From Caterpillar to Butterfly (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science, Stage 1)

Book Description

A caterpillar comes to school in a jar. The class watches the caterpillar each day as it grows and changes. Soon, it disappears into a hard shell called a chrysalis. Then the chrysalis breaks, and a beautiful butterfly flies out of the jar! This is a perfect beginner's guide to the mystery of metamorphosis.

Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children 1997 (NSTA/CBC)

Customer Reviews:

Great Informational Book for Children.......2007-09-14

This book is a great way to introduce children to the metamorphosis of a caterpillar. It contains many great facts about caterpillars and butterflies.

4-year-old loves this book.......2007-08-10

My daughter has been raising two monarch butterfly caterpillars, which are now in the chrysalis stage. We bought this book to help her to understand what is going on, and she not only enjoys the book but has also learned a great deal. The book is very much at her level, but contains quite a lot of information. The drawings are also very appealing. Based upon our experience of this book, I intend to purchase more titles from this series.

Transforming Youth.......2007-03-02

Excellent account of the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly. It's a great gift for children and butterfly loving adults alike.

Educational and Fun.......2005-07-20

My 3 year old daughter loves it. It explains the process at a level she can understand. Great when used with the Butterfly Garden.

The Perfect Butterfly Book for Preschool-Third Grade.......2003-10-22

I am the director of a lower school (pre-k-2nd) and we have used this book for years. It is the perfect way to introduce children to the wonderful world of metamorphosis. And if you can also actually get the Painted Lady Butterflies and "grow" them in your class, it is an invaluable experience. We have our children keep journals and then buy them each a copy of this great book (it's cheap in paperback) and they get to keep the experience forever. One correction to another review: painted ladies and all butterflies do spin chrysalids, not cocoons. They look similar, but the chrysalis usually has little specks of gold in it, which is where the name comes from. Yes I am a huge fan of this book--and a huge fan of butterflies. This author also has a lovely book about honeybees, called Honeybees.

Myth and Metamorphosis: Picasso's Classical Prints of the 1930s

Average customer rating:

Excellent academic text on Picasso's Prints of 1930s

Myth and Metamorphosis: Picasso's Classical Prints of the 1930s
Lisa Florman
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | History & Criticism | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Artists, A-Z | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Arts & Photography | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Home & Garden | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Picasso's Vollard Suite (Painters & Sculptors)
Picasso Line Drawings and Prints (Dover Art Library)
The Burial of the Count of Orgaz & Other Poems
Picasso: The Man and His Work - Part 1 (1881-1937)

ASIN: 0262062135

Book Description

Previous studies of Picasso's involvement with the classical have tended to concentrate on the period immediately following the First World War, and to attribute that involvement to both the rise of political conservatism in France and the domesticating influence of the artist's marriage to Olga Koklova. Focusing instead on the later, classicizing prints of the 1930s, this book offers a radically different view of Picasso and the "classical" -- a view that aligns his work much more closely with Surrealist, and specifically Bataillean, revisions of antiquity.

The book's argument is built around detailed analyses of several separate print series: Picasso's illustrations for Ovid's Metamorphoses, the etchings of the Vollard Suite, and The Minotauromachy. Common to all of them, the book shows, is a strong engagement not only with the classical, but with the viewer. In the latter, Picasso's prints are clearly at odds with the understanding of the relationship between classical art and its audience that prevailed throughout most of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries -- an understanding that held the work's purported autonomy to mirror the viewer's own. By exposing that autonomy as a fantasy, Picasso opens the "classical" work and its viewer alike to the entanglements of desire and the dissolution of boundaries it inevitably brings.

Much of the argument turns on close readings of key Surrealist texts by Georges Bataille, Michel Leiris, and Roger Caillois. Even more important, however, are the prints' numerous references, heretofore unnoticed, to specific works by, among others, Rubens, Rembrandt, and Goya. These references effectively create an alternative "classical" tradition out of which Picasso's etchings can be seen to have emerged.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent academic text on Picasso's Prints of 1930s.......2007-03-24

Academic but laid out so well that it is a pleasant and informative read for non-academics. Well researched and illustrated, in easy-to-follow chapters. The notes and references are excellent too, but it is the layout that is exceptional.

