Penguin Classics : Metamorphosis

Pocket books, little black classics & review

A new series of thirty distinctive, unforgettable Penguin Classics in a beautiful new design and pocket-sized format, with coloured jackets echoing Penguin's original covers.

www.pocketpenguins.com

From the classic orange paperbacks to the clothbound covers, the Penguin that we all recognize has lots to offer. Penguin launched a new set of classics in the classic design, with the covers coloured to show the original language.

Among this new set of pocket classics, they launched a set of 126 short books - the Little Black Classics. Like every girl needing a little black dress, these tiny books are a fantastic way for diving into the world of literature. I've only read a couple, but I am officially in love with them! Poems, short stories and other stuff (though some only have a chapter or few from a whole book and I don't know what to think of that, maybe as a sample to see if you like the style?)... You can chuck one in your bag for wherever you go and read them in a moment. That is also the beauty with the sizes of the pocket book series.

www.littleblackclassics.com

I live in the faraway country of Finland and wasn't sure if these new books could be found. So I went to Helsinki and strolled around through multiple bookstores - and there they were, in Akateeminen kirjakauppa. A table of pocket books adorned with a penguin. The pricing is also very affordable - considering the quality - and the thing that sold them for me is the floppiness! Yup, you heard me, unlike most mass market paperbacks, and small paperbacks in general, these are not the stiff ones that are hard to read and inept to keeping a clean spine. And for that I give it an A+.

Then to the review of Metamorphosis:

*book kindly provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review!*

  This pocket book: n.8 Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

Featuring an ordinary man who wakes up to find himself turned

into a giant cockroach, Kafka's masterpiece of unease and black

humour, Metamorphosis, is brought together here with the best of his short stories.

I'd heard lots of things about this particular novel and had been wanting to read it for quite some time now. And at the same time it was worth the wait, but on the other hand, why didn't I pick this up sooner? So, yes I really liked the book and do recommend it. Also the fact that between the covers, this edition has lots of other goods to offer.

Goodreads' link & text:

From Meditation, a collection of his earlier studies; The Judgement, written in a single night of frenzied creativity; The Stoker, the first chapter of a novel set in America and a fascinating occasional peace, and The Aeroplanes at Brescia, Kafka's eyewitness account of an air display in 1909.

       Metamorphosis brought change, and alienation to a whole new level. As a cockroach one does not exaclty continue on like before. Then again a good way to impact people is to magnify and highlight the problems.

       The main character Gregor has to work through alienation and the disgust toward him from his family, not to mention trying to roll out of bed when your stuck on your shell.

    Kafka's imaginative ideas really brought to life the unforgettable struggles and thoughts that are enclosed in this book, and I think by reading it, one can learn quite a bit.

'I cannot make you understand. I cannot make anyone understand what is happening inside me. I cannot even explain it to myself.'

And for some exciting news come back tomorrow!!

Read on lovelies & good luck to you all,

Sally