《局外人》这本书可以说是存在主义文学的代表作品，同时，它也是一本当代青年不可不读的经典名著。
《局外人》以“今天，妈妈死了，也许是昨天，我不知道”开始，以“我还希望处决我的那一天有很多人来看，对我发出仇恨的喊叫声”结束。小说以这种不动声色而又蕴含内在力量的平静语调为我们塑造了一个惊世骇俗的“荒谬的人”：对一切都漠然置之的默尔索。
全书分为两个部分，第一部分从默尔索的母亲去世开始，到他在海滩上杀死阿拉伯人为止，是按时间顺序叙述的故事。
默尔索不仅在接到通知母亲去世的电报时没有哭，而且在母亲下葬时也没有哭，他没有要求打开棺材再看母亲最后一眼，反而在母亲的棺材面前抽烟、喝咖啡，人们不禁要愤然了：一个人在母亲下葬时不哭，他还算得是人吗？更有甚者，他竟在此后的第二天，就去海滨游泳，和女友一起去看滑稽影片，并且和她一起回到自己的住处。默尔索的行为越来越让人惊讶愕然，名声不好的邻居要惩罚自己的情妇，求他帮助写一封信，他竟答应了，觉得“没有理由不让他满意”。老板建议他去巴黎开设一个办事处，他竟没有表示什么热情，虽然他“并不愿意使他不快”。对于人人向往的巴黎， 他竟有这样的评价： “很脏。有鸽子， 有黑乎乎的院子。”玛丽要跟他结婚，他说随便怎么样都行。玛丽坚持问默尔索是否真的爱她，她原来指望听到肯定的回答，可是他竟说“大概是不爱她”。
《局外人》远眺凯旋门
这种叙述毫无抒情的意味，而只是默尔索内心自发意识的流露，因而他叙述的接二连三的事件、对话、姿势和感觉之间似乎没有必然的联系，给人以一种不连贯的荒谬之感，因为别人的姿势和语言在他看来都是没有意义的，是不可理解的。惟一确实的存在便是大海、阳光，而大自然却压倒了他，使他莫名其妙地杀了人：“我只觉得铙钹似的太阳扣在我的头上我感到天旋地转。海上泛起一阵闷热的狂风，我觉得天门洞开，向下倾泻大火。我全身都绷紧了，手紧紧握住枪。枪机扳动了”
在第二部分里，牢房代替了大海，社会的意识代替了默尔索自发的意识。司法机构以其固有的逻辑，利用被告过去偶然发生的一些事件把被告虚构成一种他自己都认不出来的形象：即把始终认为自己无罪、对一切都毫不在乎的默尔索硬说成一个冷酷无情、蓄意杀人的魔鬼。因为审讯几乎从不调查杀人案件，而是千方百计把杀人和他母亲之死及他和玛丽的关系联系在一起。
《局外人》咖啡馆
迷迷糊糊地杀了人的默尔索，对法庭上的辩论漠然置之，却非常有兴趣断定自己辩护律师的才华大大不如检察官。就在临刑的前夜，他觉醒了：“面对着充满信息和星斗的夜”，他“第一次向这个世界的动人的冷漠敞开了心扉”。他居然感到他“过去曾经是幸福的”， “现在仍然是幸福的”。他似乎还嫌人们惊讶得不够，接着又说：“为了使我感到不那么孤独，我还希望处决我的那一天有很多人来观看，希望他们对我报以仇恨的喊叫声。”
默尔索因为感受到这个现代社会人际关系的冷漠，而毫不迟疑地远离社会、抛弃社会，可是社会也抛弃了他，他最终成为了一个排除于生活中心的局外人。
《局外人》-专家点评
《局外人》阿尔伯特·加缪
加缪曾经把《局外人》的主题概括为一句话：“在我们的社会里，任何在母亲下葬时不哭的人都有被判死刑的危险。” 这种近乎可笑的说法隐藏着一个十分严酷的逻辑：任何违反社会的基本法则的人必将受到社会的惩罚。这个社会需要和它一致的人，背弃它或反抗它的人都在惩处之列，都有可能让检察官先生说：“我向你们要这个人的脑袋。” 默尔索的脑袋已经被检察官以社会的名义要了去。社会抛弃了默尔索，然而，默尔索宣布：“我过去曾经是幸福的，我现在仍然是幸福的。”谁也不会想到默尔索会有这样的宣告，他通过自己的宣告也抛弃了社会。然而这正是他的觉醒，他认识到了人与世界的分裂，他完成了荒诞的旅程的第一阶段。
谈《局外人》而不谈荒诞，就如同谈萨特的《恶心》而不谈存在主义。加缪在这本书中列举了荒诞的种种表现，例如：人和生活的分离；演员和布景的分离；怀有希望的精神和使之失望的世界之间的分裂；肉体的需要对于使之趋于死亡的时间的反抗；世界本身所具有的、使人的理解成为不可能的那种厚度和陌生性；人对人本身所散发出的非人性感到的不适及其堕落，等等。由于发现了“荒诞”，默尔索的消极、冷漠、无动于衷、执著于瞬间的人生等等顿时具有了一种象征的意义，小说于是从哲学上得到了阐明。因为人和世界的分离，世界于人是荒诞的，人对世界无能为力，因此不抱任何希望，对一切事物都无动于衷。加缪指出：“荒诞，就是确认自己的界限的清醒的理性。”“荒诞的人”就是“那个不否认永恒、但也不为永恒做任何事情的人”。尤其是当加缪指出“一个能用歪理来解释的世界，还是一个熟悉的世界，但是在一个突然被剥夺了幻觉和光明的宇宙中，人就感到自己是个局外人”的时候，我们更会一下子想到默尔索的。“荒诞的人”就是“局外人”，“局外人”就是具有“清醒的理性的人”。
《局外人》阿尔伯特·加缪
小说家加缪同时还有另一重身份，那就是作为存在主义代表人物之一的哲学家加缪。从某种意义上来说，这两种身份的混淆往往容易在小说创作中带来这样一个问题，那就是思想大于形象。从另一个角度来说，对于这类小说评价往往着重于其思想性。通俗地说，那就是加缪的小说，《局外人》也好，《鼠疫》也好，成败与否由其中心思想决定。《纽约时报书评》对《局外人》思想与形式的关系是这样分析的：“中心思想并不是创造性艺术的最高形式，但是，它却有可能重要到这个地步：如果为了艺术批判的缘故而抛弃它则将会亵渎人类精神。”阅读这部小说就可以让人明白，《局外人》并不是一个哲学观念的简单图解，而是一部成功的小说。它以奇特而又新颖的笔调塑造了一个显然与众不同的人物，不想和别人有任何联系、只想保持自己个性不受干扰的人物。《局外人》的读者可以不知道默尔索什么模样，是高还是矮，是胖还是瘦，但他们不可能不记住他，不可能不在许多场合想到他。小说以自身的独立的存在展示了人与世界的关系。它迫使我们向自己提出这样的问题：世界是晦涩的，还是清晰的？是合乎理性的，还是不可理喻的？人在这个世界上是幸福的，还是痛苦的？人与这个世界的关系是和谐一致的，还是分裂矛盾的？
加缪的小说风格介于传统小说和新小说之间。一方面，存在主义文学是反传统的，作者从不介入小说，从不干预主人公的命运，从来不发表自己的议论；另一方面，小说的语言又极其简单明晰，可以说具有古典主义的散文风格，具有极强的表现力和感染力。《局外人》成为一本于平淡中见深度、从枯涩中出哲理的很不平常的书。
《局外人》阿尔伯特·加缪
加缪还写过以论荒诞为主旨的长篇哲学随笔《西西弗神话》。事实上，人们的确是常常用《西西弗神话》来解释《局外人》，而开此先例的正是萨特。他最早把这两本书联系在一起，认定《局外人》是“荒诞的证明”，是一本“关于荒诞和反对荒诞的书”。也可以说《西西弗神话》正是《局外人》的注脚。加缪在1941年2月21日的一则手记中写道：“完成《神话》。三个‘荒诞’到此结束。”这三个“荒诞”指的就是：哲学随笔《西西弗神话》，小说《局外人》和剧本《卡利古拉》。
当加缪因车祸去世后，《纽约时报》这样概括他的思想： “加缪在荒诞的车祸中丧身，实属辛辣的哲学讽刺。因为他思想的中心是如何对人类处境做出一个思想深刻人士的正确回答，人们毫不感到意外，我们的时代接受了加缪的观点。血腥的二次世界大战，可怕的氢弹威胁，这一切使现代社会能够接受加缪严肃的哲学，并使之长存于人们的心中。”
如今40多年过去了，人们没有忘记他，人们也不会忘记他，越来越多的人在研究他的著作与思想。《局外人》也一再重版，印数突破千万册。加缪在世的时候由于是一个在贫穷、普通的家庭里长大的孩子，因而常被痛恨他的人贬低，孤独之时他总对他的一个知己说： “但愿他们了解真正的我。”
他是与文学沙龙、文学名人、荣誉、勋章保持距离的“局外人”，但他的思考却深入到了现代社会的腹地。
《局外人》-妙语佳句
大家都很幸运，这个世界上只有幸运的人。
在所有智力健全的人都或多或少期望他们所爱的人死去。
《局外人》以“今天，妈妈死了，也许是昨天，我不知道”开始，以“我还希望处决我的那一天有很多人来看，对我发出仇恨的喊叫声”结束。小说以这种不动声色而又蕴含内在力量的平静语调为我们塑造了一个惊世骇俗的“荒谬的人”：对一切都漠然置之的默尔索。
全书分为两个部分，第一部分从默尔索的母亲去世开始，到他在海滩上杀死阿拉伯人为止，是按时间顺序叙述的故事。
默尔索不仅在接到通知母亲去世的电报时没有哭，而且在母亲下葬时也没有哭，他没有要求打开棺材再看母亲最后一眼，反而在母亲的棺材面前抽烟、喝咖啡，人们不禁要愤然了：一个人在母亲下葬时不哭，他还算得是人吗？更有甚者，他竟在此后的第二天，就去海滨游泳，和女友一起去看滑稽影片，并且和她一起回到自己的住处。默尔索的行为越来越让人惊讶愕然，名声不好的邻居要惩罚自己的情妇，求他帮助写一封信，他竟答应了，觉得“没有理由不让他满意”。老板建议他去巴黎开设一个办事处，他竟没有表示什么热情，虽然他“并不愿意使他不快”。对于人人向往的巴黎， 他竟有这样的评价： “很脏。有鸽子， 有黑乎乎的院子。”玛丽要跟他结婚，他说随便怎么样都行。玛丽坚持问默尔索是否真的爱她，她原来指望听到肯定的回答，可是他竟说“大概是不爱她”。
《局外人》远眺凯旋门
这种叙述毫无抒情的意味，而只是默尔索内心自发意识的流露，因而他叙述的接二连三的事件、对话、姿势和感觉之间似乎没有必然的联系，给人以一种不连贯的荒谬之感，因为别人的姿势和语言在他看来都是没有意义的，是不可理解的。惟一确实的存在便是大海、阳光，而大自然却压倒了他，使他莫名其妙地杀了人：“我只觉得铙钹似的太阳扣在我的头上我感到天旋地转。海上泛起一阵闷热的狂风，我觉得天门洞开，向下倾泻大火。我全身都绷紧了，手紧紧握住枪。枪机扳动了”
在第二部分里，牢房代替了大海，社会的意识代替了默尔索自发的意识。司法机构以其固有的逻辑，利用被告过去偶然发生的一些事件把被告虚构成一种他自己都认不出来的形象：即把始终认为自己无罪、对一切都毫不在乎的默尔索硬说成一个冷酷无情、蓄意杀人的魔鬼。因为审讯几乎从不调查杀人案件，而是千方百计把杀人和他母亲之死及他和玛丽的关系联系在一起。
《局外人》咖啡馆
迷迷糊糊地杀了人的默尔索，对法庭上的辩论漠然置之，却非常有兴趣断定自己辩护律师的才华大大不如检察官。就在临刑的前夜，他觉醒了：“面对着充满信息和星斗的夜”，他“第一次向这个世界的动人的冷漠敞开了心扉”。他居然感到他“过去曾经是幸福的”， “现在仍然是幸福的”。他似乎还嫌人们惊讶得不够，接着又说：“为了使我感到不那么孤独，我还希望处决我的那一天有很多人来观看，希望他们对我报以仇恨的喊叫声。”
默尔索因为感受到这个现代社会人际关系的冷漠，而毫不迟疑地远离社会、抛弃社会，可是社会也抛弃了他，他最终成为了一个排除于生活中心的局外人。
《局外人》-专家点评
《局外人》阿尔伯特·加缪
加缪曾经把《局外人》的主题概括为一句话：“在我们的社会里，任何在母亲下葬时不哭的人都有被判死刑的危险。” 这种近乎可笑的说法隐藏着一个十分严酷的逻辑：任何违反社会的基本法则的人必将受到社会的惩罚。这个社会需要和它一致的人，背弃它或反抗它的人都在惩处之列，都有可能让检察官先生说：“我向你们要这个人的脑袋。” 默尔索的脑袋已经被检察官以社会的名义要了去。社会抛弃了默尔索，然而，默尔索宣布：“我过去曾经是幸福的，我现在仍然是幸福的。”谁也不会想到默尔索会有这样的宣告，他通过自己的宣告也抛弃了社会。然而这正是他的觉醒，他认识到了人与世界的分裂，他完成了荒诞的旅程的第一阶段。
谈《局外人》而不谈荒诞，就如同谈萨特的《恶心》而不谈存在主义。加缪在这本书中列举了荒诞的种种表现，例如：人和生活的分离；演员和布景的分离；怀有希望的精神和使之失望的世界之间的分裂；肉体的需要对于使之趋于死亡的时间的反抗；世界本身所具有的、使人的理解成为不可能的那种厚度和陌生性；人对人本身所散发出的非人性感到的不适及其堕落，等等。由于发现了“荒诞”，默尔索的消极、冷漠、无动于衷、执著于瞬间的人生等等顿时具有了一种象征的意义，小说于是从哲学上得到了阐明。因为人和世界的分离，世界于人是荒诞的，人对世界无能为力，因此不抱任何希望，对一切事物都无动于衷。加缪指出：“荒诞，就是确认自己的界限的清醒的理性。”“荒诞的人”就是“那个不否认永恒、但也不为永恒做任何事情的人”。尤其是当加缪指出“一个能用歪理来解释的世界，还是一个熟悉的世界，但是在一个突然被剥夺了幻觉和光明的宇宙中，人就感到自己是个局外人”的时候，我们更会一下子想到默尔索的。“荒诞的人”就是“局外人”，“局外人”就是具有“清醒的理性的人”。
《局外人》阿尔伯特·加缪
小说家加缪同时还有另一重身份，那就是作为存在主义代表人物之一的哲学家加缪。从某种意义上来说，这两种身份的混淆往往容易在小说创作中带来这样一个问题，那就是思想大于形象。从另一个角度来说，对于这类小说评价往往着重于其思想性。通俗地说，那就是加缪的小说，《局外人》也好，《鼠疫》也好，成败与否由其中心思想决定。《纽约时报书评》对《局外人》思想与形式的关系是这样分析的：“中心思想并不是创造性艺术的最高形式，但是，它却有可能重要到这个地步：如果为了艺术批判的缘故而抛弃它则将会亵渎人类精神。”阅读这部小说就可以让人明白，《局外人》并不是一个哲学观念的简单图解，而是一部成功的小说。它以奇特而又新颖的笔调塑造了一个显然与众不同的人物，不想和别人有任何联系、只想保持自己个性不受干扰的人物。《局外人》的读者可以不知道默尔索什么模样，是高还是矮，是胖还是瘦，但他们不可能不记住他，不可能不在许多场合想到他。小说以自身的独立的存在展示了人与世界的关系。它迫使我们向自己提出这样的问题：世界是晦涩的，还是清晰的？是合乎理性的，还是不可理喻的？人在这个世界上是幸福的，还是痛苦的？人与这个世界的关系是和谐一致的，还是分裂矛盾的？
加缪的小说风格介于传统小说和新小说之间。一方面，存在主义文学是反传统的，作者从不介入小说，从不干预主人公的命运，从来不发表自己的议论；另一方面，小说的语言又极其简单明晰，可以说具有古典主义的散文风格，具有极强的表现力和感染力。《局外人》成为一本于平淡中见深度、从枯涩中出哲理的很不平常的书。
《局外人》阿尔伯特·加缪
加缪还写过以论荒诞为主旨的长篇哲学随笔《西西弗神话》。事实上，人们的确是常常用《西西弗神话》来解释《局外人》，而开此先例的正是萨特。他最早把这两本书联系在一起，认定《局外人》是“荒诞的证明”，是一本“关于荒诞和反对荒诞的书”。也可以说《西西弗神话》正是《局外人》的注脚。加缪在1941年2月21日的一则手记中写道：“完成《神话》。三个‘荒诞’到此结束。”这三个“荒诞”指的就是：哲学随笔《西西弗神话》，小说《局外人》和剧本《卡利古拉》。
当加缪因车祸去世后，《纽约时报》这样概括他的思想： “加缪在荒诞的车祸中丧身，实属辛辣的哲学讽刺。因为他思想的中心是如何对人类处境做出一个思想深刻人士的正确回答，人们毫不感到意外，我们的时代接受了加缪的观点。血腥的二次世界大战，可怕的氢弹威胁，这一切使现代社会能够接受加缪严肃的哲学，并使之长存于人们的心中。”
如今40多年过去了，人们没有忘记他，人们也不会忘记他，越来越多的人在研究他的著作与思想。《局外人》也一再重版，印数突破千万册。加缪在世的时候由于是一个在贫穷、普通的家庭里长大的孩子，因而常被痛恨他的人贬低，孤独之时他总对他的一个知己说： “但愿他们了解真正的我。”
他是与文学沙龙、文学名人、荣誉、勋章保持距离的“局外人”，但他的思考却深入到了现代社会的腹地。
《局外人》-妙语佳句
大家都很幸运，这个世界上只有幸运的人。
在所有智力健全的人都或多或少期望他们所爱的人死去。
西西弗的神话荷马说，西西弗是最终要死的人中最聪明最谨慎的人。但另有传说说他屈从于强盗生涯。我看不出其中有什么矛盾。各种说法的分歧在于是否要赋予这地狱中的无效劳动者的行为动机以价值。人们首先是以某种轻率的态度把他与诸神放在一起进行谴责，并历数他们的隐私。阿索玻斯的女儿埃癸娜被朱庇特劫走。父亲对女儿的失踪大为震惊并且怪罪于西西弗，深知内情的西西弗对阿索玻斯说，他可以告诉他女儿的消息，但必须以给柯兰特城堡供水为条件，他宁愿得到水的圣浴，而不是天火雷电。他因此被罚下地狱，荷马告诉我们西西弗曾经扼往过死神的喉咙。普洛托忍受不了地狱王国的荒凉寂寞，他催促战神把死神从其战胜者手中解放出来。
还有人说，西西弗在临死前冒失地要检验他妻子对他的爱情。他命令她把他的尸体扔在广场中央。不举行任何仪式。于是西西弗重堕地狱。他在地狱里对那恣意践踏人类之爱的行径十分愤慨。她获得普洛托的允诺重返人间以惩罚他的妻子。但当他又一次看到这大地的面貌，重新领略流水、阳光的抚爱，重新触摸那火热的石头、宽阔的大海的时候，他就再也不愿回到阴森的地狱中去了。冥王的诏令、气愤和警告都无济于事。他又在地球上生活了多年，面对起伏的山峦，奔腾的大海和大地的微笑他又生活了多年。诸神于是进行干涉。墨丘利跑来揪住这冒犯者的领子，把他从欢乐的生活中拉了出来，强行把他重新投入地狱，在那里，为惩罚他而设的巨石已准备就绪。
我们已经明白：西西弗是个荒谬的英雄。他之所以是荒谬的英雄，还因为他的和他所经受的磨难。他藐视神明，仇恨死亡，对生活充满，这必然使他受到难以用言语尽述的非人折磨：他以自己的整个身心致力于一种没有效果的事业。而这是为了对大地的无限热爱必须付出的代价。人们并没有谈到西西弗在地狱里的情况。创造这些神话是为了让人的想象使西西弗的形象栩栩如生。在西西弗身上，我们只能看到这样一幅图画：一个紧张的身体千百次地重复一个动作：搬动巨石，滚动它并把它推至山顶；我们看到的是一张痛苦扭曲的脸，看到的是紧贴在巨石上的面颊，那落满泥士、抖动的肩膀，沾满泥士的双脚，完全僵直的胳膊，以及那坚实的满是泥士的人的双手。经过被渺渺空间和永恒的时间着的努力之后，目的就达到了。西西弗于是看到巨石在几秒钟内又向着下面的世界滚下，而他则必须把这巨石重新推向山顶。他于是又向山下走去。
正是因为这种回复、停歇，我对西西弗产生了兴趣。这一张饱经磨难近似石头般坚硬的面孔已经自己化成了石头！我看到这个人以沉重而均匀的脚步走向那无尽的苦难。这个时刻就像一次呼吸那样短促，它的到来与西西弗的不幸一样是确定无疑的，这个时刻就是意识的时刻。在每一个这样的时刻中，他离开山顶并且逐渐地深入到诸神的巢穴中去，他超出了他自己的命运。他比他搬动的巨石还要坚硬。
如果说，这个神话是悲剧的，那是因为它的主人公是有意识的。若他行的每一步都依靠成功的希望所支持，那他的痛苦实际上又在那里呢？今天的工人终生都在劳动，终日完成的是同样的工作，这样的命运并非不比西西弗的命运荒谬。但是，这种命运只有在工人变得有意识的偶然时刻才是悲剧性的。西西弗，这诸神中的无产者，这进行无效劳役而又进行反叛的无产者，他完全清楚自己所处的悲惨境地：在他下山时，他想到的正是这悲惨的境地。造成西西弗痛苦的清醒意识同时也就造就了他的胜利。不存在不通过蔑视而自我超越的命运。
如果西西弗下山推石在某些天里是痛苦地进行着的，那么这个工作也可以在欢乐中进行。这并不是言过其实。我还想象西西弗又回头走向他的巨石，痛苦又重新开始。当对大地的想象过于着重于回忆，当对幸福的憧憬过于急切，那痛苦就在人的心灵深处升起：这就是巨石的胜利，这就是巨石本身。巨大的悲痛是难以承担的重负。这就是我们的客西马尼之夜。但是，雄辩的真理一旦被认识就会衰竭。因此，俄狄浦斯不知不觉首先屈从命运。而一旦他明白了一切，他的悲剧就开始了。与此同时，两眼失明而又丧失希望的俄狄浦斯认识到，他与世界之间的唯一联系就是一个年轻姑娘鲜润的手。他于是毫无顾忌地发出这样震撼人心的声音：“尽管我历尽艰难困苦，但我年逾不惑，我的灵魂深邃伟大，因而我认为我是幸福的。”索福克勒斯的俄狄浦斯与陀思妥耶夫斯基的基里洛夫都提出了荒谬胜利的法则。先贤的智慧与现代英雄主义汇合了。
人们要发现荒谬，就不能不想到要写某种有关幸福的教材。“哎，什么！就凭这些如此狭窄的道路……？”但是，世界只有一个。幸福与荒谬是同一大地的两个产儿。若说幸福一定是从荒谬的发现中产生的，那可能是错误的。因为荒谬的感情还很可能产生于幸福。“我认为我是幸福的”，俄狄浦斯说，而这种说法是神圣的。它回响在人的疯狂而又有限的世界之中。它告诫人们一切都还没有也从没有被穷尽过。它把一个上帝从世界中驱逐出去，这个上帝是怀着不满足的心理以及对无效痛苦的偏好而进入人间的。它还把命运改造成为一件应该在人们之中得到安排的人的事情。
西西弗无声的全部快乐就在于此。他的命运是属于他的。他的岩石是他的事情。同样，当荒谬的人深思他的痛苦时，他就使一切偶像哑然失声。在这突然重又沉默的世界中，大地升起千万个美妙细小的声音。无意识的、秘密的召唤，一切面貌提出的要求，这些都是胜利必不可少的对立面和应付的代价。不存在无阴影的太阳，而且必须认识黑夜。荒谬的人说“是”，但他的努力永不停息。如果有一种个人的命运，就不会有更高的命运，或至少可以说，只有一种被人看作是宿命的和应受到蔑视的命运。此外，荒谬的人知道，他是自己生活的主人。在这微妙的时刻，人回归到自己的生活之中，西西弗回身走向巨石，他静观这一系列没有关联而又变成他自己命运的行动，他的命运是他自己创造的，是在他的记忆的注视下聚合而又马上会被他的死亡固定的命运。因此，盲人从一开始就坚信一切人的东西都源于人道主义，就像盲人渴望看见而又知道黑夜是无穷尽的一样，西西弗永远行进。而巨石仍在滚动着。
我把西西弗留在山脚下！我们总是看到他身上的重负。而西西弗告诉我们，最高的虔诚是否认诸神并且搬掉石头。他也认为自己是幸福的。这个从此没有主宰的世界对他来讲既不是荒漠，也不是沃士。这块巨石上的每一颗粒，这黑黝黝的高山上的每一颗矿砂唯有对西西弗才形成一个世界。他爬上山顶所要进行的斗争本身就足以使一个人心里感到充实。应该认为，西西弗是幸福的。
