe that many of the details in the story suggest Gregr to have the appearance of a roach or beetle type insect. But then again, who am I lol.

    • @rhobot75
      @rhobot75 4 года назад +3

      He was very specific with his publisher-- You're right. It is supposed to be undrawn. Whoever posted this did not care to do any research..
      If you’ve read Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis in English, it’s likely that your translation referred to the transformed Gregor Samsa as a “cockroach,” “beetle,” or, more generally, a “gigantic insect.” These renderings of the author’s original German don’t necessarily miss the mark-Gregor scuttles, waves multiple legs about, and has some kind of an exoskeleton. His charwoman calls him a “dung beetle”… the evidence abounds. But the German words used in the first sentence of the story to describe Gregor’s new incarnation are much more mysterious, and perhaps strangely laden with metaphysical significance.
      Translator Susan Bernofsky writes, “both the adjective ungeheuer (meaning “monstrous” or “huge”) and the noun Ungeziefer are negations-virtual nonentities-prefixed by un.” Ungeziefer, a term from Middle High German, describes something like “an unclean animal unfit for sacrifice,” belonging to “the class of nasty creepy-crawly things.” It suggests many types of vermin-insects, yes, but also rodents. “Kafka,” writes Bernofsky, “wanted us to see Gregor’s new body and condition with the same hazy focus with which Gregor himself discovers them.”

      It’s likely for that very reason that Kafka prohibited images of Gregor. In a 1915 letter to his publisher, he stipulated, “the insect is not to be drawn. It is not even to be seen from a distance.” The slim book’s original cover, above, instead features a perfectly normal-looking man, distraught as though he might be imagining a terrible transformation, but not actually physically experiencing one.
      www.openculture.com/2015/10/franz-kafka-says-the-insect-in-the-metamorphosis-should-never-be-drawn.html

    • @thecageofinsanity.6968
      @thecageofinsanity.6968 4 года назад +2

      It looks more like a metaphor for the family. They lived off him Financially for many years but once he became of no use to them, they turned.

  • @someonekilledpharma
    @someonekilledpharma 2 года назад +5

    thank you for reading this to me. I'm supposed to be reading this for ib English and I was struggling w my attention span with reading. this made it so much easier to read along.

  • @bacjam6139
    @bacjam6139 3 года назад +10

    Kafka asked his friend to burn all his works after he was dead. Kafka never found success in writing and his books were only popular because his friend didn't burn them and published them instead. He died thinking he was never a talented writer, if only he knew

  • @ThePaperGhast
    @ThePaperGhast 9 лет назад +34

    :( what a sad story.

  • @feralbluee
    @feralbluee Год назад +6

    what a brilliant narration! thank you so much. i heard the characters of the novella, not you. perfect. and yet, i was aware if your calm, soft voice. i read this story in college and it made little sense to me then as now. a depressed person slowly realizing the penultimate outcome. but it is written beautifully. the most interesting is the change in the rest of the family. that’s worth a discussion. mmm - i guess there is more to this than i thought.
    i do hope you have read other classic works. have a great day :) ⛅️🌷🌱

  • @nimu-chan3888
    @nimu-chan3888 8 лет назад +6

    Oh my god.. My favorite book of all the times

  • @AnonUserAgain
    @AnonUserAgain 7 месяцев назад +3

    the saddest part is that his mom, dad, and sister heavily improved themselves without him. They became more self-sufficient. However, I guess that is only from a perspective that only respects work.

  • @aliciarobyy
    @aliciarobyy 8 лет назад +79

    I listen to this every night as I fall asleep, I can recite the first 39 min of the book

  • @orcaran
    @orcaran 10 лет назад +7

    1:28:00 end of chapter 2

  • @troaaxaltion
    @troaaxaltion 10 лет назад +9

    Thanks for posting this to youtube. It's appreciated. Liked.

  • @ajp4860
    @ajp4860 5 лет назад +30

    I picture him as a larger than life cockroach with a semi human head.

