“The Metamorphosis,” Franz Kafka
Lately I’ve been trying to knock out some of the classic books that for some reason I didn’t read in high school, and this is definitely one of them. I’m presuming that the large majority of people know the basics about this story, such as that Gregor (the main character) wakes up one day to discover that he has transformed into a large beetle/cockroach, and cannot continue with his daily life as he knew it…or did he? Many critics propose that it was all in head. A statement on how even those you love most can treat you badly when they don’t understand who you are, and the consequences that can result in, this is Kafka’s most famous of his many short stories.
“Homage to Catalonia,” George Orwell
“Homage to Catalonia” is Orwell’s short account of the time he spent in 1937 on the Spanish front during its Civil War. It is commendable that Orwell, a British native, came to Spain only to fight in the war against Fascism, but his account is neither neutral or professional, and is full of complaints against Spanish society and the way things are done there. Some, of course, are justified, but others are simply misplaced in this narrative. As a creditable source of what happened during the war, it is missing many things, which leaves me wondering what Orwell’s motives were for publishing this. I can understand why he would need to write this as a war journal in which to record his thoughts, but there is nothing so important or impressive which the general public would need to read.