In the essay, Camus introduces his philosophy of the absurd: man's futile search for meaning, unity and clarity in the face of an unintelligible world devoid of God and eternal truths or values. Does the realization of the absurd require suicide? Camus answers: "No. It requires revolt." He then outlines several approaches to the absurd life. The final chapter compares the absurdity of man's life with the situation of Sisyphus, a figure of Greek mythology who was condemned to repeat forever the same meaningless task of pushing a boulder up a mountain, only to see it roll down again. The essay concludes, "The struggle itself...is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy."
The work can be seen in relation to other works by Camus: the novel The Stranger (1942), the play Caligula (1945), and especially the essay The Rebel (1951).
Summary
The essay is dedicated to Pascal Pia and is organized in three chapters and one appendix.
Chapter 1: An Absurd Reasoning
Camus undertakes to answer what he considers to be the only question of philosophy that matters: Does the realization of the meaninglessness and absurdity of life necessarily require suicide?
He begins by describing the absurd condition: much of our life is built on the hope for tomorrow yet tomorrow brings us closer to death and is the ultimate enemy; people live as if they didn't know about the certainty of death; once stripped of its common romanticisms, the world is a foreign, strange and inhuman place; true knowledge is impossible and rationality and science cannot explain the world: their stories ultimately end in meaningless abstractions, in metaphors. "From the moment absurdity is recognized, it becomes a passion, the most harrowing of all."
It is not the world that is absurd, nor human thought: the absurd arises when the human need to understand meets the unreasonableness of the world, when "my appetite for the absolute and for unity" meets "the impossibility of reducing this world to a rational and reasonable principle."
He then characterizes a number of philosophies that describe and attempt to deal with this feeling of the absurd, by Heidegger, Jaspers, Shestov, Kierkegaard and Husserl. All of these, he claims, commit "philosophical suicide" by reaching conclusions that contradict the original absurd position, either by abandoning reason and turning to God, as in the case of Kierkegaard and Shestov, or by elevating reason and ultimately arriving at ubiquitous Platonic forms and an abstract god, as in the case of Husserl.
For Camus, who sets out to take the absurd seriously and follow it to its final conclusions, these "leaps" cannot convince. Taking the absurd seriously means acknowledging the contradiction between the desire of human reason and the unreasonable world. Suicide, then, also must be rejected: without man, the absurd cannot exist. The contradiction must be lived; reason and its limits must be acknowledged, without false hope. However, the absurd can never be accepted: it requires constant confrontation, constant revolt.
While the question of human freedom in the metaphysical sense loses interest to the absurd man, he gains freedom in a very concrete sense: no longer bound by hope for a better future or eternity, without a need to pursue life's purpose or to create meaning, "he enjoys a freedom with regard to common rules".
To embrace the absurd implies embracing all that the unreasonable world has to offer. Without a meaning in life, there is no scale of values. "What counts is not the best living but the most living."
Thus, Camus arrives at three consequences from the full acknowledging of the absurd: revolt, freedom and passion.
Chapter 2: The Absurd Man
How should the absurd man live? Clearly, no ethical rules apply, as they are all based on higher powers or on justification. "Integrity has no need of rules." 'Everything is permitted' "is not an outburst of relief or of joy, but rather a bitter acknowledgment of a fact."
Camus then goes on to present examples of the absurd life. He begins with Don Juan, the serial seducer who lives the passionate life to the fullest. "There is no noble love but that which recognizes itself to be both short-lived and exceptional."
The next example is the actor, who depicts ephemeral lives for ephemeral fame. "He demonstrates to what degree appearing creates being." "In those three hours he travels the whole course of the dead-end path that the man in the audience takes a lifetime to cover."
Camus' third example of the absurd man is the conqueror, the warrior who forgoes all promises of eternity to affect and engage fully in human history. He chooses action over contemplation, aware of the fact that nothing can last and no victory is final.
Chapter 3: The Myth of Sisyphus
In the last chapter, Camus outlines the legend of Sisyphus who defied the gods and put Death in chains so that no human needed to die. When Death was eventually liberated and it came time for Sisyphus himself to die, he concocted a deceit which let him escape from the underworld. Finally captured, the gods decided on his punishment: for all eternity, he would have to push a rock up a mountain; on the top, the rock rolls down again and Sisyphus has to start over. Camus sees Sisyphus as the absurd hero who lives life to the fullest, hates death and is condemned to a meaningless task.
Camus presents Sisyphus's ceaseless and pointless toil as a metaphor for modern lives spent working at futile jobs in factories and offices. "The workman of today works every day in his life at the same tasks, and this fate is no less absurd. But it is tragic only at the rare moments when it becomes conscious."
Camus is interested in Sisyphus' thoughts when marching down the mountain, to start anew. This is the truly tragic moment, when the hero becomes conscious of his wretched condition. He does not have hope, but "[t]here is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn." Acknowledging the truth will conquer it; Sisyphus, just like the absurd man, keeps pushing. Camus claims that when Sisyphus acknowledges the futility of his task and the certainty of his fate, he is freed to realize the absurdity of his situation and to reach a state of contented acceptance. With a nod to the similarly cursed Greek hero Oedipus, Camus concludes that "all is well," indeed, that "One must imagine Sisyphus happy."
Appendix
The essay contains an appendix titled "Hope and the Absurd in the work of Franz Kafka". While Camus acknowledges that Kafka's work represents an exquisite description of the absurd condition, he maintains that Kafka fails as an absurd writer because his work retains a glimmer of hope.
长篇小说《鼠疫》的作者阿尔贝·加缪是法国现代著名存在主义文学家，1957年诺贝尔文学奖金的获得者。他在1913年出生于阿尔及利亚的蒙多维。他的父亲生于阿尔萨斯，从小失去父母，曾多次逃离寄养的孤儿院，长大后在阿尔及利亚当农业工人，第一次世界大战开始后不久，在对德作 战中受伤身亡，当时加缪还不满一岁。加缪继《鼠疫》之后，曾计划在另一部长篇小说《第一人》中描写他的父亲的一生。他的母亲是祖代移居阿尔及利亚的西班牙人后裔；在她的扶养下，加缪在贫困的阿拉伯居民中间
长大，对他们的处境始终怀有深切的同情。加缪在阿尔及尔大学哲学系攻读时，因患肺病而中途辍学。后来他和一些青年组织了一个“劳动剧团”，后因准备上演一出以西班牙矿工罢工遭到镇压为主题的戏剧，被殖民当局禁演，剧团也因而解散。那时加缪开始为当地报纸写文章，后来在阿尔及利亚的奥兰正式从事新闻工作。1934年他参加了阿尔及利亚的法国共产党支部，翌年脱党。第二次世界大战期间，他虽然有一段时间肺病复发，但仍参加了法国抵抗运动，继续为反对法西斯撰写文章。1944年巴黎解放以后，加缪担任戴高乐派的《战斗报》主编，1947年《鼠疫》出版前一星期，加缪正式宣告脱离这份报纸。后来他除了从事生平向往的戏剧活动和写作外，长期为巴黎大出版商米歇尔·伽里玛挑选文艺作品。战后初期，他与当时在西方思想界和文学界影响极大的存在主义作家让·保罗·萨特曾一度过从甚密，但加缪始终否认自己属于这一派，认为他对一切问题有自己独立的见解，不属于任何派别体系。1946年他发表了论著《反抗者》以后，受到萨特的批评，两人之间展开了一场论战，曾轰动一时。1960年春，加缪乘坐伽里玛驾驶的汽车出游时，翻车身亡，时年四十七岁。
《鼠疫》这部以象征手法写出的哲理小说，与作者的第一部中篇小说《局外人》（1942年发表）问是加缪最重要的代表作，均被列为现代世界文学名著。《鼠疫》创作思想开始酝酿的时期，是在1940年巴黎被德国法西斯占领以后。加缪当时已打算用寓言的形式，刻划出法西斯像鼠疫病菌那样吞噬着千万人生命的“恐怖时代”，像十九世纪美国作家麦尔维尔的小说《白鲸》那样，通过一条大鲸鱼的凶恶，写出时代的灾难。1942年加缪因肺病复发，从炎热的奥兰转移到法国南部山区帕纳里埃（后来作者在 鼠疫》中以帕纳卢作为一位天主教神甫的姓名）疗养，不久英美盟军在阿尔及利亚登陆，德军进占法国南方，加缪一时与家人音讯断绝，焦虑不安，孤单寂寞，这种切身的体会使他在《鼠疫》中描写新闻记者朗贝尔的处境时，特别逼真动人。在加缪看来，当时处于法西斯专制强权统治下的法国人民--除了一部分从事抵抗运动者外--就像欧洲中世纪鼠疫流行期间一样，长期过着与外界隔绝的囚禁生活；他们在“鼠疫”城中，不但随时面临死神的威胁，而且日夜忍受着生离死别痛苦不堪的折磨。加缪在1942年11月11日的日记中，曾把当时横行无忌的德军比为“像老鼠一样”；在另一篇日记中，他这样记下当时的情况：“全国人民在忍受着一种处于绝望之中的沉默的生活，可是仍然在期待……”值得注意的是，加缪在小说中用细致的笔触写出了他的同代人在面临一场大屠杀时的恐惧、焦虑、痛苦、挣扎和斗争之际，特别是刻划了法国资产阶级在经历第二次世界大战这场浩劫的过程中，在思想上和感情上发生的巨大而深切的震撼。尽管加
缪按照习惯，避免直接描写法国社会，假借北非地中海滨海城市奥兰作为发生鼠疫的地点，但我们从这座商业昌盛，物质文明发达，但市民精神空虚，以寻欢作乐来消磨人生的城市，不难看出这是法国社会的一个缩影。
从《局外人》到《鼠疫》，加缪表现了一些存在主义哲学的基本观点：世界是荒谬的，现实本身是不可认识的，人的存在缺乏理性，人生孤独，活着没有意义。因此，加缪虽然再三否认自己是存在主义者，西方文学史家仍然把他列为这一流派的作家。加缪自己曾这样说：“《局外人》写的是人在荒谬的世界中孤立无援，身不由已；《鼠疫》写的是面临同样的荒唐的生存时，尽管每个人的观点不同，但从深处看来，却有等同的地方。”在《鼠疫》这部后期代表作中，表现了作者的思想有一定的改变。《局外人》的主人公莫尔索和《鼠疫》中的主人公里厄医生面对着同样荒谬的世界时，态度就完全不同：莫尔索冷淡漠然，麻木不仁，连对母亲的逝世以至自身的死亡都抱着局外人的态度；里厄医生在力搏那不知从何而来的瘟疫时，虽然有时感到孤单绝望，但他清晰地认识到自己的责任就是跟那吞噬千万无辜者的毒菌作斗争，而且在艰苦的搏斗中，他看到爱情、友谊和母爱给人生带来幸福。里厄医生不是孤军作战，他最后认识到只有通过一些道德高尚、富于自我牺牲精神的人共同努力，才能反抗肆无忌惮的瘟神，人类社会才有一线希望。
加缪坚持个人主义的立场，认为个人应置于一切的首位；但在发现强调“个人绝对自由”的存在主义并不能解决资产阶级社会生存的矛盾时，加缪终于回到传统的资产阶级人道主义中去寻求解答他一直在苦思冥想的“人类的出路在何处”的问题。 《鼠疫》形象地反映他那个时代的人一些深刻的矛盾。这部小说在艺术风格上也有独到之处，而且全篇结构严谨，生活气息浓郁，人物性格鲜明，
对不同处境中人物心理和感情的变化刻划得深入细致；小说中贯穿着人与瘟神搏斗的史诗般的篇章、生离死别的动人哀歌、友谊与爱情的美丽诗篇、地中海海滨色彩奇幻的画面，使这部作品具有强烈的艺术魅力。
The novel is believed to be based on the cholera epidemic that killed a large percentage of Oran's population in 1849 following French colonization, but the novel is placed in the 1940s.[1] Oran and its environs were struck by disease multiple times before Camus published this novel. According to a research report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Oran was decimated by the plague in 1556 and 1678, but outbreaks after European colonization, in 1921 (185 cases), 1931 (76 cases), and 1944 (95 cases), were very far from the scale of the epidemic described in the novel.