From Tadpole to Frog (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 1)

Average customer rating:

Did You Know Bullfrog Tadpole's Hibernate? - a review of "From Tadpole to Frog"
Educational fun!
the life of a frog
Another Great Kids' Book
very good

From Tadpole to Frog (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 1)
Wendy Pfeffer
Manufacturer: HarperTrophy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Science, Nature & How It Works | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

From Caterpillar to Butterfly (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science, Stage 1)
How a Seed Grows (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 1)
What's It Like to Be a Fish? (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 1)
What Lives in a Shell? (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 1)
My Five Senses (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 1)

ASIN: 0064451232

Book Description

Wendy Pfeffer describes the amazing metamorphosis from tiny, jellylike egg, to little fishy tadpole, to great big bullfrog. Holly Keller has created the archetypal frog pond and we see it through the seasons as the tadpoles grow legs and lungs and eventually hop onto land: bullfrogs at last. "Well-designed ink drawings washed with soft-toned watercolors stretch across the double-page spreads, showing the action above and below water level. . . .an attractive, general introduction."—BL.

1994 "Pick of the Lists" (ABA)
Best Children's Science Books, 1994 (Science Books and Films)

Customer Reviews:

Did You Know Bullfrog Tadpole's Hibernate? - a review of "From Tadpole to Frog".......2007-05-14

This is a nice book with attractive artwork that describes the two-year life cycle of the American Bullfrog. As a Stage One book "From Tadpole to Frog" uses simple sentences and concepts that are appropriate for toddlers, preschoolers, and young children up to about 8 or 9 years of age.

Besides a description of the Bullfrog lifecycle, and the 'where Bullfrogs can be found' map, there are pictures with brief descriptions of 5 other frogs, including the Leopard, Pickerel, Wood, Spring Peeper, and Gray Tree frogs.

Four Stars. Good artwork on every page. The color runs from edge to edge. Okay Read-aloud. The Bullfrog is interesting as even the tadpoles hibernate for one year. Nothing objectionable in my opinion; although I should note above that there is a brief mention of reproduction. [I mention this as some parents have concerns and have told me they appreciate such notes.] The book, in any case, says the following about frog reproduction:

At night you hear "Ba-ra-rooom... ba-ra-
room... ba-ra-rooom...". The males are calling
to their mates.

The female hear the call.
The male hugs his mate. He fertilizes her eggs as
she lays them in the water. Thousands of soft
jelly-covered eggs cling together in the cool water.

The artwork shows the frogs hugging, and neither art nor wordage was inappropriate or graphic, in my opinion. Certainly my children didn't think anything of it.

The AR reading level is given as 1.6 which means this is a book for a child in the second half of the first grade. While professionally assessed, this mom thinks quite a few first graders will need some help because of the vocabulary. More difficult words include: hibernate, thousands, whistle, creatures, stretching, fertilizes, speckled, and capture. Words they might not be familiar with are: mate, female, male, breathe, gills, and cling.

Educational fun!.......2007-01-19

I highly reccommend any and all of the "lets find out" books. Excellent teaching tools which hold a child's interest.

the life of a frog.......2006-07-24

Frogs are fascinating creatures. It seems children especially develop a fondness for them. This is a book that teaches children everything they'd want to know about frogs, and more importantly about how frogs start off as tadpoles before turning into frogs. If you have a child and he or she likes playing with frogs, give them this book.

Another Great Kids' Book.......2003-03-28

This is another great STAGE 1 book in the "Let's Read & Find Out" Science Series. The STAGE 1 Series books are written for preschool and kindergarten-age kids (age 3 to 6) about basic science concepts.
This book has 32 pages of nice illustrations (artwork NOT photography) to help the words tell about the developmental stages of frogs.

Some children's books miss the fact of who their target audience is. The "Let's Read & Find Out" books consistently keep subject matter easily understood using age appropriate vocabulary and keep a child interested at the same time.
We recently bought a home science frog growing kit. This book is perfect read along material to show my five year old son what to anticipate in coming weeks.

The books are written for the reading ability of an "average" 3 year old. Older kids may very well get bored with the simple reading in this book. But, they should find the information about frogs fascinating, especially if they are participating in growing some at home or in class! Remember how much fun frog eggs and tadpoles were as a kid?

We have several books in this series and are pleased that our son enjoys them so much.
John Row

very good.......2000-04-18

This book is very appropriate for any young one learning about frogs. My nephew has learned alot from this book about where frogs come from. The pictures are real and not drawings which I like.

