Metamorphosis (Ep 1.10)

Now, this was a book very easy to finish! Thin and simple, and existentialist, just the way I like it.

Franz Kafka is mentioned several times in Gilmore Girls (I guess it is bound to be, with ambiguity and surrealism the favourite pastimes of the Girls). I had seen Kafka's birth home in Prague from the outside and wondered what the heck the long queue was for. With the Girls constantly praising him, I figured it was time to read a Kafka.

Kafka is mentioned at least thrice in Gilmore Girls, with Metamorphosis mentioned in Forgiveness and Stuff in season 1, the Trial in season 4 and Kafka himself mentioned in season 3 during Jess and Paris' famous argument.

In ep 1.10, Rory had just started dating Dean and buys him the book as a gift.
Rory: ... a book for Dean,
Lane: You got Dean a book?
Rory: Yeah, Metamorphosis.
Lane: Metamorphosis!?
Rory: It's Kafka.
Lane: Very romantic.

I am not surprised that Lane is surprised and thinks she should just buy a girlie gift like something that says "I dig you, baby". But then Rory is, well, Rory.

Metamorphosis is the story of how the hero, Gregor Samsa, a travelling salesman and sole earner for the family, wakes up to find himself turned into a monstrous insect (I visualised it to be a cockroach for some reason) and how he is suddenly ostracised from society and his "loving" family. It is simply the plight of the human life. I loved the concept and adored the simplicity of the language. I am sure some charm was lost in translation (it was originally written in German), but you can still see how simple and logical Kafka's thoughts were. The existentialist crisis is something we all live with (but refuse to talk about) and it was nice to see it represented in a simple manner across the pages of a famous short story. Recommended for anyone who has been scared by the term Kafkaesque - it's not as scary as it sounds!