The Plague is considered an existentialist classic despite Camus' objection to the label.[2][3] The narrative tone is similar to Kafka's, especially in The Trial, where individual sentences potentially have multiple meanings, the material often pointedly resonating as stark allegory of phenomenal consciousness and the human condition. Camus included a dim-witted character misreading The Trial as a mystery novel as an oblique homage. The novel has been read as a metaphorical treatment of the French resistance to Nazi occupation during World War II.
Although Camus's approach in the book is severe, his narrator emphasizes the ideas that we ultimately have no control, irrationality of life is inevitable, and he further illustrates the human reaction towards the ‘absurd’. The Plague represents how the world deals with the philosophical notion of the Absurd, a theory which Camus himself helped to define.
长大，对他们的处境始终怀有深切的同情。加缪在阿尔及尔大学哲学系攻读时，因患肺病而中途辍学。后来他和一些青年组织了一个“劳动剧团”，后因准备上演一出以西班牙矿工罢工遭到镇压为主题的戏剧，被殖民当局禁演，剧团也因而解散。那时加缪开始为当地报纸写文章，后来在阿尔及利亚的奥兰正式从事新闻工作。1934年他参加了阿尔及利亚的法国共产党支部，翌年脱党。第二次世界大战期间，他虽然有一段时间肺病复发，但仍参加了法国抵抗运动，继续为反对法西斯撰写文章。1944年巴黎解放以后，加缪担任戴高乐派的《战斗报》主编，1947年《鼠疫》出版前一星期，加缪正式宣告脱离这份报纸。后来他除了从事生平向往的戏剧活动和写作外，长期为巴黎大出版商米歇尔·伽里玛挑选文艺作品。战后初期，他与当时在西方思想界和文学界影响极大的存在主义作家让·保罗·萨特曾一度过从甚密，但加缪始终否认自己属于这一派，认为他对一切问题有自己独立的见解，不属于任何派别体系。1946年他发表了论著《反抗者》以后，受到萨特的批评，两人之间展开了一场论战，曾轰动一时。1960年春，加缪乘坐伽里玛驾驶的汽车出游时，翻车身亡，时年四十七岁。
《鼠疫》这部以象征手法写出的哲理小说，与作者的第一部中篇小说《局外人》（1942年发表）问是加缪最重要的代表作，均被列为现代世界文学名著。《鼠疫》创作思想开始酝酿的时期，是在1940年巴黎被德国法西斯占领以后。加缪当时已打算用寓言的形式，刻划出法西斯像鼠疫病菌那样吞噬着千万人生命的“恐怖时代”，像十九世纪美国作家麦尔维尔的小说《白鲸》那样，通过一条大鲸鱼的凶恶，写出时代的灾难。1942年加缪因肺病复发，从炎热的奥兰转移到法国南部山区帕纳里埃（后来作者在 鼠疫》中以帕纳卢作为一位天主教神甫的姓名）疗养，不久英美盟军在阿尔及利亚登陆，德军进占法国南方，加缪一时与家人音讯断绝，焦虑不安，孤单寂寞，这种切身的体会使他在《鼠疫》中描写新闻记者朗贝尔的处境时，特别逼真动人。在加缪看来，当时处于法西斯专制强权统治下的法国人民--除了一部分从事抵抗运动者外--就像欧洲中世纪鼠疫流行期间一样，长期过着与外界隔绝的囚禁生活；他们在“鼠疫”城中，不但随时面临死神的威胁，而且日夜忍受着生离死别痛苦不堪的折磨。加缪在1942年11月11日的日记中，曾把当时横行无忌的德军比为“像老鼠一样”；在另一篇日记中，他这样记下当时的情况：“全国人民在忍受着一种处于绝望之中的沉默的生活，可是仍然在期待……”值得注意的是，加缪在小说中用细致的笔触写出了他的同代人在面临一场大屠杀时的恐惧、焦虑、痛苦、挣扎和斗争之际，特别是刻划了法国资产阶级在经历第二次世界大战这场浩劫的过程中，在思想上和感情上发生的巨大而深切的震撼。尽管加
缪按照习惯，避免直接描写法国社会，假借北非地中海滨海城市奥兰作为发生鼠疫的地点，但我们从这座商业昌盛，物质文明发达，但市民精神空虚，以寻欢作乐来消磨人生的城市，不难看出这是法国社会的一个缩影。
从《局外人》到《鼠疫》，加缪表现了一些存在主义哲学的基本观点：世界是荒谬的，现实本身是不可认识的，人的存在缺乏理性，人生孤独，活着没有意义。因此，加缪虽然再三否认自己是存在主义者，西方文学史家仍然把他列为这一流派的作家。加缪自己曾这样说：“《局外人》写的是人在荒谬的世界中孤立无援，身不由已；《鼠疫》写的是面临同样的荒唐的生存时，尽管每个人的观点不同，但从深处看来，却有等同的地方。”在《鼠疫》这部后期代表作中，表现了作者的思想有一定的改变。《局外人》的主人公莫尔索和《鼠疫》中的主人公里厄医生面对着同样荒谬的世界时，态度就完全不同：莫尔索冷淡漠然，麻木不仁，连对母亲的逝世以至自身的死亡都抱着局外人的态度；里厄医生在力搏那不知从何而来的瘟疫时，虽然有时感到孤单绝望，但他清晰地认识到自己的责任就是跟那吞噬千万无辜者的毒菌作斗争，而且在艰苦的搏斗中，他看到爱情、友谊和母爱给人生带来幸福。里厄医生不是孤军作战，他最后认识到只有通过一些道德高尚、富于自我牺牲精神的人共同努力，才能反抗肆无忌惮的瘟神，人类社会才有一线希望。
加缪坚持个人主义的立场，认为个人应置于一切的首位；但在发现强调“个人绝对自由”的存在主义并不能解决资产阶级社会生存的矛盾时，加缪终于回到传统的资产阶级人道主义中去寻求解答他一直在苦思冥想的“人类的出路在何处”的问题。 《鼠疫》形象地反映他那个时代的人一些深刻的矛盾。这部小说在艺术风格上也有独到之处，而且全篇结构严谨，生活气息浓郁，人物性格鲜明，
对不同处境中人物心理和感情的变化刻划得深入细致；小说中贯穿着人与瘟神搏斗的史诗般的篇章、生离死别的动人哀歌、友谊与爱情的美丽诗篇、地中海海滨色彩奇幻的画面，使这部作品具有强烈的艺术魅力。
The novel is believed to be based on the cholera epidemic that killed a large percentage of Oran's population in 1849 following French colonization, but the novel is placed in the 1940s.[1] Oran and its environs were struck by disease multiple times before Camus published this novel. According to a research report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Oran was decimated by the plague in 1556 and 1678, but outbreaks after European colonization, in 1921 (185 cases), 1931 (76 cases), and 1944 (95 cases), were very far from the scale of the epidemic described in the novel.
The Plague is considered an existentialist classic despite Camus' objection to the label.[2][3] The narrative tone is similar to Kafka's, especially in The Trial, where individual sentences potentially have multiple meanings, the material often pointedly resonating as stark allegory of phenomenal consciousness and the human condition. Camus included a dim-witted character misreading The Trial as a mystery novel as an oblique homage. The novel has been read as a metaphorical treatment of the French resistance to Nazi occupation during World War II.
Although Camus's approach in the book is severe, his narrator emphasizes the ideas that we ultimately have no control, irrationality of life is inevitable, and he further illustrates the human reaction towards the ‘absurd’. The Plague represents how the world deals with the philosophical notion of the Absurd, a theory which Camus himself helped to define.
《法国中尉的女人》是英国作家约翰·福尔斯最具影响力的一部小说。这部小说是诺贝尔文学奖候选人、当代英国文坛超重量级大师福尔思的经典代表作之一，被选为二十世纪百大英文小说经典，也是英美各大学英语系二十世纪英国小说课程的必读作品。深受存在主义哲学影响并且对之情有独钟的福尔斯在这部小说中为存在主义哲学提供了一个的形象化的图解。
讲述的是发生在19世纪英国的爱情故事。一个悲伤、神秘的维多利亚时代的女人，明明是个处女却宣称自己已委身于法国中尉，被视为罪恶、淫荡的女人而被唾弃。而她的神秘、独特、大胆、深沉、忧郁的美以及野性的热情，唤起男人的同情和爱慕。她与查尔斯产生了炽热的爱情，却在他解除了和别人的婚约后拒绝他的求婚，悄然离开。
小说《法国中尉的女人》-故事梗概
故事发生在福尔斯在二十世纪六十年代居住过的一个英国小镇：莱姆·里基斯，时间是英国“维多利亚黄金时代”（指1850～1875年）中的1867年。小说一开卷，读者就会被浓烈的浪漫、神秘气氛所吸引：1867年3月的一个早晨，海边古老的壁垒狂风呼啸，查尔斯和他的未婚妻欧雷斯蒂娜正在这里散步。他们看见一个穿着黑色衣服的女人在海岬的一头孤独地站着，眺望大海。风越刮越大，当他们走近这个黑衣女人时，发现她就是那个镇上居民人人皆知的“法国中尉的女人”。人们说，她被一个法国中尉引诱失身，而当时的法国在极度清新寡欲的维多利亚时代的英国人看来，是一个“误入歧途的国家”。法国中尉回国后抛弃了她，而她几乎每天到海边来，就是等待法国中尉回到她的身边。
这位黑衣女郎，她阴沉、带有悲剧性的面孔虽无绝代佳丽的姿色，也无当时维多利亚女性应有的娴静、顺从和羞涩，却以其神秘、深沉、难以捉摸的与众不同而另具魅力，世俗者唾弃她这样的离经叛道者，但书中的查尔斯以及二十世纪的人们看待她的则是另外一种目光。
查尔斯时年三十二岁，是一个富家子弟，没有职业，但是对古生物学和地质学颇有兴趣，他受达尔文学说的影响很深，看到了维多利亚时代的保守和虚伪。
黑衣女子萨拉是一个出生于贫苦雇农家庭的独生女，她的祖先出身高贵，到她父亲这一代才衰落下来。父亲送女儿到寄宿学校接受良好的教育，她十八岁学成归家不久，父亲就去世了，在她当家庭教师谋生期间，一艘法国轮船沉没，幸存的法国中尉在懂法语的萨拉的照顾下康复，并与她海誓山盟，答应很快从法国返回接她；传闻她与中尉发生了关系，但中尉并没有履行诺言，而是抛弃了她。有关她的流言蜚语传遍了莱姆镇，她成为声名狼藉的“法国中尉的女人”。
而查尔斯的未婚妻欧雷斯蒂娜是一个典型的维多利亚女性，一个富商的女儿。她年轻、漂亮、文雅。但是，她的价值观和感情是肤浅的。查尔斯的叔父罗伯特决定和一个还在生育年龄的女人结婚，一旦他生下男孩，查尔斯就将丧失对叔父的财产和男爵爵位的继承权。欧雷斯蒂娜对罗伯特的结婚决定反应强烈，与查尔斯成鲜明对比。蒂娜戴着时代的面纱，掩饰自己对肉欲的渴望，独自一人在卧室里脱掉衣服欣赏自己的肉体美，期待着查尔斯的爱抚。她坚持每天写的日记是为了将来的一天查尔斯逼着她拿出来给他看，所以，日记中也是戴着面纱的。与萨拉相比，她是一个可以一眼看透的单调女子——一个年轻、美丽，却如一方清澈见底，摆动身躯数十下就可以游到尽头的小池，萨拉则身世沧桑，如深不可测的大海，浩瀚无边。
萨拉与蒂娜是两个对比鲜明的女性。萨拉处处与维多利亚的时代成规背道而驰，她明明是处女，却要说自己已委身于法国中尉，莱姆镇的所有人都在背后骂她是个放荡的女人，“法国中尉的婊子”，她却置之度外。雇用她的波尔特尼太太是维多利亚时代的典型的虚伪的卫道者，萨拉反抗波尔特尼太太对她的不许独自去林间散步的禁令，而她的神秘、独特、大胆、深沉、忧郁的美以及野性的热情，是唤起男人同情和爱慕的源泉，书中多次提到，萨拉犹如一头“野兽”，她不是一个受男人统治的维多利亚女性。即使她的容貌不如欧雷斯蒂娜的美丽，门第之高贵也不如年轻的蒂娜，真实的查尔斯还是被萨拉的神秘和真实的野性深深吸引，并提出帮助萨拉离开莱姆镇，到埃塞特去重新开始生活。
查尔斯在去伦敦的返程中在埃赛特停留，接到了萨拉的便条，赶到她居住的旅馆。长期积蓄的感情在他接触到受了伤的萨拉身体的时候一触即发，缠绵之后，他发现萨拉并没有受伤，而且她的委身于法国中尉的故事是她自己编织的谎言——她为什么要撒谎？为什么要用坏名声糟塌自己？
离开萨拉的房间后，查尔斯决定与蒂娜解除婚约，他派仆人山姆给萨拉送去一封信和一枚胸针，可山姆为查尔斯背叛蒂娜而愤怒，并没有把东西送去。
查尔斯付出了很大的代价来解除婚约，当他赶回埃赛特时，却发现萨拉已经不告而别。双重打击笼罩了他：蒂娜的父亲逼迫他在撕毁婚约的文件上签字，他已经身败名裂。但是让他更伤心的则是萨拉的离去。她为什么在引诱了他之后又悄然而去呢？
查尔斯及他雇用的侦探在各地搜寻萨拉，却一无所获。查尔斯决定去国外旅行，到美国后，他看到一个新兴国家的新的思维和新的世界，远远超过了此时保守、虚伪的英国。他认为萨拉就是这个新世界里的人。此时，他的律师拍来电报，告诉他：“找到她了。”他立刻订了票赶回伦敦。此时的萨拉与以前判若两人，她住在一个前期拉斐尔派画家的家里，衣着入时，仪态高雅。
书中表现了自由的主题，而开放式的结尾在这部后现代主义的小说中显得特异。第一个结尾在书的第四十四章，查尔斯从伦敦的返程中路过埃赛特，却没有停留，而是返回莱姆，和蒂娜结婚并生了七个儿女，过着美满的生活：“故事就此结束。萨拉呢？我不知道。不管她究竟如何，她再也没有去麻烦查尔斯……”这种传统式的结局显然是为作者所嘲弄的。
第二个结局在书的末尾，查尔斯见到居住在画家家里并成为他的助手的萨拉，发现萨拉给他生了个女儿，有情人终成眷属。
第三个结局是不确定的，查尔斯见到萨拉后请求与她结合，却遭到拒绝，她说，她决心终身不嫁，因为婚姻将剥夺她的自由，使她失去自己的独立和孤独。查尔斯的心碎了，觉得感情被玩弄、被欺骗，他对萨拉说：“你不仅把匕首捅进我的胸膛，你还以扭动它为乐。”“总有一天，你会因对我的所作所为得到报应。如果苍天有眼，你万世也难赎清你的罪过。”
而萨拉是这样说的：“你不理解我为什么不愿意同你结婚。这不是你的过错。你是个很善良的人。谁也不可能理解我。”
“我那样说，是要人明白连我自己也不理解自己。我说不清楚这是为什么。但我深信我的幸福正在于我对自己也不理解。”
“我拒绝你，如同我拒绝其他男人。你不能理解的是，对我来说，这并不荒唐。”查尔斯离开萨拉，独自一人走向街头时，他有一种从被囚禁的感情中得到解脱的感觉，他发现“他本身具有一些信念、一种真正的与众不同之处，这是他前进的基础”。而萨拉是个常人不能理解的女人，她以常人不能理解的方式寻求自己的独立、解放和自由。
这部小说中极富后现代气息的另一幕是，时空被交错，书的作者出现在书中一百年前的维多利亚时代。一个大胡子（作者）走进查尔斯所在的车厢，突然萌发了一个念头：“在此时此地结束查尔斯的一生，让他永远处于走往伦敦的路上。”
小说的前十二章再现了维多利亚时代的场景，把萨拉刻画得如在眼前，但在第十二章结尾，笔锋一转，把故事的叙述刹住，提出了一个怪问题：“萨拉是谁？她是从哪个隐蔽的角落钻出来的？”
当读者已经陷入小说中刻画的场景时，作者却突然把读者从书中拉出来，对他大吼一声：“别上当，这全是假的，全是虚构，是谎言！”
小说《法国中尉的女人》-作品由来
在“一部未完稿的小说笔记”中，福尔斯详细记述了《法国中尉的女人》的创作原因：1966年秋天的一个早晨，在半睡半醒的福尔斯的大脑中持续不断地浮现出一个孤独女子的形象。她久久地伫立在空荡荡的码头上，远眺着大海。“我想她是维多利亚时代受谴责者的形象，是一个被遗弃者的形象。我不知道她犯了什么错……”这一神秘而孤独的形象强烈地吸引着福尔斯，以至于他中止了正在进行中的小说创作而转向《法国中尉的女人》的写作。小说开篇以哈代的“迷”为引言，奠定了萨拉神秘的基调。小说中的萨拉是这样出场的：“在昏暗、弯曲的防波堤上还有另一个人的身影……那人站在临海的防波堤外侧，……全身上下着黑装，风吹处，衣服飘动，但是人却纹丝不动，面向大海凝视着什么，很像是溺水者的一座活纪念碑，一个神话中的人物，不像是微不足道的乡野生活里的正常景观”。这样的一个出场亮相突出了萨拉的基本特征：孤独而神秘。叙述者告诉我们，由于她父亲强烈的“名门出身情结”，她被父亲强迫“离开自己原来的阶级”，可她父亲“却没有能力把她提升到更高的一个阶级”，于是，“在她已经离开的那个阶级中的男青年眼里，她变得过于挑剔而不可娶，而她渴望进入的那个阶级的青年男子则认为她仍然过于平庸”。因此，“她成了等级社会的地道受害者”。在她父亲死后，早已过了当嫁年龄而成为“老处女”的她变得无家可归。
小说《法国中尉的女人》-作品解析
这部小说是诺贝尔文学奖候选人、当代英国文坛超重量级大师福尔思的经典代表作之一，被选为二十世纪百大英文小说经典，也是英美各大学英语系二十世纪英国小说课程的必读作品。