Average customer rating:

Hobbled by bad book design
Excellent edition and translation
(Un)pleasant surprises and no happy endings.
Metamorphosis & Banishment

Metamorphoses (Penguin Classics)
Ovid
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Ancient, Classical & Medieval | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Medieval | Classics | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Roman | Classics | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Fairy Tales | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Latin | Foreign Language Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Latin | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Theogony, Works and Days (Oxford World's Classics)
The Aeneid (Penguin Classics)
Anthology Of Classical Myth: Primary Sources in Translation : with Additional Translations by Other Scholars and an Appendix on Linear B sources by Thomas G. Palaima
The Aeneid (Penguin Classics)
The Aeneid

ASIN: 014044789X
Release Date: 2004-08-03

Book Description

Ovid's sensuous and witty poem brings together a dazzling array of mythological tales, ingeniously linked by the idea of transformation—often as a result of love or lust—where men and women find themselves magically changed into new and sometimes extraordinary beings. Beginning with the creation of the world and ending with the deification of Augustus, Ovid interweaves many of the best-known myths and legends of ancient Greece and Rome, including Daedalus and Icarus, Pyramus and Thisbe, Pygmalion, Perseus and Andromeda, and the fall of Troy. Erudite but light-hearted, dramatic and yet playful, the Metamorphoses has influenced writers and artists throughout the centuries from Shakespeare and Titian to Picasso and Ted Hughes.

Customer Reviews:

Hobbled by bad book design.......2007-05-15

It's not like designers at Penguin Classics are lacking
the knowledge
Of how to handle hexameters. Why then their failure
to use it
In Raeburn's recent translation of Metamorphoses?
On an average page, there's barely three verses that's
typeset within
A single line, with all others continued with vast
indent--
And most roving over a single word. The pages are
ugly,
Everything awkward to read. The font size is generous,
though,
So why not reduce it a point and gather more verses
together?
Nor does it help that the poem is written in thumping
sub-Longfellow,
With all of the beats but now with just one third the
sonority--
Dietetically versed. Avoid this volume. Feh, and more
feh.

Excellent edition and translation.......2006-01-09

After reading the old Penguin edition of this work, I was amazed at the improvement in not only the translation, but the organization and supplemental material as well. The old edition I read was written in prose (yuck), the translation was was dry and boring, the text was not broken up into sections, and there were no notes to speak of. This edition, however, has really come a long way. The text has been translated into a more modern voice, making it much more user friendly and fun to read. And it's written in verse form (as is should be). The organization is top-notch: not only is it divided into "books", but is further divided into the individual stories with appropriate headings (like "Mars and Venus" and "Pyramus and Thisbe"), so it's easy to find your favorite myth and know where you are in the epic. There's also an excellent introduction to the entire work as well as introductions to each individual book, providing insights and background information. The notes in the back of the book are very comprehensive and helpful, adding greatly to your understanding of the work. On top of all that, there's a glossary of the characters in the back which not only tells you who they are, but where they are featured in the epic. And finally, as if there wasn't enough already, there's even a map in the back of Rome during Ovid's time. Needless to say, this edition is chock full of stuff to please both casual readers of the work and scholars looking to get a little more in-depth. I believe this is one of the most important and influential works of Western civilization, and everyone should have a copy. It's especially great for those who love Greek and Roman myths, since it's packed full of just about every classical myth ever conceived. And since it's broken down so nicely into individual stories and books, you can read a story here and there instead of the whole thing at once, if you choose. Though since all the stories are connected and flow seamlessly into one another, reading it through from beginning to end is very rewarding and highly recommended.

(Un)pleasant surprises and no happy endings. .......2005-05-04

Publius Ovidius Naso was born in 43 B.C and died in 18 A.D.
He was banished for unknown reasons to Tomi, a barren place near the coast of the Black Sea. A few scholars believe that this was a literary hoax created by Ovid himself. It would enable him to write the 'Tristia' and 'Letters From The Black Sea'.

'Metamorphoses' is his main achievement. It contains 250 stories from the Greek Mythology and they all have in common that the principal character changes into another form. Most of the time they turn into an animal or a tree but also in a river, a constellation of stars, a rock or a flower and other pleasant surprises.

If you read this book you won't find many happy endings. The ancient Greeks didn't know the meaning of that expression.
It's not an easy read but if you persist it will be a rewarding literary experience.

