The Cook and Book Club is a small Australian based book club combining their love for reading and cooking. Declan, a member of the club, will be recapping his experience each month right here on The Nerd Daily!
BOOK | One person selects a book for everyone to read over the next month
COOK | The book selector hosts a dinner party with a themed meal related to the book
Franz Kafka is one of those names that floats around in high school English classes, and yet his novels are rarely quoted or studied directly. Instead, he is more known for his legacy in Western literary culture, lending his surname to the term “Kafkaesque”, used to describe works that evoke the surreal, nightmarish worlds he created.
At tonight’s Cook & Book Club, we wanted to dig more into the context and intention behind Kafka’s famous novella The Metamorphosis. And as it turned out, our interpretations of its original meaning were more divisive than expected.
Dinner
Arriving at Cassie’s house we were met with a veal wiener schnitzel, served alongside a German-style potato salad. We kicked off the discussion by laying down the basics of Kafka’s style, particularly his integration of dark, fantastical elements with realistic settings. This is never clearer than in the opening line of The Metamorphosis:
“As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous vermin.”
It isn’t very often you find the premise of an entire book right there in the opening line. Kafka is direct, his tone jarring, but we were all pulled right into the heart of the story.
One possible reading of Gregor’s transformation is that it is simply an absurdist tale about a man whose life suddenly becomes a lot more depressing. But it’s hard not to see this as a metaphor for something.
Alec interpreted it as a bleak allegory for disability, and how those affected often suffer the frustrated derision of their loved ones. I saw it as something a little broader though – instead of just disability, the transformation was Gregor’s collapse after years of hard work and suppressing individuality. The moment he no longer had anything worthwhile to contribute he was considered a burden and shunned from society, despite all he had done to keep his family afloat through tough times.
This could be seen through a filter of mental illness, where those who suffer often reach that point due to excessive responsibilities. But it could also be seen as an allegory for how we treat the elderly, pregnant, or anyone who suddenly finds themselves incapacitated.
Dessert
Cassie’s lemon buttermilk pudding was based on a Czechoslovakian recipe and provided a delicious accompaniment to the next stage of our discussion, as we moved onto the context and legacy of The Metamorphosis.
The story unfolds like a fable, ambiguous and didactic. I noted that the setting is vague enough for the tale to be imagined in any modern era – the 1910’s when it was written, the industrial 1950’s, or even the 21st century. It is this timeless quality that makes Kafka’s work so frequently referenced over a century later.
Scott speculated that perhaps if The Metamorphosis was written today, it might have explored the concept as a body horror – much like the 1986 film The Fly, which is heavily inspired by Kafka’s work. But Kafka does not dwell on any paranormal horror or sci-fi elements. The Metamorphosis feels detached from real world events or popular genres, standing on its own as a reflection of a culture that degrades the individual in favour of the community.
Although the narrative isn’t always completely gripping, our entire book club could agree that The Metamorphosis is a pensive, stimulating read. A quick search online reveals as many interpretations of the novella as there are people who have read it. And so it is clear that as long as there are readers applying new contexts to it, The Metamorphosis will continue to remain relevant for a long time.
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