福尔斯笔下的萨拉便是这样一个作为“神秘而孤立的实在”而存在的人物形象。从萨拉“诞生”在福尔斯的脑海中的那一刻起，她便是神秘而孤独的。小说开篇以哈代的“迷”为引言，奠定了萨拉神秘的基调。小说中的萨拉是这样出场的：“在昏暗、弯曲的防波堤上还有另一个人的身影……那人站在临海的防波堤外侧，……全身上下着黑装，风吹处，衣服飘动，但是人却纹丝不动，面向大海凝视着什么，很像是溺水者的一座活纪念碑，一个神话中的人物，不像是微不足道的乡野生活里的正常景观”。这样的一个出场亮相突出了萨拉的基本特征：孤独而神秘。叙述者告诉我们，由于她父亲强烈的“名门出身情结”，她被父亲强迫“离开自己原来的阶级”，可她父亲“却没有能力把她提升到更高的一个阶级”，于是，“在她已经离开的那个阶级中的男青年眼里，她变得过于挑剔而不可娶，而她渴望进入的那个阶级的青年男子则认为她仍然过于平庸”。因此，“她成了等级社会的地道受害者”。在她父亲死后，早已过了当嫁年龄而成为“老处女”的她变得无家可归。随着故事的发展，情节的展开，展现在读者面前的萨拉几乎是将自己与周围世界隔离开的一个“多余的人”，是在莱母镇居民的冷眼和鄙视中生活的一个孤独的 “局外人”，人们“不想走进她”，怕坏了自己的名声。而她自己似乎也在“享受”着这种孤独，我行我素，独来独往，游离于莱母镇的凡尘琐事。她自己就曾说过：“我一直过着孤寂的生活，……命运似乎注定我永远不能和同等的人建立友谊，永远不能住在自己的家里，永远觉得自己被排除在主体世界之外”。
更为重要的是，萨拉的形象似乎是从破碎的镜片中反映出来的。故事每推进一步，碎片就增加一块，其整体形象自始至终无法从这难圆的破镜中露出“庐山真面目”，一直笼罩在神秘的氛围中。旁人说她是“法国中尉的女人”，是“婊子”，而她自己也不否认，说自己“蝼蚁不如，几乎不再是人……是法国中尉的妓女”。但随着她与查尔斯关系的发展，查尔斯发现所谓“法国中尉的女人”之称纯属编造，甚至完全是她本人把自己假想为一个“受谴责者”和“被遗弃者”的“有罪女人”的形象。萨拉似乎只有在假面之下才能真实地安置自身。情节的发展使她的神秘性愈发凸现出来。她似乎是同性恋者，但似乎又不是；她似乎是精神病患者，但似乎又不是；她似乎是查尔斯的拯救者，又似乎是他的陷害者；她似乎是贞女，又似乎是荡妇。福尔斯不断地在建构萨拉的形象，但又同时在消解这些形象。她一直笼罩在神秘的气氛之中，并且这种神秘性随着她的失踪以及多重结尾而更加强化。
《法国中尉的女人》对维多利亚时代的历史、小说的风格以及问题的模仿是对这一时代以及时代的中产阶级和上流社会的保守性和虚伪性进行辛辣的讽刺和抨击。萨拉作为一个旧时代的叛逆者出现，作为一个在思想观念和道德情操已步入二十世纪的新型女性被歌颂。她促使查尔斯的思想转化，在一番痛苦的经历后，查尔斯发现自己摆脱了他的时代，他在和萨拉发生关系后去教堂忏悔：“他站在那里，觉得自己仿佛看到了整个时代，看到了这个时代骚动不安的生命和它那硬如钢铁的戒律戒规，它压抑的情感和滑稽的幽默，它严谨的科学何不严谨的宗教，它腐败的政治和一成不变的阶级观念。这一切都是他所期望的最大的隐蔽敌人。他曾经受蒙蔽。这个时代完全没有爱和自由……而且，没有思想，没有目的，没有恶意，因为欺骗就是它的本质。它没有人性，只是一台机器。这就是困扰他的恶性循环。”后现代主义作家的这种行为，目的是揭穿传统作家的全知全能的假面具，对小说的成规、法则以及作者的权威提出质疑。
《法国中尉的女人》自一九六九年问世以后，在西方广大读者和评论界中引起了强烈的反响。人们对其主题、人物、艺术技巧等方面进行了广泛、深入的探讨。有人认为，这是一部“问题探索小说”，而且“在这种用问题探索手法写成的小说中，艺术水准最高的当推约翰•福尔斯的《法国中尉的女人》”；也有人认为，这是一部寓言小说，说象福尔斯这类“作家不仅通过寓言的方式来表达他们的哲学思想，而且在创作技巧上也在谋求新的途径，评论家们把他们称为‘哲学派’或‘寓言编撰家’”；也有人认为这是一部“散文体比较小说”， “它将小说引入了文化史和社会学的比较领域”。这真可谓见仁见智，莫衷一是。
小说《法国中尉的女人》-写作艺术
常被人称为“哲学小说家” 的福尔斯于1947年至1950年就读于牛津大学时，深受当时弥漫于大学校园的存在主义的气息的影响。在他看来，存在主义不是告诉人们该做什么不该做什么的一套僵死的哲学，而是一种工具，一种实用的哲学，它帮助人们在特定的处境中生存。福尔斯曾于1965年这样称颂过存在主义：存在主义很好的一个方面就是给人们提供了一种途径。它使得人们以自己的力量在自己特定的环境中创造性地行动，是一种最好的个人主义的哲学。它是20世纪的个体对来自各方面的压力的一种回应。存在主义关于积极行动以及在行动中发现现实的理论对福尔斯有很大影响。“因此，福尔斯的小说关注两个重要时刻，即人们做出重大决定的时刻和随之采取行动的时刻。它们着力于给予读者强烈的存在震撼，这种震撼对于我们完全认识到在这种意识的基础上进行选择和行动的必要”。福尔斯的存在主义思想明显地反映在《法国中尉的女人》这部小说当中。仅从文字表面上看，作者在文本中就多次提到存在主义，如，“我们现在拥有的知识比他那时多得多，而且还有存在主义哲学思想可供我们使用”；“他们不赞成存在主义的环节，他们赞成的是因果关系链，是经过认真研究并反复应用的、能解释一切的正面理论”；“存在主义的恐惧再次对他发起了攻击，也许他早已料到会如此……”如果说小说是形象化的哲学，那么，《法国中尉的女人》就是对存在主义哲学的形象图解。作家告诉我们，人要实现个体的自由意志，要过一种自由自主的生活。
1、孤独而神秘的个体
虽然存在主义思想家们在观点和思想倾向上不尽相同，甚至还存在着较大的分歧，但不容置疑的是，存在主义所关注的核心问题是人的生存问题。而这里的“人”不是指“群体”，而是指“个体”——作为伦理主体的个人。存在主义哲学的始祖克尔凯郭尔首次把个人“存在”作为哲学的中心问题，而且将“孤独的个体”置于研究的中心地位。海德格尔也认为，当人被抛于世而与他人共在时，他总是感到他人和世界对他是陌生的、疏远的，感到自己处于一种孤独的、无家可归的状态。存在主义集大成者萨特认为“每个人是作为一种神秘而孤立的实在”。
福尔斯笔下的萨拉便是这样一个作为“神秘而孤立的实在”而存在的人物形象。从萨拉“诞生”在福尔斯的脑海中的那一刻起，她便是神秘而孤独的。小说开篇以哈代的“迷”为引言，奠定了萨拉神秘的基调。小说中的萨拉是这样出场的：“在昏暗、弯曲的防波堤上还有另一个人的身影……那人站在临海的防波堤外侧，……全身上下着黑装，风吹处，衣服飘动，但是人却纹丝不动，面向大海凝视着什么，很像是溺水者的一座活纪念碑，一个神话中的人物，不像是微不足道的乡野生活里的正常景观”。这样的一个出场亮相突出了萨拉的基本特征：孤独而神秘。叙述者告诉我们，由于她父亲强烈的“名门出身情结”，她被父亲强迫“离开自己原来的阶级”，可她父亲“却没有能力把她提升到更高的一个阶级”，于是，“在她已经离开的那个阶级中的男青年眼里，她变得过于挑剔而不可娶，而她渴望进入的那个阶级的青年男子则认为她仍然过于平庸”。因此，“她成了等级社会的地道受害者”。在她父亲死后，早已过了当嫁年龄而成为“老处女”的她变得无家可归。随着故事的发展，情节的展开，展现在读者面前的萨拉几乎是将自己与周围世界隔离开的一个“多余的人”，是在莱母镇居民的冷眼和鄙视中生活的一个孤独的 “局外人”，人们“不想走进她”，怕坏了自己的名声。而她自己似乎也在“享受”着这种孤独，我行我素，独来独往，游离于莱母镇的凡尘琐事。她自己就曾说过:“我一直过着孤寂的生活，……命运似乎注定我永远不能和同等的人建立友谊，永远不能住在自己的家里，永远觉得自己被排除在主体世界之外”。
更为重要的是，萨拉的形象似乎是从破碎的镜片中反映出来的。故事每推进一步，碎片就增加一块，其整体形象自始至终无法从这难圆的破镜中露出“庐山真面目”，一直笼罩在神秘的氛围中。旁人说她是“法国中尉的女人”，是“婊子”，而她自己也不否认，说自己“蝼蚁不如，几乎不再是人……是法国中尉的妓女”。但随着她与查尔斯关系的发展，查尔斯发现所谓“法国中尉的女人”之称纯属编造，甚至完全是她本人把自己假想为一个“受谴责者”和“被遗弃者”的“有罪女人”的形象。萨拉似乎只有在假面之下才能真实地安置自身。情节的发展使她的神秘性愈发凸现出来。她似乎是同性恋者，但似乎又不是;她似乎是精神病患者，但似乎又不是;她似乎是查尔斯的拯救者，又似乎是他的陷害者;她似乎是贞女，又似乎是荡妇。福尔斯不断地在建构萨拉的形象，但又同时在消解这些形象。她一直笼罩在神秘的气氛之中，并且这种神秘性随着她的失踪以及多重结尾而更加强化。
存在主义哲学从本质上讲“是一种个人主义哲学，这种个人主义同传统的个人主义不同的地方……是把孤独的个人看作是自己的出发点”。而孤独封闭的自我所导致的神秘性乃是存在主义挥之不去的色彩。萨拉正是这样一个形象的体现。
2、个体与他者
关于个体与他人及外物的关系，从克尔凯郭尔到海德格尔和萨特都有着相似的看法。克尔凯郭尔说，自我“不仅是个人一己的自我，而是社会的、公民的自我”。海德格尔认为，作为此在的人的存在并不是一种孤立的、单独的存在，他总是处于不断地与外物、他人发生各种关系的过程中。按照海德格尔的观点，此在的基本存在状态是在世，而在世的基本结构或者说与外物、他人发生各种关系的过程就是“烦”，焦虑、烦恼。他在《存在与时间》指出：“只要此在是‘在世的在’，它就彻头彻尾地被烦所支配，‘在世’打上了烦的印章，这烦与此在是一而二二而一的”。萨特认为，每一个人都是从自己的主观性出发来看待他人的，总是把自己当作主体，把他人当作自己的对象。他进而将人与人之间的关系视为一种“主奴关系”，即每个人都力图维持自己的主体性，都互相把别人对象化为“身体”而占有。他在《禁闭》一剧中将他在《存在与虚无》中所阐述的人与人的关系用文学语言概括为“他人就是地狱”，即他者总是一个人在实现真实的自我过程中与之发生冲突并且必须克服的障碍。以上这些论述，都表明了存在主义哲学家对个体和他者之间关系的共同思考，即两者既相互依赖，又互为对立和冲突。
回到小说中，萨拉与他人的关系便是“地狱”的形象表现。一个偶然的机会让她结识了一位法国水手，并自以为由此走进了她情感生活的绿洲，但实际上却陷入了这位水手为她营造的“地狱”。水手本有妻室，逢场作戏的他在腿伤痊愈后一去不复返，因此萨拉的爱也就走上了一条不归之路。从此以后她就一直生活在不明就里的莱姆镇人的冷眼和咒骂中。由于生活所迫，她受雇帮佣于波尔坦尼太太家中。这位波尔坦尼太太“自认为是屹立在波涛汹涌的天主教海洋中一座纯净的帕特莫斯岛”，专横霸道、自以为是，把萨拉看成是一只“迷途的羔羊”，并希望听到她的忏悔。萨拉与波尔坦尼太太相处的过程实际上一直是抗争与压制的过程，最后终于由“冷战”发展到了白热化的程度。波尔坦尼太太相信有地狱的存在，并害怕自己坠入其中，但却为萨拉设置了一个人间地狱。
在莱母镇，萨拉仅仅得到了“在当时当地算得上是个开明的人物”的格罗根大夫的同情。然而，格洛根大夫根据自己的分析，认为萨拉患有严重的抑郁症，并建议查尔斯将其送入精神病医院。在欧洲，人们最早是借鉴对付麻风病人的方法来对待精神病人，即采取隔离的方式。这些疯人与穷人、失业者和囚犯关在一起，甚至被带上镣铐。虽然到了19世纪，由于遭到精神病学家的猛烈抨击，疯子逐渐和其他被囚禁者分离开来。但是，在疯人院里，最有代表性的治疗手段仍然是缄默、镜像认识和不断的审判。通过缄默的方式使得摆脱了镣铐的疯人真正成为自己的囚犯;通过观看和自我观看，精神病患者最终发现自己是疯子;通过不断的审判，“把医学变成司法，把治疗变成镇压”。这样的治疗环境和方式，对于桀骜不驯、我行我素的萨拉来说无疑将会也是一个“地狱”。看来，作家福尔斯本人对人与人之间的同情、理解并不抱希望。
萨拉与查尔斯的未婚妻欧内斯蒂娜虽未曾有过交往，但她们彼此却一直处在对立状态。在欧内斯蒂娜眼里，就像在莱母镇其他人的眼里一样，萨拉是一个有很多不雅绰号的女人，而且还有点疯，因此“不想走近她”。但就是这样一个出身低微、身名狼籍的女人却在不知不觉中把她的未婚夫抢夺过去，然后又弃之而去。而在萨拉本身就充满着对贵族、富人的嫉妒与憎恨，在她的心灵深处“有什么在燃烧，太奇异，太躁动，又那样不驯服”。于是，她以自己的方式向时代挑战。戏剧性的结果是，查尔斯背上了与法国水手同样的骂名，而欧内斯蒂娜或许从此以后也将成为一个像萨拉那样名声不洁的女人。在这个意义上，萨拉也成了查尔斯和欧内斯蒂娜共同的“地狱”。
同时，查尔斯与萨拉的邂逅，更是存在主义个体和他者关系的直接写照。萨拉那张带着忧伤的“悲剧性的脸”使得查尔斯难以忘怀。她先让查尔斯相信了她的 “始乱而终弃”的不幸遭遇，唤起了查尔斯的同情心，并游刃有余地控制住了查尔斯。于是，“一个出类拔萃的人物陷入了困境，一个拜伦被驯服了。他的思想又回到萨拉身上，回到视觉形象上。他努力回忆起那张脸，那张嘴，那张大嘴巴。它……无疑唤起了他的某种回忆，……它时时萦绕在他心头，使他心绪不宁;他开始注意到某种隐蔽的自我，他以前几乎不知道它的存在。他对自己说:这实在是最愚蠢的事情，可是那姑娘的确吸引我”。查尔斯义无反顾地与未婚妻解除了婚约，失去了唾手可得的金钱和地位，从一个享有良好声誉的贵族青年成为受人垢骂的“厚颜无耻”、“背信弃义”的“大坏蛋”。但是，他发现了真实的自我。可就在这时，萨拉却神秘地失踪。在她身后为查尔斯留下了一串不解之谜和无尽的痛苦。另外，小说中其他相对次要的人物关系，比如，查尔斯与他的仆人萨姆、查尔斯与他的伯父，等等，无不体现了存在主义哲学对个体与他者的悲观而深刻的思索。
3、个体的存在和自由
自由是萨特存在主义哲学的基本概念。萨特曾说存在主义是一种“关于自由的学说”，存在即自由。当然，这里的“自由”是一个哲学概念，它指的是以主观性和超越性为特征的纯粹意识活动，它所体现的是人格的尊严和独立的思考。萨特在《存在与虚无》中将存在分为两种基本的形式，即“自在的存在”(being-in-itself)和“自为的存在”(being-for-itself)。前者是一种无意识的存在，是物质的存在;后者是个体在世界上按照自己的欲望来塑造自己时所获得的一种存在。按照自己的欲望来塑造自己，实际上就是自由选择、积极行动、追求真实的自我。人注定是自由的，注定了必须自由选择。萨特的存在主义思想还有一个基本观点，就是存在先于本质。这意味着人的自由先于人的本质并且使人的本质成为可能;人的存在的本质悬置在人的自由之中。也就是说，人的自由先于人的本质，是自由、通过自由选择确定人的本质，人的意义体现于人的自由之中。萨特还进一步将这一观点在其戏剧《苍蝇》中借俄瑞斯忒斯之口表述为“我就是我的自由”。
自由也是福尔斯一生的追求。他特别强调个体独立的特性，这在其非小说著作《智者：思想上的自画像》中充分地得到反映。福尔斯的所谓“智者”来自于古希腊哲学家赫拉克里特的观点，即那些具有独立的思考和判断能力以及追求内在智慧和知识的人，他们能够“在无人引导或被错误引导的群体中保持自己独立的特性，取得一定程度的自我实现……”(Olshen3)他在该书中所倡导的维护个体存在的自由，保持独立的特性，反抗强加于个体使之服服帖帖、唯唯诺诺、循规蹈矩的种种压力的思想始终贯穿于他的文学创作中。
当萨拉生活在莱姆镇的时候，她不断受到别人的侮辱和咒骂，但她就像加缪笔下的莫尔索一样，根本不考虑别人对自己的评价。她依靠孤独来唤醒自己的自由意识，她在对孤独的体验中来体验自由。这正如萨特所认为的，当一个人蹂躏另一个人时，并不是、也不能剥夺别人的自由，反而为别人提供了一种自由选择的境遇，促使别人对自己面临的各种可能性进行选择。萨拉从“法国中尉的女人”到“查尔斯的情人”，再自我放逐，都完全是按照自己的意愿为自己的人生定位，为生活赋予个人的意义。
萨特关于自由的概念包含着对现存秩序和传统观念的否定。这也反映在萨拉的宗教观念上。小说中所描绘的维多利亚时代是达尔文的《物种起源》刚刚问世，并且对象查尔斯这样的青年已经产生了一定的影响的时期。但也正是在此时，英国掀起了一场宗教复兴运动。 “那时候兴建起来的教堂比在那之前历史上所造的总和还多”。然而，萨拉却“并不信神”，“正如她看穿了所有的人一样，她也看穿了维多利亚时代教会的各种荒唐行为，看穿了那个时代教堂污秽的玻璃，也看穿了教会对于《圣经》的狭隘的按字面的解释”。当波尔坦尼太太威胁她要对自己所说的话负责任时，萨拉蔑视地回敬道:“是在上帝面前吗?你那么肯定到了来世上帝还能听见你说话吗?”以萨特为代表的无神论存在主义，就是将上帝的观念从人的存在环境中驱赶了出去，而肯定意志自由是人类的至善。
萨拉对查尔斯的控制及最终离他而去，也是对维多利亚时代两性关系和道德观念的一种颠覆。“维多利亚时代所规定的男性是欲望主体，女性是欲望客体，男性是拯救者，女性是等待救赎的对象的二元对立”。在萨拉与查尔斯的关系中，萨拉一直貌似是需要查尔斯同情、帮助的对象，实际上却一直控制着与查尔斯关系的发展，包括与他见面的时间、地点、情感高峰以及自己离开莱姆镇的时机选择，完全将他们的“处境颠倒过来了”。虽然按照萨特的观点，人们在自己的眼中都把他人互相视为客体，但在读者眼中，萨拉完全是行动的主体，查尔斯却是处于被动地位的客体。在这个意义上，萨拉俨然是充分体验意志自由的存在主义的英雄。
在小说的一个结尾中，查尔斯找到了萨拉，但萨拉却拒绝了查尔斯婚姻的要求。她说:“我发现我很珍惜这种生活。我不想与他人分享。我喜欢保持我目前的状况，而不是一个丈夫——无论他待我多么好，多么溺爱我——必定会期待我表现得像一个妻子应该表现得那样”。她进而说：“我很清楚，一进入爱情领域，就没有什么神圣不可侵犯的东西可言了”。这表明，萨拉对现状很满意，她希望能够本真地生活下去，而不是按照别人的意愿来生活，即便是因为爱情。这里，我们似乎听到了萨特在《存在主义是一种人道主义》一书中所说的：“……人就要对自己是怎样的人负责……并且把自己的存在的责任完全由自己担负起来”。而萨拉对查尔斯的拒绝，既使得她自己赢得了自由，也给了查尔斯自由。正如萨特所说：“我们在要求自由的时候，发现自由完全依赖他人的自由，而他人的自由，又依赖于我们的自由”。因此，“我就不得不在要求我自己的自由的时候，同时也要求他人的自由”。
整体来看，福尔斯的创作思想芜杂，但其存在主义色彩非常浓重。不仅是《法国中尉的女人》，他的其他小说，如《收藏家》（1963年）、《魔术师》（1966年）等，都是作者传达存在主义哲学思考的有效形式。
During 1981, director Karel Reisz and writer Harold Pinter adapted the novel as an eponymous film; During 2006, it was adapted for the stage, by Mark Healy, in a version which toured the UK that year. In 2005, the novel was chosen by TIME magazine as one of the one hundred best English-language novels from 1923 to present.
Plot summary
