Its weird how harris's words came true for me after he told us about Franz Kafka and how we'd start to notice Kafka, Kafka-esque, Kafka-ish, Kafka-whateverish after he'd intro-ed us to this writer. Heh ohwell at the moment seems like im the only one so acutely aware of the all these terms around us.
Just finished one of his books - Metamorphosis. Some would say its deliciously nightmarish; I swear its pure distopia..
This Russian guy, Gregor Samsa wakes up one morning to find himself helplessly and haplessly stuck in the shell of a human-sized bug. He still possesses human thought, but cannot communicate it to those around him. His family, terrified by this sudden and monstrous change in him, keep him confined to his room for the rest of his days. The story weaves its nuances around Gregor's unconveyed thoughts and how his good intentions are continually misinterpreted as 'attacks' from the 'thing' he has become. Especially gripping is are the descriptions of him trying to manouver his bug's body out of the normal human sleeping position; and the attack by his own father that results in an apple being embedded in his flesh. He ultimately becomes forgotten as a family disgrace and is left to die; but the weird thing I came to realise at the end of the novel was that Gregor's 'sacrifice' was ultimately the thing that changed his family's lives for the better. His father was pushed out of slothful retirement, his sister found new life in a job outside of household chores and his mother learned to stand up for what she's worth; eventually they just seemed to develop a vitality they never had when Gregor was the sole breadwinner for the family.
Disturbing but intriguing huh?
Its 90% unnerving throughout the story.. Then suddenly its like light(!) at the end of the tunnel haha. (Of course thats purely taken in my own interpretation la). Im always on the lookout for Kafka now though; heh and my next target will be A Clockwork Orange. Yl got me all interested that time staying over.. But of course thats just upping the ante (and considering the speed im used to reading thats not very good :/)
Ive actually thoughts on more books, but later maybe..
