The Metamorphosis

图书标准信息

• 作者 Franz Kafka（法兰兹·卡夫卡） 著
• 出版社 Random House
• 出版时间 1972-02
• ISBN 9780553213690
• 定价 25.40元
• 装帧 平装
• 开本 其他
• 纸张 胶版纸
• 页数 201页
• 正文语种 英语

【内容简介】

"WhenGregorSamsawokeuponemorningfromunsettlingdreams,hefoundhimselfchangedinhisbedintoamonstrousvermin."Withthisstartling,bizarre,yetsurprisinglyfunnyfirstsentence,Kafkabeginshismasterpiece,TheMetamorphosis.Itisthestoryofayoungmanwho,transformedovernightintoagiantbeetlelikeinsect,becomesanobjectofdisgracetohisfamily,anoutsiderinhisownhome,aquintessentiallyalienatedman.Aharrowing--thoughabsurdlycomic--meditationonhumanfeelingsofinadequecy,guilt,andisolation,TheMetamorphosishastakenitsplaceasoneofthemosstwidelyreadandinfluentialworksoftwentieth-centuryfiction.AsW.H.Audenwrote,"Kafkaisimportanttousbecausehispredicamentisthepredicamentofmodernman".

　　《变形记》创作于1912年，发表于1915年。小说分成三部分，用一、二、三标明。课文节选了原小说的一半内容。第一部分，写格里高尔发现自己变成“巨大的甲虫”，惊慌而又忧郁。父亲发现后大怒，把他赶回自己的卧室。第二部分，格里高尔变了，养成了甲虫的生活习性，却保留了人的意识。他失业了，仍旧关心怎样还清父亲欠的债务，送妹妹上音乐学院。可是，一个月后，他成了全家的累赘。父亲、母亲、妹妹对他改变了态度。第三部分，为了生存，家人只得打工挣钱，忍受不了格里高尔这个负担。妹妹终于提出把哥哥弄走。格里高尔又饿又病，陷入绝望，“他怀着深情和爱意想他的一家人”，“然后他的头就不由自主地垂倒在地板上，鼻孔呼出了最后一丝气息”，死了。父亲、母亲和妹妹开始过着自己养活自己的新生活。

【作者简介】

FranzKafkawasbornin1833toawell-to-domiddle-classJewishfamily.Hisfather,theself-madeproprietorofawholesalehaberdasherybusiness,wasadomineeringmanwhoseapprobationFranzcontinuallystruggledtowin.TheyoungerKafka'sfeelingsofinadequacyandguiltformthebackgroundofmuchofhisworkandaremadeexplicitinhis"LettertoHisFather"(excerptedinthisvolume),whichwaswrittenin1919butneversent.KafkawaseducatedintheGermanlanguageschoolsofPragueandatthecity'sGermanUniversity,wherein1908hetookalawdegree.Literature,however,remainedhissolepassion.AtthistimehebecamepartofaliterarycirclethatincludedFranzWerfel,MartinBuber,andKafka'sclosefriendMaxBrod.EncouragedbyBrod,KafkapublishedtheprosecollectionObservationsin1913.Twoyearslaterhisstory"TheStoker"wontheFontaineprize.In1916hebeganworkonTheTrialandbetweenthistimeand1923producedthreeincompletenovelsaswellasnumeroussketchesandstories.Inhislifetimesomeofhisshortworksdidappear:TheJudgment(1916),TheMetamorphosis(1916),ThePenalColony(1919),andTheCountryDoctor(1919).Beforehisdeathoftuberculosisin1924,KafkahadchargedMaxBrodwiththeexecutionofhisestate,orderingBrodtoburnthemanuscripts.WiththesomewhatcircularjustificationthatKafkamusthaveknownhisfriendcouldnotobeysuchanorder,BroddecidedtopublishKafka'swritings.Tothisactof"betrayal"theworldowesthepreservationofsomeofthemostunforgettableandinfluentialliteraryworksofourcentury.