The novel's protagonist is Sarah Woodruff, the title Woman, also known by the nickname of “Tragedy”, and by the unfortunate nickname “The French Lieutenant’s Whore”. She lives in the coastal town of Lyme Regis, as a disgraced woman, supposedly abandoned by a French naval officer named Varguennes--married, unknown to her, to another woman-- with whom she had supposedly had an affair and who had returned to France.
Sarah is portrayed ambiguously: is she a genuine, ill-used woman? Is she a sly, manipulative character using her own self-pity to get Charles to succumb to her? Is she merely a victim of the notion of gender as perceived by upper-middle-class people of the 19th century?
She spends her limited time-off at the Cobb [sea wall], staring at the sea. One day, she is seen there by the gentleman Charles Smithson and his fiancée, Ernestina Freeman, the shallow-minded daughter of a wealthy tradesman. Ernestina tells Charles something of Sarah’s story, and he develops a strong curiosity about her. Eventually, he and she meet clandestinely, during which times Sarah tells Charles her history, and asks for his support, mostly emotional. Despite trying to remain objective, Charles eventually sends Sarah to Exeter, where he, during a journey, cannot resist stopping in to visit and see her. At the time she has suffered an ankle injury; he visits her alone and after they have made love he realised that she is, contrary to the rumours, a virgin. Simultaneously, he learns that his prospective inheritance from an elder uncle is in jeopardy; the uncle is engaged to a woman young enough to bear him an heir.
From there, the novelist offers three different endings for The French Lieutenant’s Woman.
* First ending: Charles marries Ernestina, and their marriage is unhappy; Sarah’s fate is unknown. Charles tells Ernestina about an encounter with whom he implies is the “French Lieutenant’s Whore”, but elides the sordid details, and the matter is ended. This ending, however, might be dismissed as a daydream, before the alternative events of the subsequent meeting with Ernestina are described.
Before the second- and third endings, the narrator — whom the novelist wants the reader to believe is John Fowles, himself — appears as a minor character sharing a train carriage with Charles. He flips a coin to determine the order in which he will portray the two, other possible endings, emphasising their equal plausibility.
* Second ending: Charles and Sarah become intimate; he ends his engagement to Ernestina, with unpleasant consequences. He is disgraced, and his uncle marries, then produces an heir. Sarah flees to London without telling the enamoured Charles, who searches for her for years, before finding her living with several artists (likely the Rossettis), enjoying an artistic, creative life. He then sees he has fathered a child with her; as a family, their future is open, with possible reunion implied.
* Third ending: the narrator re-appears, standing outside the house where the second ending occurred; at the aftermath. He turns back his pocket watch by fifteen minutes, before leaving in his carriage. Events are the same as in the second-ending version, but, when Charles finds Sarah again, in London, their reunion is sour. It is possible that their union was childless; Sarah does not tell Charles about one, and does not express interest for continuing the relationship. He leaves the house, deciding to return to America, and sees the carriage, in which the narrator was thought gone. Raising the question: is Sarah a manipulating, lying woman of few morals, exploiting Charles’s obvious love to get what she wants?
En route, Fowles the novelist discourses upon the difficulties of controlling the characters, and offers analyses of differences in 19th-century customs and class, the theories of Charles Darwin, the poetry of Matthew Arnold, Lord Tennyson, and the literature of Thomas Hardy. He questions the role of the author — when speaking of how the Charles character “disobeys” his orders; the characters have discrete lives of their own in the novel. Philosophically, Existentialism is mentioned several times during the story, and in particular detail at the end, after the portrayals of the two, apparent, equally possible endings.
讲述的是发生在19世纪英国的爱情故事。一个悲伤、神秘的维多利亚时代的女人，明明是个处女却宣称自己已委身于法国中尉，被视为罪恶、淫荡的女人而被唾弃。而她的神秘、独特、大胆、深沉、忧郁的美以及野性的热情，唤起男人的同情和爱慕。她与查尔斯产生了炽热的爱情，却在他解除了和别人的婚约后拒绝他的求婚，悄然离开。
小说《法国中尉的女人》-故事梗概
故事发生在福尔斯在二十世纪六十年代居住过的一个英国小镇：莱姆·里基斯，时间是英国“维多利亚黄金时代”（指1850～1875年）中的1867年。小说一开卷，读者就会被浓烈的浪漫、神秘气氛所吸引：1867年3月的一个早晨，海边古老的壁垒狂风呼啸，查尔斯和他的未婚妻欧雷斯蒂娜正在这里散步。他们看见一个穿着黑色衣服的女人在海岬的一头孤独地站着，眺望大海。风越刮越大，当他们走近这个黑衣女人时，发现她就是那个镇上居民人人皆知的“法国中尉的女人”。人们说，她被一个法国中尉引诱失身，而当时的法国在极度清新寡欲的维多利亚时代的英国人看来，是一个“误入歧途的国家”。法国中尉回国后抛弃了她，而她几乎每天到海边来，就是等待法国中尉回到她的身边。
这位黑衣女郎，她阴沉、带有悲剧性的面孔虽无绝代佳丽的姿色，也无当时维多利亚女性应有的娴静、顺从和羞涩，却以其神秘、深沉、难以捉摸的与众不同而另具魅力，世俗者唾弃她这样的离经叛道者，但书中的查尔斯以及二十世纪的人们看待她的则是另外一种目光。
查尔斯时年三十二岁，是一个富家子弟，没有职业，但是对古生物学和地质学颇有兴趣，他受达尔文学说的影响很深，看到了维多利亚时代的保守和虚伪。
黑衣女子萨拉是一个出生于贫苦雇农家庭的独生女，她的祖先出身高贵，到她父亲这一代才衰落下来。父亲送女儿到寄宿学校接受良好的教育，她十八岁学成归家不久，父亲就去世了，在她当家庭教师谋生期间，一艘法国轮船沉没，幸存的法国中尉在懂法语的萨拉的照顾下康复，并与她海誓山盟，答应很快从法国返回接她；传闻她与中尉发生了关系，但中尉并没有履行诺言，而是抛弃了她。有关她的流言蜚语传遍了莱姆镇，她成为声名狼藉的“法国中尉的女人”。
而查尔斯的未婚妻欧雷斯蒂娜是一个典型的维多利亚女性，一个富商的女儿。她年轻、漂亮、文雅。但是，她的价值观和感情是肤浅的。查尔斯的叔父罗伯特决定和一个还在生育年龄的女人结婚，一旦他生下男孩，查尔斯就将丧失对叔父的财产和男爵爵位的继承权。欧雷斯蒂娜对罗伯特的结婚决定反应强烈，与查尔斯成鲜明对比。蒂娜戴着时代的面纱，掩饰自己对肉欲的渴望，独自一人在卧室里脱掉衣服欣赏自己的肉体美，期待着查尔斯的爱抚。她坚持每天写的日记是为了将来的一天查尔斯逼着她拿出来给他看，所以，日记中也是戴着面纱的。与萨拉相比，她是一个可以一眼看透的单调女子——一个年轻、美丽，却如一方清澈见底，摆动身躯数十下就可以游到尽头的小池，萨拉则身世沧桑，如深不可测的大海，浩瀚无边。
萨拉与蒂娜是两个对比鲜明的女性。萨拉处处与维多利亚的时代成规背道而驰，她明明是处女，却要说自己已委身于法国中尉，莱姆镇的所有人都在背后骂她是个放荡的女人，“法国中尉的婊子”，她却置之度外。雇用她的波尔特尼太太是维多利亚时代的典型的虚伪的卫道者，萨拉反抗波尔特尼太太对她的不许独自去林间散步的禁令，而她的神秘、独特、大胆、深沉、忧郁的美以及野性的热情，是唤起男人同情和爱慕的源泉，书中多次提到，萨拉犹如一头“野兽”，她不是一个受男人统治的维多利亚女性。即使她的容貌不如欧雷斯蒂娜的美丽，门第之高贵也不如年轻的蒂娜，真实的查尔斯还是被萨拉的神秘和真实的野性深深吸引，并提出帮助萨拉离开莱姆镇，到埃塞特去重新开始生活。
查尔斯在去伦敦的返程中在埃赛特停留，接到了萨拉的便条，赶到她居住的旅馆。长期积蓄的感情在他接触到受了伤的萨拉身体的时候一触即发，缠绵之后，他发现萨拉并没有受伤，而且她的委身于法国中尉的故事是她自己编织的谎言——她为什么要撒谎？为什么要用坏名声糟塌自己？
离开萨拉的房间后，查尔斯决定与蒂娜解除婚约，他派仆人山姆给萨拉送去一封信和一枚胸针，可山姆为查尔斯背叛蒂娜而愤怒，并没有把东西送去。
查尔斯付出了很大的代价来解除婚约，当他赶回埃赛特时，却发现萨拉已经不告而别。双重打击笼罩了他：蒂娜的父亲逼迫他在撕毁婚约的文件上签字，他已经身败名裂。但是让他更伤心的则是萨拉的离去。她为什么在引诱了他之后又悄然而去呢？
查尔斯及他雇用的侦探在各地搜寻萨拉，却一无所获。查尔斯决定去国外旅行，到美国后，他看到一个新兴国家的新的思维和新的世界，远远超过了此时保守、虚伪的英国。他认为萨拉就是这个新世界里的人。此时，他的律师拍来电报，告诉他：“找到她了。”他立刻订了票赶回伦敦。此时的萨拉与以前判若两人，她住在一个前期拉斐尔派画家的家里，衣着入时，仪态高雅。
书中表现了自由的主题，而开放式的结尾在这部后现代主义的小说中显得特异。第一个结尾在书的第四十四章，查尔斯从伦敦的返程中路过埃赛特，却没有停留，而是返回莱姆，和蒂娜结婚并生了七个儿女，过着美满的生活：“故事就此结束。萨拉呢？我不知道。不管她究竟如何，她再也没有去麻烦查尔斯……”这种传统式的结局显然是为作者所嘲弄的。
第二个结局在书的末尾，查尔斯见到居住在画家家里并成为他的助手的萨拉，发现萨拉给他生了个女儿，有情人终成眷属。
第三个结局是不确定的，查尔斯见到萨拉后请求与她结合，却遭到拒绝，她说，她决心终身不嫁，因为婚姻将剥夺她的自由，使她失去自己的独立和孤独。查尔斯的心碎了，觉得感情被玩弄、被欺骗，他对萨拉说：“你不仅把匕首捅进我的胸膛，你还以扭动它为乐。”“总有一天，你会因对我的所作所为得到报应。如果苍天有眼，你万世也难赎清你的罪过。”
而萨拉是这样说的：“你不理解我为什么不愿意同你结婚。这不是你的过错。你是个很善良的人。谁也不可能理解我。”
“我那样说，是要人明白连我自己也不理解自己。我说不清楚这是为什么。但我深信我的幸福正在于我对自己也不理解。”
“我拒绝你，如同我拒绝其他男人。你不能理解的是，对我来说，这并不荒唐。”查尔斯离开萨拉，独自一人走向街头时，他有一种从被囚禁的感情中得到解脱的感觉，他发现“他本身具有一些信念、一种真正的与众不同之处，这是他前进的基础”。而萨拉是个常人不能理解的女人，她以常人不能理解的方式寻求自己的独立、解放和自由。
这部小说中极富后现代气息的另一幕是，时空被交错，书的作者出现在书中一百年前的维多利亚时代。一个大胡子（作者）走进查尔斯所在的车厢，突然萌发了一个念头：“在此时此地结束查尔斯的一生，让他永远处于走往伦敦的路上。”
小说的前十二章再现了维多利亚时代的场景，把萨拉刻画得如在眼前，但在第十二章结尾，笔锋一转，把故事的叙述刹住，提出了一个怪问题：“萨拉是谁？她是从哪个隐蔽的角落钻出来的？”
当读者已经陷入小说中刻画的场景时，作者却突然把读者从书中拉出来，对他大吼一声：“别上当，这全是假的，全是虚构，是谎言！”
小说《法国中尉的女人》-作品由来
在“一部未完稿的小说笔记”中，福尔斯详细记述了《法国中尉的女人》的创作原因：1966年秋天的一个早晨，在半睡半醒的福尔斯的大脑中持续不断地浮现出一个孤独女子的形象。她久久地伫立在空荡荡的码头上，远眺着大海。“我想她是维多利亚时代受谴责者的形象，是一个被遗弃者的形象。我不知道她犯了什么错……”这一神秘而孤独的形象强烈地吸引着福尔斯，以至于他中止了正在进行中的小说创作而转向《法国中尉的女人》的写作。小说开篇以哈代的“迷”为引言，奠定了萨拉神秘的基调。小说中的萨拉是这样出场的：“在昏暗、弯曲的防波堤上还有另一个人的身影……那人站在临海的防波堤外侧，……全身上下着黑装，风吹处，衣服飘动，但是人却纹丝不动，面向大海凝视着什么，很像是溺水者的一座活纪念碑，一个神话中的人物，不像是微不足道的乡野生活里的正常景观”。这样的一个出场亮相突出了萨拉的基本特征：孤独而神秘。叙述者告诉我们，由于她父亲强烈的“名门出身情结”，她被父亲强迫“离开自己原来的阶级”，可她父亲“却没有能力把她提升到更高的一个阶级”，于是，“在她已经离开的那个阶级中的男青年眼里，她变得过于挑剔而不可娶，而她渴望进入的那个阶级的青年男子则认为她仍然过于平庸”。因此，“她成了等级社会的地道受害者”。在她父亲死后，早已过了当嫁年龄而成为“老处女”的她变得无家可归。
小说《法国中尉的女人》-作品解析
这部小说是诺贝尔文学奖候选人、当代英国文坛超重量级大师福尔思的经典代表作之一，被选为二十世纪百大英文小说经典，也是英美各大学英语系二十世纪英国小说课程的必读作品。
福尔斯笔下的萨拉便是这样一个作为“神秘而孤立的实在”而存在的人物形象。从萨拉“诞生”在福尔斯的脑海中的那一刻起，她便是神秘而孤独的。小说开篇以哈代的“迷”为引言，奠定了萨拉神秘的基调。小说中的萨拉是这样出场的：“在昏暗、弯曲的防波堤上还有另一个人的身影……那人站在临海的防波堤外侧，……全身上下着黑装，风吹处，衣服飘动，但是人却纹丝不动，面向大海凝视着什么，很像是溺水者的一座活纪念碑，一个神话中的人物，不像是微不足道的乡野生活里的正常景观”。这样的一个出场亮相突出了萨拉的基本特征：孤独而神秘。叙述者告诉我们，由于她父亲强烈的“名门出身情结”，她被父亲强迫“离开自己原来的阶级”，可她父亲“却没有能力把她提升到更高的一个阶级”，于是，“在她已经离开的那个阶级中的男青年眼里，她变得过于挑剔而不可娶，而她渴望进入的那个阶级的青年男子则认为她仍然过于平庸”。因此，“她成了等级社会的地道受害者”。在她父亲死后，早已过了当嫁年龄而成为“老处女”的她变得无家可归。随着故事的发展，情节的展开，展现在读者面前的萨拉几乎是将自己与周围世界隔离开的一个“多余的人”，是在莱母镇居民的冷眼和鄙视中生活的一个孤独的 “局外人”，人们“不想走进她”，怕坏了自己的名声。而她自己似乎也在“享受”着这种孤独，我行我素，独来独往，游离于莱母镇的凡尘琐事。她自己就曾说过：“我一直过着孤寂的生活，……命运似乎注定我永远不能和同等的人建立友谊，永远不能住在自己的家里，永远觉得自己被排除在主体世界之外”。
