There’s an episode of Seinfeld where George Costanza decides that he will always “go out on a high note.” That is, whenever he does or says something completely brilliant or funny, he will just leave the room so everyone else can bask in his inherent awesomeness. The moment is worth reliving again, so here’s my man George, going out on a high note:
I read a couple of passages aloud and walked around to show the beautiful illustrations. I kid you not, they were arguing over who got to read it next. It wasn’t a Minecraft book or the latest Harry Styles biography. This is Kafka, people! And my 6th graders are excited about it! Peace out!
ADAPTER/ILLUSTRATOR: Peter Kuper
SERIES: none
PUBLISHER: Broadway Books
PUBLICATION DATE: July 20, 2004
ISBN: 9781400052998
PAGES: 80
SOURCE: my library
GENRE: classic; magical realism; graphic novel
SETTING: Gregor Samsa’s house; early 1900s
GIVE IT TO: MS, HS, adults
SUMMARY OF THE METAMORPHOSIS
Traveling salesman Gregor Samsa wakes up one morning to find himself transformed into a dung beetle.
REVIEW OF THE METAMORPHOSIS
I first read Kafka’s short story “The Metamorphosis” in a college World Lit class. I loved the story back then, and I think after today, I love it even more. It’s weird and surreal. No one knows why Gregor Samsa has turned into a dung beetle. He just does. I kept picturing Jeff Goldblum’s “BrundleFly” throwing up on Geena Davis the whole time. It IS disgusting, BrundleFly.
Here’s that one, just for kicks:
The illustrations are what really make this book pop. The text is adapted from the original short story, but the words themselves appear as part of the illustrations.
For example, in the scene where Gregor first learns to crawl on the walls and ceiling, the words are crawling all around the page, too. Some words are written on Gregor’s beetle back.
Another really cool illustration features Gregor drowning inside a sand timer, with the words following him down, down, down through the sand.
And when things get more desperate for Gregor, the illustrations make us feel sorry for him when he is thirsty, or can’t get that apple out of his back, or is dying from loneliness and shame.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Love, love, love this book! I saw that Peter Kuper also illustrated a graphic novel of Sinclair’s The Jungle. On order!
STATUS IN MY LIBRARY: We have it.
READALIKES: The Jungle (Kuper, Sinclair)
RATING BREAKDOWN
- Overall: 5/5
- Creativity: 5/5
- Characters: 5/5
- Engrossing: 5/5
- Writing: 5/5
- Appeal to teens: 5/5
- Appropriate length to tell the story: 5/5
MATURE CONTENT
- Language: none
- Sexuality: none
- Violence: very mild; Gregor’s dad throws apples at him
- Drugs/Alcohol: none
- Other: Sensitive readers will not like the ending.