Book · 1996 · Fiction
The Metamorphosis and Other Stories
- mentions
- 8
- people
- 4
- podcasts
- 4
- episodes
- 6
- recommendation
- 1
For example, famously, his work, "The Metamorphosis" opens with the following lines, "As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.
Lex Fridman · Lex Fridman Podcast · Oct 2025 Listen at 4:27:49 What they say about it
- Gregor Samsa waking up as a bug“Gregor Samsa wakes up”2
The best things said about it
I have a picture book called my first Kafka which is a children's book retelling I didn't write it I just read it of metamorphosis and now I give them to all the toddlers.
The Metamorphosis, obvious example, Gregor Samsa wakes up and he's a dung beetle.
I just yesterday read metamorphosis by kind of re-read metamorphosis by Kafka where he turns into John Bug because of the stress.
Lex Fridman Lex Fridman Podcast · Jun 2021 Where and when it comes up
Mentions per year
How it comes up
Most mentions, by podcast
4 people who brought it up
Why people recommend it
The Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Franz Kafka is a collection of surreal fiction best known for its opening novella where a traveling salesman named Gregor Samsa wakes up transformed into a giant insect. Katherine Rundell discussed on Conversations with Tyler giving a children's book adaptation of the story to toddlers. Yann Martel referenced the novella on How I Write to illustrate how authors use animals as characters and how stories can retain a lingering sense of mystery. A guest on Timcast IRL compared the themes of the movie Terminator 2 to Kafka's work, and Libby Emmons referenced the transformation on the same show when comparing the helplessness of citizens under heavy government restrictions to the plight of the protagonist. Lex Fridman cited the work across multiple episodes of the Lex Fridman Podcast, quoting its famous opening lines on alienation and dehumanization while discussing surreal dystopian literature, and mentioning rereading it to reflect on modern societal stress.
Every mention
Katherine Rundell I have a picture book called my first Kafka which is a children's book retelling I didn't write it I just r… 1
“I have a picture book called my first Kafka which is a children's book retelling I didn't write it I just read it of metamorphosis and now I give them to all the toddlers”
Lex Fridman For example, famously, his work, "The Metamorphosis" opens with the following lines, "As Gregor Samsa awoke… 3
“Of course, "The Trial" is a work of fiction, but I think it is often useful to go to the surreal world of literature, even of the over-the-top dystopian variety like "1984," "Animal Farm," "Brave New World," "The Trial," "The Castle," "Metamorphosis," even "The Plague" by Albert Camus...”
“For example, famously, his work, "The Metamorphosis" opens with the following lines, "As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect."”
“I just yesterday read metamorphosis by kind of re-read metamorphosis by Kafka where he turns into John Bug because of the stress”
Yann Martel You know, the metamorphosis, obvious example, Gregor Samsa wakes up and he's a dung beetle. 2
“You know, the metamorphosis, obvious example, Gregor Samsa wakes up and he's a dung beetle.”
“A good example of that for example here's a good example is of Gregor Samsa the metamorphosis. So Gregor Samsa wakes up one morning he's a big dung beetle.”
Libby Emmons and it's very much like in metamorphosis where he becomes the bug right so the guy became this is probably… 1
“and it's very much like in metamorphosis where he becomes the bug right so the guy became this is probably easier to explain”
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker1
“Terminator 2 is heavily themed off, does it say? Kafkas metamorphosis? Is it Kafkas? Kafka. Yeah, says kafta though.”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
Other mentions (2: passing, ad reads, own books)
“Yeah, from Metamorphosis. - No, that was cockroach, not a beetle.”
“there's a kafka's metamorphous graphic novel”