更为重要的是，萨拉的形象似乎是从破碎的镜片中反映出来的。故事每推进一步，碎片就增加一块，其整体形象自始至终无法从这难圆的破镜中露出“庐山真面目”，一直笼罩在神秘的氛围中。旁人说她是“法国中尉的女人”，是“婊子”，而她自己也不否认，说自己“蝼蚁不如，几乎不再是人……是法国中尉的妓女”。但随着她与查尔斯关系的发展，查尔斯发现所谓“法国中尉的女人”之称纯属编造，甚至完全是她本人把自己假想为一个“受谴责者”和“被遗弃者”的“有罪女人”的形象。萨拉似乎只有在假面之下才能真实地安置自身。情节的发展使她的神秘性愈发凸现出来。她似乎是同性恋者，但似乎又不是；她似乎是精神病患者，但似乎又不是；她似乎是查尔斯的拯救者，又似乎是他的陷害者；她似乎是贞女，又似乎是荡妇。福尔斯不断地在建构萨拉的形象，但又同时在消解这些形象。她一直笼罩在神秘的气氛之中，并且这种神秘性随着她的失踪以及多重结尾而更加强化。
《法国中尉的女人》对维多利亚时代的历史、小说的风格以及问题的模仿是对这一时代以及时代的中产阶级和上流社会的保守性和虚伪性进行辛辣的讽刺和抨击。萨拉作为一个旧时代的叛逆者出现，作为一个在思想观念和道德情操已步入二十世纪的新型女性被歌颂。她促使查尔斯的思想转化，在一番痛苦的经历后，查尔斯发现自己摆脱了他的时代，他在和萨拉发生关系后去教堂忏悔：“他站在那里，觉得自己仿佛看到了整个时代，看到了这个时代骚动不安的生命和它那硬如钢铁的戒律戒规，它压抑的情感和滑稽的幽默，它严谨的科学何不严谨的宗教，它腐败的政治和一成不变的阶级观念。这一切都是他所期望的最大的隐蔽敌人。他曾经受蒙蔽。这个时代完全没有爱和自由……而且，没有思想，没有目的，没有恶意，因为欺骗就是它的本质。它没有人性，只是一台机器。这就是困扰他的恶性循环。”后现代主义作家的这种行为，目的是揭穿传统作家的全知全能的假面具，对小说的成规、法则以及作者的权威提出质疑。
《法国中尉的女人》自一九六九年问世以后，在西方广大读者和评论界中引起了强烈的反响。人们对其主题、人物、艺术技巧等方面进行了广泛、深入的探讨。有人认为，这是一部“问题探索小说”，而且“在这种用问题探索手法写成的小说中，艺术水准最高的当推约翰•福尔斯的《法国中尉的女人》”；也有人认为，这是一部寓言小说，说象福尔斯这类“作家不仅通过寓言的方式来表达他们的哲学思想，而且在创作技巧上也在谋求新的途径，评论家们把他们称为‘哲学派’或‘寓言编撰家’”；也有人认为这是一部“散文体比较小说”， “它将小说引入了文化史和社会学的比较领域”。这真可谓见仁见智，莫衷一是。
小说《法国中尉的女人》-写作艺术
常被人称为“哲学小说家” 的福尔斯于1947年至1950年就读于牛津大学时，深受当时弥漫于大学校园的存在主义的气息的影响。在他看来，存在主义不是告诉人们该做什么不该做什么的一套僵死的哲学，而是一种工具，一种实用的哲学，它帮助人们在特定的处境中生存。福尔斯曾于1965年这样称颂过存在主义：存在主义很好的一个方面就是给人们提供了一种途径。它使得人们以自己的力量在自己特定的环境中创造性地行动，是一种最好的个人主义的哲学。它是20世纪的个体对来自各方面的压力的一种回应。存在主义关于积极行动以及在行动中发现现实的理论对福尔斯有很大影响。“因此，福尔斯的小说关注两个重要时刻，即人们做出重大决定的时刻和随之采取行动的时刻。它们着力于给予读者强烈的存在震撼，这种震撼对于我们完全认识到在这种意识的基础上进行选择和行动的必要”。福尔斯的存在主义思想明显地反映在《法国中尉的女人》这部小说当中。仅从文字表面上看，作者在文本中就多次提到存在主义，如，“我们现在拥有的知识比他那时多得多，而且还有存在主义哲学思想可供我们使用”；“他们不赞成存在主义的环节，他们赞成的是因果关系链，是经过认真研究并反复应用的、能解释一切的正面理论”；“存在主义的恐惧再次对他发起了攻击，也许他早已料到会如此……”如果说小说是形象化的哲学，那么，《法国中尉的女人》就是对存在主义哲学的形象图解。作家告诉我们，人要实现个体的自由意志，要过一种自由自主的生活。
1、孤独而神秘的个体
虽然存在主义思想家们在观点和思想倾向上不尽相同，甚至还存在着较大的分歧，但不容置疑的是，存在主义所关注的核心问题是人的生存问题。而这里的“人”不是指“群体”，而是指“个体”——作为伦理主体的个人。存在主义哲学的始祖克尔凯郭尔首次把个人“存在”作为哲学的中心问题，而且将“孤独的个体”置于研究的中心地位。海德格尔也认为，当人被抛于世而与他人共在时，他总是感到他人和世界对他是陌生的、疏远的，感到自己处于一种孤独的、无家可归的状态。存在主义集大成者萨特认为“每个人是作为一种神秘而孤立的实在”。
福尔斯笔下的萨拉便是这样一个作为“神秘而孤立的实在”而存在的人物形象。从萨拉“诞生”在福尔斯的脑海中的那一刻起，她便是神秘而孤独的。小说开篇以哈代的“迷”为引言，奠定了萨拉神秘的基调。小说中的萨拉是这样出场的：“在昏暗、弯曲的防波堤上还有另一个人的身影……那人站在临海的防波堤外侧，……全身上下着黑装，风吹处，衣服飘动，但是人却纹丝不动，面向大海凝视着什么，很像是溺水者的一座活纪念碑，一个神话中的人物，不像是微不足道的乡野生活里的正常景观”。这样的一个出场亮相突出了萨拉的基本特征：孤独而神秘。叙述者告诉我们，由于她父亲强烈的“名门出身情结”，她被父亲强迫“离开自己原来的阶级”，可她父亲“却没有能力把她提升到更高的一个阶级”，于是，“在她已经离开的那个阶级中的男青年眼里，她变得过于挑剔而不可娶，而她渴望进入的那个阶级的青年男子则认为她仍然过于平庸”。因此，“她成了等级社会的地道受害者”。在她父亲死后，早已过了当嫁年龄而成为“老处女”的她变得无家可归。随着故事的发展，情节的展开，展现在读者面前的萨拉几乎是将自己与周围世界隔离开的一个“多余的人”，是在莱母镇居民的冷眼和鄙视中生活的一个孤独的 “局外人”，人们“不想走进她”，怕坏了自己的名声。而她自己似乎也在“享受”着这种孤独，我行我素，独来独往，游离于莱母镇的凡尘琐事。她自己就曾说过:“我一直过着孤寂的生活，……命运似乎注定我永远不能和同等的人建立友谊，永远不能住在自己的家里，永远觉得自己被排除在主体世界之外”。
更为重要的是，萨拉的形象似乎是从破碎的镜片中反映出来的。故事每推进一步，碎片就增加一块，其整体形象自始至终无法从这难圆的破镜中露出“庐山真面目”，一直笼罩在神秘的氛围中。旁人说她是“法国中尉的女人”，是“婊子”，而她自己也不否认，说自己“蝼蚁不如，几乎不再是人……是法国中尉的妓女”。但随着她与查尔斯关系的发展，查尔斯发现所谓“法国中尉的女人”之称纯属编造，甚至完全是她本人把自己假想为一个“受谴责者”和“被遗弃者”的“有罪女人”的形象。萨拉似乎只有在假面之下才能真实地安置自身。情节的发展使她的神秘性愈发凸现出来。她似乎是同性恋者，但似乎又不是;她似乎是精神病患者，但似乎又不是;她似乎是查尔斯的拯救者，又似乎是他的陷害者;她似乎是贞女，又似乎是荡妇。福尔斯不断地在建构萨拉的形象，但又同时在消解这些形象。她一直笼罩在神秘的气氛之中，并且这种神秘性随着她的失踪以及多重结尾而更加强化。
存在主义哲学从本质上讲“是一种个人主义哲学，这种个人主义同传统的个人主义不同的地方……是把孤独的个人看作是自己的出发点”。而孤独封闭的自我所导致的神秘性乃是存在主义挥之不去的色彩。萨拉正是这样一个形象的体现。
2、个体与他者
关于个体与他人及外物的关系，从克尔凯郭尔到海德格尔和萨特都有着相似的看法。克尔凯郭尔说，自我“不仅是个人一己的自我，而是社会的、公民的自我”。海德格尔认为，作为此在的人的存在并不是一种孤立的、单独的存在，他总是处于不断地与外物、他人发生各种关系的过程中。按照海德格尔的观点，此在的基本存在状态是在世，而在世的基本结构或者说与外物、他人发生各种关系的过程就是“烦”，焦虑、烦恼。他在《存在与时间》指出：“只要此在是‘在世的在’，它就彻头彻尾地被烦所支配，‘在世’打上了烦的印章，这烦与此在是一而二二而一的”。萨特认为，每一个人都是从自己的主观性出发来看待他人的，总是把自己当作主体，把他人当作自己的对象。他进而将人与人之间的关系视为一种“主奴关系”，即每个人都力图维持自己的主体性，都互相把别人对象化为“身体”而占有。他在《禁闭》一剧中将他在《存在与虚无》中所阐述的人与人的关系用文学语言概括为“他人就是地狱”，即他者总是一个人在实现真实的自我过程中与之发生冲突并且必须克服的障碍。以上这些论述，都表明了存在主义哲学家对个体和他者之间关系的共同思考，即两者既相互依赖，又互为对立和冲突。
回到小说中，萨拉与他人的关系便是“地狱”的形象表现。一个偶然的机会让她结识了一位法国水手，并自以为由此走进了她情感生活的绿洲，但实际上却陷入了这位水手为她营造的“地狱”。水手本有妻室，逢场作戏的他在腿伤痊愈后一去不复返，因此萨拉的爱也就走上了一条不归之路。从此以后她就一直生活在不明就里的莱姆镇人的冷眼和咒骂中。由于生活所迫，她受雇帮佣于波尔坦尼太太家中。这位波尔坦尼太太“自认为是屹立在波涛汹涌的天主教海洋中一座纯净的帕特莫斯岛”，专横霸道、自以为是，把萨拉看成是一只“迷途的羔羊”，并希望听到她的忏悔。萨拉与波尔坦尼太太相处的过程实际上一直是抗争与压制的过程，最后终于由“冷战”发展到了白热化的程度。波尔坦尼太太相信有地狱的存在，并害怕自己坠入其中，但却为萨拉设置了一个人间地狱。
在莱母镇，萨拉仅仅得到了“在当时当地算得上是个开明的人物”的格罗根大夫的同情。然而，格洛根大夫根据自己的分析，认为萨拉患有严重的抑郁症，并建议查尔斯将其送入精神病医院。在欧洲，人们最早是借鉴对付麻风病人的方法来对待精神病人，即采取隔离的方式。这些疯人与穷人、失业者和囚犯关在一起，甚至被带上镣铐。虽然到了19世纪，由于遭到精神病学家的猛烈抨击，疯子逐渐和其他被囚禁者分离开来。但是，在疯人院里，最有代表性的治疗手段仍然是缄默、镜像认识和不断的审判。通过缄默的方式使得摆脱了镣铐的疯人真正成为自己的囚犯;通过观看和自我观看，精神病患者最终发现自己是疯子;通过不断的审判，“把医学变成司法，把治疗变成镇压”。这样的治疗环境和方式，对于桀骜不驯、我行我素的萨拉来说无疑将会也是一个“地狱”。看来，作家福尔斯本人对人与人之间的同情、理解并不抱希望。
萨拉与查尔斯的未婚妻欧内斯蒂娜虽未曾有过交往，但她们彼此却一直处在对立状态。在欧内斯蒂娜眼里，就像在莱母镇其他人的眼里一样，萨拉是一个有很多不雅绰号的女人，而且还有点疯，因此“不想走近她”。但就是这样一个出身低微、身名狼籍的女人却在不知不觉中把她的未婚夫抢夺过去，然后又弃之而去。而在萨拉本身就充满着对贵族、富人的嫉妒与憎恨，在她的心灵深处“有什么在燃烧，太奇异，太躁动，又那样不驯服”。于是，她以自己的方式向时代挑战。戏剧性的结果是，查尔斯背上了与法国水手同样的骂名，而欧内斯蒂娜或许从此以后也将成为一个像萨拉那样名声不洁的女人。在这个意义上，萨拉也成了查尔斯和欧内斯蒂娜共同的“地狱”。
同时，查尔斯与萨拉的邂逅，更是存在主义个体和他者关系的直接写照。萨拉那张带着忧伤的“悲剧性的脸”使得查尔斯难以忘怀。她先让查尔斯相信了她的 “始乱而终弃”的不幸遭遇，唤起了查尔斯的同情心，并游刃有余地控制住了查尔斯。于是，“一个出类拔萃的人物陷入了困境，一个拜伦被驯服了。他的思想又回到萨拉身上，回到视觉形象上。他努力回忆起那张脸，那张嘴，那张大嘴巴。它……无疑唤起了他的某种回忆，……它时时萦绕在他心头，使他心绪不宁;他开始注意到某种隐蔽的自我，他以前几乎不知道它的存在。他对自己说:这实在是最愚蠢的事情，可是那姑娘的确吸引我”。查尔斯义无反顾地与未婚妻解除了婚约，失去了唾手可得的金钱和地位，从一个享有良好声誉的贵族青年成为受人垢骂的“厚颜无耻”、“背信弃义”的“大坏蛋”。但是，他发现了真实的自我。可就在这时，萨拉却神秘地失踪。在她身后为查尔斯留下了一串不解之谜和无尽的痛苦。另外，小说中其他相对次要的人物关系，比如，查尔斯与他的仆人萨姆、查尔斯与他的伯父，等等，无不体现了存在主义哲学对个体与他者的悲观而深刻的思索。
3、个体的存在和自由
自由是萨特存在主义哲学的基本概念。萨特曾说存在主义是一种“关于自由的学说”，存在即自由。当然，这里的“自由”是一个哲学概念，它指的是以主观性和超越性为特征的纯粹意识活动，它所体现的是人格的尊严和独立的思考。萨特在《存在与虚无》中将存在分为两种基本的形式，即“自在的存在”(being-in-itself)和“自为的存在”(being-for-itself)。前者是一种无意识的存在，是物质的存在;后者是个体在世界上按照自己的欲望来塑造自己时所获得的一种存在。按照自己的欲望来塑造自己，实际上就是自由选择、积极行动、追求真实的自我。人注定是自由的，注定了必须自由选择。萨特的存在主义思想还有一个基本观点，就是存在先于本质。这意味着人的自由先于人的本质并且使人的本质成为可能;人的存在的本质悬置在人的自由之中。也就是说，人的自由先于人的本质，是自由、通过自由选择确定人的本质，人的意义体现于人的自由之中。萨特还进一步将这一观点在其戏剧《苍蝇》中借俄瑞斯忒斯之口表述为“我就是我的自由”。
自由也是福尔斯一生的追求。他特别强调个体独立的特性，这在其非小说著作《智者：思想上的自画像》中充分地得到反映。福尔斯的所谓“智者”来自于古希腊哲学家赫拉克里特的观点，即那些具有独立的思考和判断能力以及追求内在智慧和知识的人，他们能够“在无人引导或被错误引导的群体中保持自己独立的特性，取得一定程度的自我实现……”(Olshen3)他在该书中所倡导的维护个体存在的自由，保持独立的特性，反抗强加于个体使之服服帖帖、唯唯诺诺、循规蹈矩的种种压力的思想始终贯穿于他的文学创作中。
当萨拉生活在莱姆镇的时候，她不断受到别人的侮辱和咒骂，但她就像加缪笔下的莫尔索一样，根本不考虑别人对自己的评价。她依靠孤独来唤醒自己的自由意识，她在对孤独的体验中来体验自由。这正如萨特所认为的，当一个人蹂躏另一个人时，并不是、也不能剥夺别人的自由，反而为别人提供了一种自由选择的境遇，促使别人对自己面临的各种可能性进行选择。萨拉从“法国中尉的女人”到“查尔斯的情人”，再自我放逐，都完全是按照自己的意愿为自己的人生定位，为生活赋予个人的意义。
萨特关于自由的概念包含着对现存秩序和传统观念的否定。这也反映在萨拉的宗教观念上。小说中所描绘的维多利亚时代是达尔文的《物种起源》刚刚问世，并且对象查尔斯这样的青年已经产生了一定的影响的时期。但也正是在此时，英国掀起了一场宗教复兴运动。 “那时候兴建起来的教堂比在那之前历史上所造的总和还多”。然而，萨拉却“并不信神”，“正如她看穿了所有的人一样，她也看穿了维多利亚时代教会的各种荒唐行为，看穿了那个时代教堂污秽的玻璃，也看穿了教会对于《圣经》的狭隘的按字面的解释”。当波尔坦尼太太威胁她要对自己所说的话负责任时，萨拉蔑视地回敬道:“是在上帝面前吗?你那么肯定到了来世上帝还能听见你说话吗?”以萨特为代表的无神论存在主义，就是将上帝的观念从人的存在环境中驱赶了出去，而肯定意志自由是人类的至善。
萨拉对查尔斯的控制及最终离他而去，也是对维多利亚时代两性关系和道德观念的一种颠覆。“维多利亚时代所规定的男性是欲望主体，女性是欲望客体，男性是拯救者，女性是等待救赎的对象的二元对立”。在萨拉与查尔斯的关系中，萨拉一直貌似是需要查尔斯同情、帮助的对象，实际上却一直控制着与查尔斯关系的发展，包括与他见面的时间、地点、情感高峰以及自己离开莱姆镇的时机选择，完全将他们的“处境颠倒过来了”。虽然按照萨特的观点，人们在自己的眼中都把他人互相视为客体，但在读者眼中，萨拉完全是行动的主体，查尔斯却是处于被动地位的客体。在这个意义上，萨拉俨然是充分体验意志自由的存在主义的英雄。
在小说的一个结尾中，查尔斯找到了萨拉，但萨拉却拒绝了查尔斯婚姻的要求。她说:“我发现我很珍惜这种生活。我不想与他人分享。我喜欢保持我目前的状况，而不是一个丈夫——无论他待我多么好，多么溺爱我——必定会期待我表现得像一个妻子应该表现得那样”。她进而说：“我很清楚，一进入爱情领域，就没有什么神圣不可侵犯的东西可言了”。这表明，萨拉对现状很满意，她希望能够本真地生活下去，而不是按照别人的意愿来生活，即便是因为爱情。这里，我们似乎听到了萨特在《存在主义是一种人道主义》一书中所说的：“……人就要对自己是怎样的人负责……并且把自己的存在的责任完全由自己担负起来”。而萨拉对查尔斯的拒绝，既使得她自己赢得了自由，也给了查尔斯自由。正如萨特所说：“我们在要求自由的时候，发现自由完全依赖他人的自由，而他人的自由，又依赖于我们的自由”。因此，“我就不得不在要求我自己的自由的时候，同时也要求他人的自由”。
整体来看，福尔斯的创作思想芜杂，但其存在主义色彩非常浓重。不仅是《法国中尉的女人》，他的其他小说，如《收藏家》（1963年）、《魔术师》（1966年）等，都是作者传达存在主义哲学思考的有效形式。
During 1981, director Karel Reisz and writer Harold Pinter adapted the novel as an eponymous film; During 2006, it was adapted for the stage, by Mark Healy, in a version which toured the UK that year. In 2005, the novel was chosen by TIME magazine as one of the one hundred best English-language novels from 1923 to present.
Plot summary
The novel's protagonist is Sarah Woodruff, the title Woman, also known by the nickname of “Tragedy”, and by the unfortunate nickname “The French Lieutenant’s Whore”. She lives in the coastal town of Lyme Regis, as a disgraced woman, supposedly abandoned by a French naval officer named Varguennes--married, unknown to her, to another woman-- with whom she had supposedly had an affair and who had returned to France.