Metamorphosis & Banishment.......2004-12-21

In Ovid's elegiac Metamorphoses, love conquers all. Love conquers the humans, and love conquers the gods. For when Cupid is insulted by Phoébus Apollo, Apollo is hit with Cupid's golden arrow. Apollo's beloved Daphne is hit with a lead arrow, the result being unrequited love which causes her plea to her father for help resulting in her transformation from a human into a laurel tree. Punishment, unrequited love, transformation. Why is transformation the chosen theme of punishment? Simply because transformation is something between life and death. Metamorphosis is not as final as being sent down to Aïdoneus in the underworld, nor as easy as deterring menin and living. Something in between the two (life and death), could also be banishment. As the author himself was banished by Cæsar Augustus, his own life is beginning to fit the equation: Punishment (his banishment), unrequited love (of state) and yet to be seen is his transformation. Everyone is punished, both the victim and the punisher, at every level both mortal and divine.

In the stories of Cerastae and Propoetides, Pygmálion, Actaeon one sees evidence of this and in this edition the layout by Penguin makes the stories easy to read and wonderful to enjoy.

Chrysalis: Maria Sibylla Merian and the Secrets of Metamorphosis

Average customer rating:

A gorgeous biography surveying her life and achievements.
Fascinating new book

Chrysalis: Maria Sibylla Merian and the Secrets of Metamorphosis
Kim Todd
Manufacturer: Harcourt
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Artists, Architects & Photographers | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Scientists | Professionals & Academics | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Women | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Anatomy | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Environmental Science | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Flowers, Butterflies and Insects: All 154 Engravings from "Erucarum Ortus" (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
Maria Sibylla Merian: The St. Petersburg Watercolours
Tinkering With Eden: A Natural History of Exotic Species in America
Visions of Nature: The Art And Science of Ernst Haeckel
Merian's Antique Botanical Prints CD-ROM and Book (Pictorial Archives)

ASIN: 0151011087

Book Description

Before Darwin, before Audubon, there was Merian. An artist turned naturalist known for her botanical illustrations, she was born just sixteen years after Galileo proclaimed that the earth orbited the sun. But at the age of fifty she sailed from Europe to the New World on a solo scientific expedition to study insect metamorphosis—an unheard-of journey for any naturalist at that time, much less a woman. When she returned she produced a book that secured her reputation, only to have it savaged in the nineteenth century by scientists who disdained the work of “amateurs.”

Exquisitely written and illustrated, Chrysalis takes us from golden-age Amsterdam to the Surinam tropics to modern laboratories where Merian’s insights fuel a new branch of biology. Kim Todd brings to life a seventeenth-century woman whose boldness and vision would still be exceptional today.

Customer Reviews:

A gorgeous biography surveying her life and achievements........2007-05-17

Today Maria Merian is mostly known for her lovely butterfly prints, but back in 1699 she sailed from Amsterdam to South America on an expedition to study metamorphosis - a rare journey for any naturalist of the times, much less a woman over fifty - and spent two years in the tropical jungle seeking out caterpillars and studying butterflies. Her accomplishments were largely dismissed and forgotten but come to life here in a gorgeous biography surveying her life and achievements.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Fascinating new book.......2007-01-21

Ever since "Tinkering with Eden," I have been eagerly awaiting Kim Todd's next book, and, with "Chrysalis," she does not disappoint. Anyone who enjoys a good biography should read this book - and for that reason, it's a great book to give as a gift. The topic sounds obscure, but Todd's vivid prose brings her remarkable subject to life. Highly recommended!

Average customer rating:

Love of language
AWSOME PLAY
I would give it 10 stars out of five
I got a chance to perform in Metamorphoses at my university!
Plays better than it reads

Metamorphoses: A Play
Mary Zimmerman
Manufacturer: Northwestern University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

United States | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Arabian Nights: A Play
The Odyssey: A Play
The Clean House and Other Plays
The Beggar, The Thief and the Dogs, Autumn Quail
Doubt: A Parable

ASIN: 0810119803

Book Description

Based on Ovid's fifteen volume work of transformation myths, the tone of Mary Zimmerman's drama superbly echoes the play's theme of change as its physical production evolves onstage.

Customer Reviews:

Love of language.......2006-02-13

I am currently involved in this play with my local theatre, and when we first read through the script I was floored. As an actor of Shakespeare I fell in love instantly with the play and the language. Even though we cannot get every amazing visual down pat, the script gives so much to work with. I can't imagine reading this and never seeing it done. But even just to read is amazing.