  • @Ad-qt8lx
    @Ad-qt8lx 4 года назад +9

    Thanks to this I finished the novella in 1 night. For Summer reading i was supposed to read Hamlet & Metamorphosis then complete a packet on them. The test for both the books is on like the 2nd week of school. School was supposed to start the 7th then it got pushed back to the 17th so god gave me an extra week to do what i had months to do. I still gotta read hamlet tho😫 & i got 6 days

  • @arijitghosh2876
    @arijitghosh2876 10 лет назад +51

    Well thanks for such an effort....it is as good as to read

    • @superutils
      @superutils  10 лет назад +2

      Cheers! Subscribe to my channel, check out other titles on it. :)

    • @coreleone1
      @coreleone1 8 лет назад

      TTТhis movie is now аvailable tо wаtch here => twitter.com/8a1f0353311c602ec/status/795843792251154432 The Metamoоrphоsis by Franz Kаfka Free Audio Book in English Language

  • @heathercalun4919
    @heathercalun4919 Год назад +2

    Ripe for appropriation:
    "How weird it is to sit up at that desk and talk down to the employee from way up there. The [boss] has trouble hearing, so the employee has to step up quite close to him"
    "At all costs, he must not lose consciousness right now"
    "I must also say that we [business people], luckily or unluckily, however one looks at it, very often have to overcome a slight indisposition for business reasons"
    "I thought I knew you as a calm, reasonable person, and now you appear suddenly to want to start parading around in weird moods"
    "No request of [Gregor's] was of any use; no request would even be understood. No matter how willing he was to turn his head respectfully, [his father] just stomped all the harder"
    "But how would things go if now all tranquility, all prosperity, all contentment should come to a horrible end?"
    "[He] was quite hot from shame and sorrow"

  • @Scuba-Steven
    @Scuba-Steven 3 года назад +7

    You don't have to be a giant bug monster in order to feel unappreciated, and misunderstood. Be nice people, and tell your moms you love em.

  • @rwed13
    @rwed13 2 года назад +14

    I've recently read the trial, now this. Does every main character die in a effed up way in his books? I guess i need to find more of his audio books for free on RUclips, and find out.
    I was upset Gregor didn't get to explore his roachness. I wanted him scurrying over walls at night, finding his new identity

    • @otto_von
      @otto_von 2 года назад

      weirdo

    • @tomatosauce7666
      @tomatosauce7666 Год назад +1

      Haha a comment that does not lament Gregor's morbid fate but explores it with a positive outlet! Hats off for you sir! All in all tho I'm obliged to inform you that the work here mirrors the very life of Kafka himself, the man was suffering from tuberculosis, his father hated and abused him, most of his life he was an outcast from society his sister was taking care of him until he could not eat nothing because of his state, he died miserable alone unwanted and hungry just like Gregor... I too tho have a separate canon where Gregor flys of the window and goes all mimic in the family and the world, thanks to you now, cheers.

    • @rwed13
      @rwed13 Год назад +1

      @@tomatosauce7666 "the 3rd time gregor met, what he mentally dubbed "Slug" he offered it some of his dinner he just acquired, 3 day old refuse from community kitchen trash can. Slug, hesitant at first, accepted it, and made polite noises.."

  • @RajatSaxena97
    @RajatSaxena97 4 года назад +7

    As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect...

  • @rhemmyboibas6020
    @rhemmyboibas6020 11 лет назад +112

    The metamorphosis is a novella..too short to be considered a novel and too long to be considered a short story. Just fyi.

    • @superutils
      @superutils  11 лет назад +9

      I confirm that according to its official status it is a novella.

    • @5starcomment
      @5starcomment 7 лет назад +7

      there are no rules...

    • @tomspiegel5322
      @tomspiegel5322 7 лет назад +1

      Oh. I've been saying "novelette" this whole time.

  • @cristasullivan
    @cristasullivan 4 года назад +6

    Great reading! I was interested the whole way through :)