The Metamorphosis: A Norton Critical Edition (Norton Critical Editions)
The Metamorphosis: A Norton Critical Edition (Norton Critical Editions) book cover

The Metamorphosis: A Norton Critical Edition (Norton Critical Editions)

Paperback – Illustrated, July 30, 2015

Price
$20.00
Format
Paperback
Pages
240
Publisher
W. W. Norton & Company
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-0393923209
Dimensions
5.1 x 0.6 x 8.5 inches
Weight
7.1 ounces

Description

"Distinguishes itself from previous translations in its first sentence." ― Slate "Susan Bernofsky's new, exacting translation shows just how ingenious the structure of [ The Metamorphosis ] is, and just how difficult it is to render Kafka's German into English. She succeeds brilliantly, however, with a vivid fidelity to Kafka's vision, driving home the way he makes us at once sympathetic to his anti-hero, Gregor Samsa, and repulsed by him.”" ― The Wichita Eagle "Vibrant . . . preserves the comedy as well as the tragedy of Kafka’s text." ― Times Literary Supplement "This is the transforming text for you." ― Richard Howard Franz Kafka (1883–1924) was one of the most important writers of the twentieth century. His major novels include The Trial , The Castle , and Amerika . Mark M. Anderson is Professor of Germanic Languages at Columbia University. He is the author of Kafka’s Clothes and the editor of Reading Kafka . He has written widely on literary modernism and has edited and translated contemporary Austrian writers Ingeborg Bachmann and Thomas Bernhard. Susan Bernofsky is the acclaimed translator of Hermann Hesse, Robert Walser, and Jenny Erpenbeck, and the recipient of many awards, including the Helen and Kurt Wolff Prize and the Hermann Hesse Translation Prize. She teaches literary translation at Columbia University and lives in New York.

Features & Highlights

  • Franz Kafka's 1915 novella of nightmarish transformation became a worldwide classic and remains a century later one of the most widely read works of fiction in the world. This new and acclaimed translation is accompanied by possible inspirations and critical analysis of Gregor Samsa's strange story.
  • This Norton Critical Edition includes:
  • · Susan Bernofsky’s acclaimed new translation, along with her Translator’s Note. · Introductory materials and explanatory footnotes by Mark M. Anderson. · Three illustrations. · Related texts by Kafka, Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Rainer Maria Rilke, among others. · Eight critical essays by Günther Anders, Walter H. Sokel, Nina Pelikan Straus, Mark M. Anderson, Elizabeth Boa, Carolin Duttlinger, Kári Driscoll, and Dan Miron. · A Chronology and a Selected Bibliography.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
30%
(106)
★★★★
25%
(88)
★★★
15%
(53)
★★
7%
(25)
23%
(80)

Most Helpful Reviews

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Look closely and let it all sink in

This story has a lot to offer! It isn't very long, but there's a lot to digest. Kafka uses symbolism so well and the plot provides an unsettling insight into society and humanity. There is a sense of despair throughout the story which really does a lot to sell the mood and circumstances of the protagonist. I highly recommend this!

I've had to write extensively about this story and the accompanying essays and it has helped me shape my understanding and opinion. The essays included after the story are thought provoking although I disagree with some interpretations of the story.
10 people found this helpful
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It’s Franz’s masterpiece!

Masterpiece plus some worthwhile material.
2 people found this helpful
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Excellent purchase.

Book is sturdy and the matte cover is nice. The extra content is worth it, for sure.
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Good

Good
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Great price and up to 4 garage doors

I love this thing. Great product, great price, can control up to 4 garage doors.
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Such a goood read

Such a good book that you can read over.
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Five Stars

Recommended book!
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Five Stars

Nice and very new! Wonderful paper quality!
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I am actually really surprised with how much I like and enjoyed this book

I read this book for school, I am actually really surprised with how much I like and enjoyed this book.
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High Strangeness

This is my first Kafka novel. I haven't finished it yet, but so far it's very strange - I like a certain amount of that in stories. I'll come back to revise this review after I'm done reading it. I'm curious to see how this turns out.