AWSOME PLAY.......2005-04-30

My high school preformed this show and i must say it was absolutely amazing. Even as just a script, it was fantastic. it is absolutely worth buying just to read the words. the script is fantastic, and the stories are moving, provocative, and beautiful all in their own.
This is indeed one of the best plays i have ever read or been involved with.

I would give it 10 stars out of five.......2004-10-19

Having been someone who has been intimatly involved with this play; I have read it, seen it, and been in it, I can tell you that this is one of the best American plays of the 20th century if not ever.

As for a book, it is amazing. Mary Zimmerman's language is stunningly beautiful; her amalgam of her own language and that of Ovid or Rilke and others is seemless. The words are often profound, and always beautiful.

Small parts of the text are lost without a visual aid, but these are rare and easy to imagine.

We can only hope that Mary Zimmerman keeps writing amazing works of theatre and makes them available to the public.

I got a chance to perform in Metamorphoses at my university!.......2004-04-19

I was cast in this play and trust me when I say this is a great script. Not because of what it contains- but because of what it doesn't. Mary Zimmerman has left so much of her play open for interpretation, and we certainly took that to heart.

The poetry of Ovid is mesmerizing, and David Slavitt's translation is a must read. But to truly understand the inspiration of this work, see this play and read this script with your mind open.

Plays better than it reads.......2003-08-19

This is not a play script in the traditional sense. This is part of the new trend of director-centered theater, where concept is all. In this case the concept is a pool, where several of Ovid's tales of strange-changes-in-the-night take place in and around. This is one of the better examples of concept theater, and it won many awards on Broadway (but not for script). Reading the original Ovid is preferable to reading descriptions of how the pool should be lit, or what music plays through scene changes. But seeing it? If done right, this material could be incredibly visually striking.

Book Description

Where the willow tree meets the water, a tadpole met a caterpillar.

They gazed into each other's tiny eyes...and fell in love.

"I love everything about you," said the caterpillar.

"Promise you'll never change." And foolishly the tadpole promised...

But we all know that tadpoles don't stay the same, and neither do caterpillars.

Will they still be able to love each other?

Customer Reviews:

4-year-old's favorite!.......2007-10-01

This is my 4-year-old daughter's favorite book. She loves to read it with mom or dad and just laugh and laugh at the ending. I found her the other night reciting (from memory) the book while lying in bed.

The illustrations are inviting, with a humorous "side story" evolving (so to speak) in pictures at the bottom of the pages. The writing is concise and flows nicely.

My daughter is a nature lover, and we have always been open with her about the circle of life. This mild and funny book has a twist of an ending that apparently offends parents who prefer to shield their children from the reality of nature. However, [spoiler alert] a watercolor frog eating a watercolor butterfly is hardly graphic and, in fact, in the context of this great book is rather hilarious.

Not for kids under 4 or 5.......2007-07-13

Like many others have said, my daughter was shocked by the ending and pretty disturbed. We got the book after having seen real tadpoles in a stream while on vacation. I read the first half of the book, but didn't make it to the end until she and I read it together at bedtime. She was mortified that the frog ate his friend. I can certainly see how this book might appeal to older kids, and the artwork is very nice, but it's just not for little ones.

I didn't expect THAT ending.......2007-02-28

A caterpillar and a tadpole promise not to change when they fall in love. Just like real life, change happens. Find out the surprise ending and enjoy the repetition along the way.

July 2006 Lazy Readers' Book Club selection [...].......2006-07-28

I absolutely love this book and cannot recommend it highly enough for all ages, as it tells the amusing tale of a caterpillar and tadpole who fall in love and promise one another to never change. The caterpillar becomes annoyed when her beloved tadpole develops into a frog, but she goes through some changes of her own. One of the most gratifying endings of any children's book I've read recently, and a useful book for those of us who still try to incorporate a little science into school. A MUST READ! To view this and other cool short book recommendations, visit the Lazy Readers' Book Club at [...]

brave and funny.......2006-03-02

The tadpole and the caterpillar are best friends, and promise never to change. The caterpillar is aghast and hurt when the tadpole becomes a frog, and the frog doesn't even recognize his true love when she becomes a beautiful butterfly.