Sarah is portrayed ambiguously: is she a genuine, ill-used woman? Is she a sly, manipulative character using her own self-pity to get Charles to succumb to her? Is she merely a victim of the notion of gender as perceived by upper-middle-class people of the 19th century?
She spends her limited time-off at the Cobb [sea wall], staring at the sea. One day, she is seen there by the gentleman Charles Smithson and his fiancée, Ernestina Freeman, the shallow-minded daughter of a wealthy tradesman. Ernestina tells Charles something of Sarah’s story, and he develops a strong curiosity about her. Eventually, he and she meet clandestinely, during which times Sarah tells Charles her history, and asks for his support, mostly emotional. Despite trying to remain objective, Charles eventually sends Sarah to Exeter, where he, during a journey, cannot resist stopping in to visit and see her. At the time she has suffered an ankle injury; he visits her alone and after they have made love he realised that she is, contrary to the rumours, a virgin. Simultaneously, he learns that his prospective inheritance from an elder uncle is in jeopardy; the uncle is engaged to a woman young enough to bear him an heir.
From there, the novelist offers three different endings for The French Lieutenant’s Woman.
* First ending: Charles marries Ernestina, and their marriage is unhappy; Sarah’s fate is unknown. Charles tells Ernestina about an encounter with whom he implies is the “French Lieutenant’s Whore”, but elides the sordid details, and the matter is ended. This ending, however, might be dismissed as a daydream, before the alternative events of the subsequent meeting with Ernestina are described.
Before the second- and third endings, the narrator — whom the novelist wants the reader to believe is John Fowles, himself — appears as a minor character sharing a train carriage with Charles. He flips a coin to determine the order in which he will portray the two, other possible endings, emphasising their equal plausibility.
* Second ending: Charles and Sarah become intimate; he ends his engagement to Ernestina, with unpleasant consequences. He is disgraced, and his uncle marries, then produces an heir. Sarah flees to London without telling the enamoured Charles, who searches for her for years, before finding her living with several artists (likely the Rossettis), enjoying an artistic, creative life. He then sees he has fathered a child with her; as a family, their future is open, with possible reunion implied.
* Third ending: the narrator re-appears, standing outside the house where the second ending occurred; at the aftermath. He turns back his pocket watch by fifteen minutes, before leaving in his carriage. Events are the same as in the second-ending version, but, when Charles finds Sarah again, in London, their reunion is sour. It is possible that their union was childless; Sarah does not tell Charles about one, and does not express interest for continuing the relationship. He leaves the house, deciding to return to America, and sees the carriage, in which the narrator was thought gone. Raising the question: is Sarah a manipulating, lying woman of few morals, exploiting Charles’s obvious love to get what she wants?
En route, Fowles the novelist discourses upon the difficulties of controlling the characters, and offers analyses of differences in 19th-century customs and class, the theories of Charles Darwin, the poetry of Matthew Arnold, Lord Tennyson, and the literature of Thomas Hardy. He questions the role of the author — when speaking of how the Charles character “disobeys” his orders; the characters have discrete lives of their own in the novel. Philosophically, Existentialism is mentioned several times during the story, and in particular detail at the end, after the portrayals of the two, apparent, equally possible endings.
这是一本关于哲学史的小说，２０世纪百部经典著作之一 ，１９９４年获"德国青少年文学奖"与"最优秀作品奖" 。
该书自１９９１年出版发行之后，长期雄踞各国畅销书排行榜第一名，世界上已有３５个国家购买了该书的版权。截止到１９９５年５月，该书德文版的销售已达１２０万册的天文数字。一部《苏菲的世界》就是一部深入浅出的人类哲学史。它不仅能唤醒人们内心深处对生命的敬仰与赞叹、对人生意义的关心与好奇，而且也为每一个人的成长——使生命从混沌走向智慧、由困惑而进入觉悟之境，挂起了一盏盏明亮的桅灯……
《苏菲的世界》以小说 苏菲的世界(电影) 的形式，通过一名哲学导师向一个叫苏菲的女孩传授哲学知识的经过，揭示了西方哲学史发展的历程。由前苏格拉底时代到萨特，以及亚里士多德、笛卡儿、黑格尔等人的思想都通过作者生动的笔触跃然纸上，并配以当时的历史背景加以解释，引人入胜。评论家认为，对于那些从未读过哲学课程的人而言，此书是最为合适的入门书，而对于那些以往读过一些哲学而已忘得一干二净的人士，也可起到温故知新的作用。
《苏菲的世界》[书籍]-概述
该书自1991年出版发行之后，长期雄踞各国畅销书排行榜第一名，世界上已有35个国家购买了该书的版权。截止到1995年5月，该书德文版的销售已达120万册的天文数字。一部《苏菲的世界》就是一部深入浅出的人类哲学史。它不仅能唤醒人们内心深处对生命的敬仰与赞叹、对人生意义的关心与好奇，而且也为每一个人的成长--使生命从混沌走向智慧、由困惑而进入觉悟之境，挂起了一盏盏明亮的桅灯……
《苏菲的世界》[书籍]-故事梗概
14岁的少女苏菲某天放学回家，收到了神秘的一封信——“你是谁？世界从哪里来？”从这一天开始，苏菲不断接到一些极不寻常的来信，世界像谜团一般在她眼底展开。在一位神秘导师的指导引下，苏菲开始思索从古希腊到康德，从祁克果到佛洛伊德等各位大师所思考的根本问题。她运用少女天生的悟性与后天知识，企图解开这些谜团。然而，事实真相远比她所想的更怪异、更离奇……
《苏菲的世界》，即是智慧的世界，梦的世界。它将会唤醒每个人内心深处对生命的赞叹与对人生终极意义的关怀和好奇。
《苏菲的世界》[书籍]-摘要
你是谁？
她怎么会知道？不用说，她的名字叫苏菲，但那个叫做苏菲的人又是谁呢？她还没想出来。
如果她取了另外一个名字呢？比如说，如果她叫做安妮的话，她会不会变成别人？
这使她想起爸爸原本要将她取名为莉莉。她试着想象自己与别人握手，并且介绍自己名叫莉莉的情景，但觉得好像很不对劲，像是别人在自我介绍一般。
她跳起来，走进浴室，手里拿着那封奇怪的信。她站在镜子前面，凝视着自己的眼睛。“我的名字叫莉莉。”她说。
镜中的女孩却连眼睛也不眨一下。无论苏菲做什么，她都依样画葫芦。苏菲飞快地做了一个动作，想使镜中的影像追赶不及，但那个女孩却和她一般的敏捷。
“你是谁？”苏菲问。
镜中的人也不回答。有一刹那，她觉得迷惑，弄不清楚刚才问问题的到底是她，还是镜中的影像。
苏菲用食指点着镜中的鼻子，说：“你是我。”
对方依旧没有反应。于是她将句子颠倒过来，说：“我是你。”
《苏菲的世界》[书籍]-书评
贾德这本关于哲学史的小说可谓是空前的，他再次用事实证明了哲学并不是脱离现实的学院人士在象牙塔里所写的东西。--《德意志星期日汇报》
该书是一个将学术作品通俗化的杰出范例，未曾修习哲学概论的人，可以把它作为一本最佳的入门读物，而学习过此门课程但已忘却大半的人，本书则是温故而知新的得力之作。 --美国《新闻周刊》
挪威作家乔斯坦·贾德不仅文笔卓尔不群，同时有多年担任哲学教师的经历，《苏菲的世界》一书有助于使读者以阅读侦探小说般的心情游览从柏拉图以前一直到２０世纪的世界哲学史，而丝毫不产生任何枯燥厌烦的感觉。 --著名作家与评论家马德兰·蓝格尔
哲学不是万灵丹，但是从来不去留意“爱好智慧”的重要与前人的心得，那么注定会陷于心灵封闭与终结。这或许是本书广受欢迎的原因吧为了使人从困惑到觉悟，本书提供了一盏明灯。--哲学教授傅佩茱
《苏菲的世界》可以当做哲学启蒙书来阅读。它的小说部分，苏菲的主体自觉过程则颇像侦探故事加上现代版的————《爱丽丝梦游仙境》，哲学加侦探，加幻想，再加上宇宙观，它让人更加心胸开阔，这不正是哲学“爱智”最古典的要义吗知名作家南方朔
这本书的流行有其重要性，我们可以从好几方面来看。全书虽非学术性著作，但它是一本捍卫哲学的书，正因为其大众化，它也就代表了“大多数人的看法”。这本书不是在探讨哲学上的某一特别思潮或历史，而是尝试对每一派别做概论式的介绍，并说明它在今日的地位。可以说是一本集“学术界一般看法的摘要录”。因此，这本书表达了当今知识分子的立场。
假如《苏菲的世界》代表着主流知识分子的哲学观点，它所表达的也极引人注目。这本书对真实的哲学给予极崇高的评价：批判的、理性的和公正的评论；去除偏见、迷信和惯例；不做仓促和轻率的判断，一意追求真理、知识、美善和道德。
Mostly consisting of dialogues between Sophie Amundsen and a mysterious man named Alberto Knox, interwoven with an increasingly bizarre and mysterious plot, Sophie's World acts as both a novel and a basic guide to philosophy.
Plot summary
Sophie Amundsen is fourteen years old when the book begins. She begins a strange correspondence course in philosophy. Every day, a letter comes to her mailbox that contains a few questions and then later in the day a package comes with some typed pages describing the ideas of a philosopher who dealt with the issues raised by the questions. Although at first she does not know, later on Sophie learns that Alberto Knox is the name of the philosopher who is teaching her. He sends her packages via his dog Hermes. Alberto first tells Sophie that philosophy is extremely relevant to life and that if we do not question and ponder our very existence we are not really living. Then he proceeds to go through the history of western philosophy. Alberto teaches Sophie about the ancient myths that people had in the days before they tried to come up with natural explanations for the processes in the world. Then she learns about the natural philosophers who were concerned with change. Next Alberto describes Democritus and the theory of indivisible atoms underlying all of nature as well as the concept of fate.
At the same time as she takes the philosophy course, Sophie receives a strange postcard sent to Hilde Møller Knag, care of Sophie. The postcard is from Hilde's father and wishes Hilde happy birthday. Sophie is confused, and more so when she finds a scarf with Hilde's name on it. She does not know what is happening but she is sure that Hilde and the philosophy course must somehow be connected. She learns about Socrates, who was wise enough to know that he knew nothing. Then Alberto sends her a video that shows him in present day Athens and somehow he seems to go back in time to ancient Athens. She learns about Plato and his world of ideas and then about Aristotle, who critiqued Plato, classified much of the natural world, and founded logic and our theory of concepts.
