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Fiction · Absurd

The Metamorphosis

Franz Kafka, 1915 · first published in German

Gregor Samsa wakes up one morning to find he has become a giant insect, and his biggest worry is being late for work.

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Five levels, about 80 languages

  1. A2ElementaryShort sentences and everyday words.
  2. B1IntermediateYou follow clear stories about familiar things.
  3. B2Upper intermediateLonger sentences, richer vocabulary.
  4. C1AdvancedClose to the original, lightly condensed.
  5. C2ProficientThe complete novel.

One purchase is one book, in one language, at one level: $4.99. Another level of a book you own is $1.99. Editions nobody has asked for yet are written on request: chapter 1 in a few minutes, the rest while you read. How the levels work.

About the book

One morning

Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman, wakes one morning from uneasy dreams to find he has been transformed into a monstrous insect. His first thoughts are not about his body but about his job: he has missed his train, his boss will be angry, and his family depends on his salary. His mother, father and sister call to him through the door. The chief clerk arrives from the office to ask why he isn’t at work. Franz Kafka, who spent his working days at an insurance institute in Prague, published it in 1915.

Why it works for learners

Kafka’s style is famously plain. His sentences are clear and exact, his words are ordinary, and he describes the impossible in the calm tone of an office report. That makes The Metamorphosis surprisingly readable. The story never leaves the family’s apartment, and the vocabulary is domestic: room, door, bed, furniture, food, money, work, father, mother, sister. It’s short, in three parts, and you can read it in a few sittings.

Translators have long argued about Kafka’s first sentence, in which Gregor becomes “einem ungeheueren Ungeziefer”: a monstrous vermin, a word that names no particular creature. It’s a good reminder that a single word can carry a whole book.

Which level to start at

B1 is a good start: the story is short, the setting small and the events clear. B2 lets you feel the dark comedy and the family’s slow change. For learners of German, this is a natural classic to read in German at your level, and one to return to later in Kafka’s original.