[SPOILER ALERT] But, through a miracle, they realize what has happened and fall in love again...in a deeper, more mature, accepting affection... NOT! The frog gobbles up the butterfly in one happy gulp!

What a relief to see a book that acknowledges that some promises were not ever possible to keep, whatever the good intentions, and how refreshing to see a story about animals that accepts who eats whom. The first time I read it, I was horrified that this book, which cleverly lured me into a little metaphor for relationships, trust, and acceptance so violently jarred me into reality. A few
re-readings and I was in admiration, and then I was laughing.
I believe that kids,
who are a bloodthirsty group in general, will laugh, too.

Average customer rating:

Classic bit of surreallist black humor
I'm speechless
Will the Real "Monstrous Vermin" Please Stand Up?
What if bugs have already built the bomb?
Strangely Kafkaesque

The Metamorphosis
Peter Kuper , and Franz Kafka
Manufacturer: Crown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books

General | Graphic Novels | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

The Stranger
Heart of Darkness (Dover Thrift Editions)
Waiting for Godot: A Tragicomedy in Two Acts
Crime and Punishment (Enriched Classics)
Hamlet (Folger Shakespeare Library)

ASIN: 1400047951
Release Date: 2003-08-05

Book Description

A brilliant, darkly comic reimagining of Kafka’s classic tale of family, alienation, and a giant bug.

Acclaimed graphic artist Peter Kuper presents a kinetic illustrated adaptation of Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis. Kuper’s electric drawings—where American cartooning meets German expressionism—bring Kafka’s prose to vivid life, reviving the original story’s humor and poignancy in a way that will surprise and delight readers of Kafka and graphic novels alike.

Customer Reviews:

Classic bit of surreallist black humor.......2007-03-18

I just recently read this and am still attempting to digest and understand what Kafka was getting at with this story. Many other reviewers have weighed in with their opinions - please do go through them. I think what I feel to be the fact is that the story is indeed an indictment of the bourgeois lifestyle; Gregory literally becomes a bug after years of being treated like such by his boss and managers. This is a must-have for anyone reading/studying classical literature.

I'm speechless.......2007-03-16

I'm speechless. I've never seen a more interesting edition of Metamorphosis! There's 9 essays in that little volume besides the story itself and documents! I love it!
Actually, I don't like Kafka, he's nightmarish and anguishing, but I can't help admiring his imagination and his originality and his style. He describes our humanity so well.

Marilyn Grandi, Rosario, Argentinia

Will the Real "Monstrous Vermin" Please Stand Up?.......2007-02-20

Kafka's darkly comic masterpiece is sometimes reduced to just a flat, sentimental conflict between egocentric parents and a self-sacrificing son. While it's true that Gregor's parents and also his sister are in their self-centeredness morally "monstrous vermin," it's important to see that Kafka's irony doesn't completely exempt from probing that literally "monstrous vermin," the good son Gregor himself. The ironic Kafka reveals how willing a victim the undeniably used, neglected, and finally betrayed Gregor can be. To cite a signal instance, when Gregor misinterprets as true parental prudence his father's actually self-serving behavior in having secreted away some money after the failure of his business, we are meant to savor the irony of a too obedient son's blindness, not just his goodness.

While the Samsa family is made up of bourgeois knaves, the good Gregor is to a certain extent a bourgeois fool, not simply a put-upon, one-dimensional hero. In short - and I'd argue by artistic design - Gregor's intelligence is shown to inadequately match his filial piety. While his parents and ultimately his sister are regarded with a savage irony, he himself is the recipient of a subtler sort, a gentle irony easier to miss, though directed at him nevertheless.

"The Metamorphosis" is a comic tale of modern family life, though its underlying vision is markedly bleak. Looking out of his window at the city on display, Gregor sees "a desert." Lovelessness in such a place is the order of the day. Just about every other character in the text is his own carver or at best a tribalist of sorts. Shared community standards, humane or divine, which might work to break down the walls separating people, are conspicuously absent. Gregor's true singularity, that which sets him apart much more than his metamorphosis into a "monstrous vermin," is his capacity for love and loyalty, despite his living in such a world. At the root of Kafka's comic but unsettling vision is the clear intimation that in such a world and among its families and businesses a love and loyalty like Gregor's would never properly be valued nor find a worthy recipient.

