Re-write of Franz Kafka: The Meowmorphosis, F. Kafka and C. Coleridge

"One morning, as Gregor Samsa was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that he had been changed into an adorable kitten."

So starts this bold rewrite of Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, published by "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" publisher Quirk Books, written by an extremely capable fantasy writer commissioned by Quirk Books to re-imagine the novel as a work of gonzo literature. It could have resulted in a book that simply replaced the word "insect" with "kitten." But it hasn’t. "The Meowmorphosis" is interesting, well told, and delightful.

This is a new mash-up by Quirk, the publisher that sparked the new literary mash-up madness with “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance – Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem!
.” Later it has been followed up by titles like Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters and Wuthering Bites. Back in April 2009, the idea was wholly unique, a surprising recycling of classic literary works available in the public domain. It still seems to be alive and kicking. The books in this new genre sell like candy.

While the initial chapters stick close to Kafka’s well-known novella, the book spirals out of control (in a good way) when Samsa leaves his parents’ home to relieve them of the burden of caring and feeding for such a large, adorable kitten. Samsa’s adventure is both hilarious and horrifying to witness, and takes meta-fiction to dizzying new heights. The new co-writer absolutely nails Kafka’s voice; the new passages integrate so well with the story that it’s hard to believe the book isn’t entirely written by one author.

Co-author Coleridge Cook (a pseudonym for an award-winning fantasy novelist) describes Samsa’s feline behavior in detail, and not a page goes by in which a piece of furniture is not scratched or perched on. Bowls of milk are lapped at, and humans are snuggled with. The book maintains the unsteady paranoia, that creepy feeling that what you’re reading might just as well be a long hallucination as a description of actual events.

It’s a very gutsy move to create a book like this, but I am sure both cat-lovers and lots of other readers will enjoy "The Meowmorphosis" and find Samsa just as cute and cuddly as his sister does in the story. And they will love the story and its excellent style. Recommended!

Tagged as: book review, F. Kafka and C. Coleridge, Franz Kafka: The Meowmorphosis, mash-ups