What if bugs have already built the bomb?.......2007-01-21

Am I supposed to take this obvious ploy to garner sympathy for bugs at face value? I'm supposed to go, "Oh, I can't kill that bug because that might be a friend of mine just going through a funk right now." That's bug propoganda! If it's gotten this far -- and we're talking some 70-odd years at this point -- does that mean the bugs have already infiltrated our governments? I propose we make a point to go out and kill twice as many bugs as we have been. But what if that just accelerates our inevitable demise?

Strangely Kafkaesque.......2007-01-13

Kafka's Metamorphosis is more than a story. It is an exhibition of the existential and often absurd condition we experience as life.

Gregor Samsa wakes up one morning to find himself transformed into an unwanted creature, not an insect. This is an important distinction to make, as most reviewers will slavishly insist that Gregor woke up as a insect. The original German reads:

"Als Gregor Samsa eines Morgens aus unruhigen Träumen erwachte, fand er sich in seinem Bett zu einem ungeheueren Ungeziefer verwandelt."

Literally translated, Ungeziefer means vermin in German. Why is this an important distinction to make? The Metamorphosis centers around a man ostracized from society due to him not being wanted. Thus, portraying him merely as an insect, is an incomplete way of looking at Gregor's situation. Who wants vermin? Certainly not Gregor's family.

If you have not yet read The Metamorphosis, I envy you. The experience of reading the Metamorphosis for the first time was for me a seminal event in my life. Many of my preconceived ideas and insights regarding my own position in society have been influenced by this simple story. Even though Kafka wrote this short story in 1915, it is as relevant today as it was when Kafka conceived of the idea.

I have read the Metamorphosis at many times different phases in my life and it still amazes me that the story has the ability to address certain aspects of the human condition as accurately as it does. Each time I pick up the book, it is with a certain sense of dread, knowing that I will be forced to look within myself and confront some uncomfortable truths.

The Metamorphosis is open to many different interpretations and I'm sure you will find your own parallel as you are afforded a glimpse into the psyche of one of the most brilliant writers of any age.

Enjoy your existential crisis.

Picasso's Collection of African & Oceanic Art: Master of Metamorphosis

Average customer rating:

Picasso's Collection of African & Oceanic Art: Master of Metamorphosis
Peter Stepan
Manufacturer: Prestel Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Museums & Collections | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Sculpture | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

African Vision: The Walt Disney-Tishman African Art Collection
From the South Seas
Land of the Flying Masks: Art & Culture in Burkina Faso, the Thomas G. B. Wheellock Collection
Senufo (Visions of Africa)
Fang (Visions of Africa)

ASIN: 3791336916

Book Description

Although he never set foot in Africa, Picasso had a passion for African art. Throughout the course of his life he assembled a unique collection of statues and masks. Comprising more than 120 objects, Picasso's private collection can now be found in museums in Paris such as the Louvre, Musée Quai Branly and the Musée Picasso, as well as in the private collections of members of Picasso's family. This beautiful book documents the entire collection and examines it as a whole. It features documentary photographs, a section of stunning color plates, and detailed ethnographic descriptions of each piece, providing a full account of Picasso's relationship with African and Oceanic art. This important publication sheds new light on the fascination non-Western art held for one of twentieth century's most important artists.

The Nature of Ornament: Rhythm and Metamorphosis in Architecture (Norton Books for Architects & Designers)

Average customer rating:

The Nature of Ornament: Rhythm and Metamorphosis in Architecture (Norton Books for Architects & Designers)
Kent C. Bloomer
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Decoration & Ornament | Interior Design | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

General | Interior Design | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Architectural Ornament: Banishment and Return
Ornament: A Modern Perspective (Samuel and Althea Stroum Book)
Body, Memory, and Architecture (Yale Paperbound)
The Function of Ornament
The Grammar of Ornament

ASIN: 0393730360

Book Description

Is ornament dead? This book offers a passionate argument for its vitality and meaning in modern architecture. The purpose of ornament--to articulate a realm of the imagination--is as important as it is misunderstood. An outstanding sculptor and ornamenter whose work adorns the Harold Washington Library in Chicago, the National Airport in Washington, D.C., and many other buildings, Kent Bloomer maintains that ornament is neither pure "art" in the contemporary sense of the word nor mere decoration, but rather a category unto itself, with its own unique language. Illustrated with the author's evocative line drawings and photographs of ornament from ancient Greece to the modern cityscape, the book is a hymn to the riches of architectural ornament.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books