Then, as Sophie's education continues, the Hilde situation begins to get more complicated. She finds many more postcards to Hilde, and some of them are even dated on June 15, the day Sophie will turn 15. The problem is that June 15 is still over a month away. She discovers some of this with her best friend Joanna, and one of the postcards tells Hilde that one day she will meet Sophie and also mentions Joanna. Strange things are happening that the girls cannot figure out. Sophie's relationship with her mother becomes somewhat strained as she tries both to cover up the correspondence with Alberto and to practice her philosophical thinking on her mom. Meanwhile, Alberto teaches Sophie about Jesus and the meeting of Indo-European and Semitic culture. She learns about St. Augustine, St. Aquinas, and the christianization of Greek philosophy that occurred in the Middle Ages. By this time, Sophie has met Alberto and he begins hinting that the philosophy is about to get extremely relevant to the strange things that are happening to her.
Sophie learns about the focus on humanity in the Renaissance and the extremes of the Baroque and then Alberto focuses on some key philosophers. Urgently, he teaches her about Descartes, who doubted, and by doing so knew at least that he could doubt. They move on to Spinoza as it becomes clear that Hilde's father has some awesome power over them. Then Sophie learns about the empiricists. Locke believed in natural rights and that everything we know is gained from experience. Hume, an important influence on Kant, showed that our actions are guided by feelings and warned against making laws based upon our experiences. But Berkeley is most important to Sophie because he suggested that perhaps our entire lives were inside the mind of God. And Alberto says that their lives are inside the mind of Albert Knag, Hilde's father.
At this point the story switches to Hilde's point of view. On June 15, the day she turns fifteen, Hilde receives a birthday gift from her father entitled Sophie's World. She begins to read and is enthralled. We follow the rest of Sophie's story from Hilde's perspective. Hilde becomes certain that Sophie exists, that she is not just a character in a book. Alberto has a plan to escape Albert Knag's mind, and they must finish the philosophy course before that can happen. He teaches Sophie about the Enlightenment and its humane values and about Kant and his unification of empiricist and rationalist thought. Things in Sophie's life have become completely insane but she and Alberto know they must figure out a way to do something. It will have to occur on the night of June 15, when Hilde's father returns home. They learn about the world spirit of Romanticism, Hegel's dialectical view of history, and Kierkegaard's belief that the individual's existence is primary. Meanwhile, Hilde plans a surprise for her father on his return home. They rush through Marx, Darwin, Freud, and Sartre, desperate to come up with a plan to escape even though everything they do is known by Hilde's father. Then at the end of Sophie's World, the book that Hilde is reading, while at a party for Sophie on June 15, Alberto and Sophie disappear. Hilde's father comes home and they talk about the book, and Hilde is sure that Sophie exists somewhere. Meanwhile, Sophie and Alberto have a new existence as spirit. They have escaped from Albert Knag's mind but they are invisible to other people and can walk right through them. Sophie wants to try to interfere in the world of Hilde and her father, and at the end of the book she is learning how to do so.
该书自１９９１年出版发行之后，长期雄踞各国畅销书排行榜第一名，世界上已有３５个国家购买了该书的版权。截止到１９９５年５月，该书德文版的销售已达１２０万册的天文数字。一部《苏菲的世界》就是一部深入浅出的人类哲学史。它不仅能唤醒人们内心深处对生命的敬仰与赞叹、对人生意义的关心与好奇，而且也为每一个人的成长——使生命从混沌走向智慧、由困惑而进入觉悟之境，挂起了一盏盏明亮的桅灯……
《苏菲的世界》以小说 苏菲的世界(电影) 的形式，通过一名哲学导师向一个叫苏菲的女孩传授哲学知识的经过，揭示了西方哲学史发展的历程。由前苏格拉底时代到萨特，以及亚里士多德、笛卡儿、黑格尔等人的思想都通过作者生动的笔触跃然纸上，并配以当时的历史背景加以解释，引人入胜。评论家认为，对于那些从未读过哲学课程的人而言，此书是最为合适的入门书，而对于那些以往读过一些哲学而已忘得一干二净的人士，也可起到温故知新的作用。
《苏菲的世界》[书籍]-概述
该书自1991年出版发行之后，长期雄踞各国畅销书排行榜第一名，世界上已有35个国家购买了该书的版权。截止到1995年5月，该书德文版的销售已达120万册的天文数字。一部《苏菲的世界》就是一部深入浅出的人类哲学史。它不仅能唤醒人们内心深处对生命的敬仰与赞叹、对人生意义的关心与好奇，而且也为每一个人的成长--使生命从混沌走向智慧、由困惑而进入觉悟之境，挂起了一盏盏明亮的桅灯……
《苏菲的世界》[书籍]-故事梗概
14岁的少女苏菲某天放学回家，收到了神秘的一封信——“你是谁？世界从哪里来？”从这一天开始，苏菲不断接到一些极不寻常的来信，世界像谜团一般在她眼底展开。在一位神秘导师的指导引下，苏菲开始思索从古希腊到康德，从祁克果到佛洛伊德等各位大师所思考的根本问题。她运用少女天生的悟性与后天知识，企图解开这些谜团。然而，事实真相远比她所想的更怪异、更离奇……
《苏菲的世界》，即是智慧的世界，梦的世界。它将会唤醒每个人内心深处对生命的赞叹与对人生终极意义的关怀和好奇。
《苏菲的世界》[书籍]-摘要
你是谁？
她怎么会知道？不用说，她的名字叫苏菲，但那个叫做苏菲的人又是谁呢？她还没想出来。
如果她取了另外一个名字呢？比如说，如果她叫做安妮的话，她会不会变成别人？
这使她想起爸爸原本要将她取名为莉莉。她试着想象自己与别人握手，并且介绍自己名叫莉莉的情景，但觉得好像很不对劲，像是别人在自我介绍一般。
她跳起来，走进浴室，手里拿着那封奇怪的信。她站在镜子前面，凝视着自己的眼睛。“我的名字叫莉莉。”她说。
镜中的女孩却连眼睛也不眨一下。无论苏菲做什么，她都依样画葫芦。苏菲飞快地做了一个动作，想使镜中的影像追赶不及，但那个女孩却和她一般的敏捷。
“你是谁？”苏菲问。
镜中的人也不回答。有一刹那，她觉得迷惑，弄不清楚刚才问问题的到底是她，还是镜中的影像。
苏菲用食指点着镜中的鼻子，说：“你是我。”
对方依旧没有反应。于是她将句子颠倒过来，说：“我是你。”
《苏菲的世界》[书籍]-书评
贾德这本关于哲学史的小说可谓是空前的，他再次用事实证明了哲学并不是脱离现实的学院人士在象牙塔里所写的东西。--《德意志星期日汇报》
该书是一个将学术作品通俗化的杰出范例，未曾修习哲学概论的人，可以把它作为一本最佳的入门读物，而学习过此门课程但已忘却大半的人，本书则是温故而知新的得力之作。 --美国《新闻周刊》
挪威作家乔斯坦·贾德不仅文笔卓尔不群，同时有多年担任哲学教师的经历，《苏菲的世界》一书有助于使读者以阅读侦探小说般的心情游览从柏拉图以前一直到２０世纪的世界哲学史，而丝毫不产生任何枯燥厌烦的感觉。 --著名作家与评论家马德兰·蓝格尔
哲学不是万灵丹，但是从来不去留意“爱好智慧”的重要与前人的心得，那么注定会陷于心灵封闭与终结。这或许是本书广受欢迎的原因吧为了使人从困惑到觉悟，本书提供了一盏明灯。--哲学教授傅佩茱
《苏菲的世界》可以当做哲学启蒙书来阅读。它的小说部分，苏菲的主体自觉过程则颇像侦探故事加上现代版的————《爱丽丝梦游仙境》，哲学加侦探，加幻想，再加上宇宙观，它让人更加心胸开阔，这不正是哲学“爱智”最古典的要义吗知名作家南方朔
这本书的流行有其重要性，我们可以从好几方面来看。全书虽非学术性著作，但它是一本捍卫哲学的书，正因为其大众化，它也就代表了“大多数人的看法”。这本书不是在探讨哲学上的某一特别思潮或历史，而是尝试对每一派别做概论式的介绍，并说明它在今日的地位。可以说是一本集“学术界一般看法的摘要录”。因此，这本书表达了当今知识分子的立场。
假如《苏菲的世界》代表着主流知识分子的哲学观点，它所表达的也极引人注目。这本书对真实的哲学给予极崇高的评价：批判的、理性的和公正的评论；去除偏见、迷信和惯例；不做仓促和轻率的判断，一意追求真理、知识、美善和道德。
Mostly consisting of dialogues between Sophie Amundsen and a mysterious man named Alberto Knox, interwoven with an increasingly bizarre and mysterious plot, Sophie's World acts as both a novel and a basic guide to philosophy.
Plot summary
Sophie Amundsen is fourteen years old when the book begins. She begins a strange correspondence course in philosophy. Every day, a letter comes to her mailbox that contains a few questions and then later in the day a package comes with some typed pages describing the ideas of a philosopher who dealt with the issues raised by the questions. Although at first she does not know, later on Sophie learns that Alberto Knox is the name of the philosopher who is teaching her. He sends her packages via his dog Hermes. Alberto first tells Sophie that philosophy is extremely relevant to life and that if we do not question and ponder our very existence we are not really living. Then he proceeds to go through the history of western philosophy. Alberto teaches Sophie about the ancient myths that people had in the days before they tried to come up with natural explanations for the processes in the world. Then she learns about the natural philosophers who were concerned with change. Next Alberto describes Democritus and the theory of indivisible atoms underlying all of nature as well as the concept of fate.
At the same time as she takes the philosophy course, Sophie receives a strange postcard sent to Hilde Møller Knag, care of Sophie. The postcard is from Hilde's father and wishes Hilde happy birthday. Sophie is confused, and more so when she finds a scarf with Hilde's name on it. She does not know what is happening but she is sure that Hilde and the philosophy course must somehow be connected. She learns about Socrates, who was wise enough to know that he knew nothing. Then Alberto sends her a video that shows him in present day Athens and somehow he seems to go back in time to ancient Athens. She learns about Plato and his world of ideas and then about Aristotle, who critiqued Plato, classified much of the natural world, and founded logic and our theory of concepts.
Then, as Sophie's education continues, the Hilde situation begins to get more complicated. She finds many more postcards to Hilde, and some of them are even dated on June 15, the day Sophie will turn 15. The problem is that June 15 is still over a month away. She discovers some of this with her best friend Joanna, and one of the postcards tells Hilde that one day she will meet Sophie and also mentions Joanna. Strange things are happening that the girls cannot figure out. Sophie's relationship with her mother becomes somewhat strained as she tries both to cover up the correspondence with Alberto and to practice her philosophical thinking on her mom. Meanwhile, Alberto teaches Sophie about Jesus and the meeting of Indo-European and Semitic culture. She learns about St. Augustine, St. Aquinas, and the christianization of Greek philosophy that occurred in the Middle Ages. By this time, Sophie has met Alberto and he begins hinting that the philosophy is about to get extremely relevant to the strange things that are happening to her.
Sophie learns about the focus on humanity in the Renaissance and the extremes of the Baroque and then Alberto focuses on some key philosophers. Urgently, he teaches her about Descartes, who doubted, and by doing so knew at least that he could doubt. They move on to Spinoza as it becomes clear that Hilde's father has some awesome power over them. Then Sophie learns about the empiricists. Locke believed in natural rights and that everything we know is gained from experience. Hume, an important influence on Kant, showed that our actions are guided by feelings and warned against making laws based upon our experiences. But Berkeley is most important to Sophie because he suggested that perhaps our entire lives were inside the mind of God. And Alberto says that their lives are inside the mind of Albert Knag, Hilde's father.
At this point the story switches to Hilde's point of view. On June 15, the day she turns fifteen, Hilde receives a birthday gift from her father entitled Sophie's World. She begins to read and is enthralled. We follow the rest of Sophie's story from Hilde's perspective. Hilde becomes certain that Sophie exists, that she is not just a character in a book. Alberto has a plan to escape Albert Knag's mind, and they must finish the philosophy course before that can happen. He teaches Sophie about the Enlightenment and its humane values and about Kant and his unification of empiricist and rationalist thought. Things in Sophie's life have become completely insane but she and Alberto know they must figure out a way to do something. It will have to occur on the night of June 15, when Hilde's father returns home. They learn about the world spirit of Romanticism, Hegel's dialectical view of history, and Kierkegaard's belief that the individual's existence is primary. Meanwhile, Hilde plans a surprise for her father on his return home. They rush through Marx, Darwin, Freud, and Sartre, desperate to come up with a plan to escape even though everything they do is known by Hilde's father. Then at the end of Sophie's World, the book that Hilde is reading, while at a party for Sophie on June 15, Alberto and Sophie disappear. Hilde's father comes home and they talk about the book, and Hilde is sure that Sophie exists somewhere. Meanwhile, Sophie and Alberto have a new existence as spirit. They have escaped from Albert Knag's mind but they are invisible to other people and can walk right through them. Sophie wants to try to interfere in the world of Hilde and her father, and at the end of the book she is learning how to do so.
《变形记》（德语Die Verwandlung，英语The Metamorphosis）是卡夫卡的短篇小说代表作之一,是卡氏艺术上的最高成就，被认为是20世纪最伟大的小说作品之一。 在西方现代小说史上占有重要地位.小说写人变成动物,故事神秘离奇。《变形记》作为西方现代派文学的奠基之作，也是卡夫卡也被公认为现代派的鼻祖的重要作品之一，对后来的现代主义发展产生了深远的影响，可以说二战后的欧洲兴起的“荒诞派戏剧”、法国的“新小说”和美国的“黑色幽默”小说都受到了卡夫卡的启发。主人公格里高尔是个小人物。父亲破产，母亲生病，妹妹上学。沉重的家庭负担和父亲的债务，压得格里高尔喘不过气来。他拼命干活，目的是还清父债，改善家庭生活。在公司，他受老板的气，指望还清父债后辞职。可以说，对父母他是个孝子，对妹妹他是个好哥哥，对公司他是个好职员。变成甲虫，身体越来越差，他还为还清父债担忧，还眷恋家人，甚至为讨父亲欢心，自己艰难地乖乖爬回卧室。这样善良、忠厚而又富有责任感的人，最终被亲人抛弃。格里高尔的悲剧是令人心酸的，具有丰富的社会内涵。
《变形记》-作者简介
弗兰兹·卡夫卡弗兰兹·卡夫卡
弗兰兹·卡夫卡（Franz Kafka，1883年7月3日—1924年6月3日），奥地利小说家，20世纪德语小说家。文笔明净而想像奇诡，常采用寓言体,背后的寓意人言人殊，暂无（或永无）定论。
卡夫卡他是一位用德语写作的业余作家，他与法国作家马赛尔·普鲁斯特，爱尔兰作家詹姆斯·乔伊斯并称为西方现代主义文学的先驱和大师。卡夫卡生前默默无闻，孤独地奋斗，随着时间的流逝，他的价值才逐渐为人们所认识，作品引起了世界的震动，并在世界范围内形成一股“卡夫卡”热，经久不衰。
后世的批评家，往往过分强调卡夫卡作品阴暗的一面，忽视其明朗、风趣的地方，米兰·昆德拉在《被背叛的遗嘱》（Les testaments trahis）中试图纠正这一点。其实据布劳德的回忆，卡夫卡喜欢在朋友面前朗读自己的作品，读到得意的段落时会忍俊不禁，自己大笑起来。
卡夫卡一生的作品并不多，但对后世文学的影响却是极为深远的。美国诗人奥登认为：“他与我们时代的关系最近似但丁、莎士比亚、歌德与他们时代的关系。”卡夫卡的小说揭示了一种荒诞的充满非理性色彩的景象，个人式的、忧郁的、孤独的情绪，运用的是象征式的手法。三四十年代的超现实主义余党视之为同仁，四五十年代的荒诞派以之为先驱，六十年代的美国”黑色幽默“奉之为典范。
卡夫卡1909年开始发表作品，1915年因短篇小说《司炉工》获冯塔纳德国文学奖金。卡夫卡创作勤奋，但并不以发表、成名为目的。工作之余的创作是他寄托思想感情和排谴忧郁苦闷的手段。许多作品随意写来，并无结尾，他对自己的作品也多为不满，临终前让挚友布洛德全部烧毁其作品。布洛德出于友谊与崇敬之情，违背了卡夫卡遗愿，整理出版了《卡夫卡全集》（1950—1980）共九卷。其中八卷中的作品是首次刊出，引起文坛轰动。
《变形记》-内容简介
背景
1914年至1918年的第一次世界大战，使许多资本主义国家经济萧条，社会动荡，人民生活在水深火热之中。黑暗的现实，痛苦的生活，使得人们对资本主义社会失去信心，一方面寻求出路，锐意改革，一方面又陷于孤独、颓废、绝望之中。19世纪末至20世纪初，一些思想敏锐的艺术家认为世界是混乱的、荒诞的，他们著书立说，批判资本主义的人际关系，批判摧残人性的社会制度。第一次世界大战前后和第二次世界大战前后，现代主义文学应运而生。现代主义文学作品反映了资本主义社会的黑暗，人和人之间关系的冷酷，人对社会的绝望。艺术上强调使用极度夸张以至怪诞离奇的表现手法，描绘扭曲的人性，表现人的本能和无意识的主观感受，开掘个人的直觉、本能、无意识、梦幻、变态心理以至半疯狂、疯狂的言行、心理。现代主义的优秀文学作品探索人的心灵，为揭示人的内心世界提供了新的艺术手法。
内容
小说写人变成动物,故事神秘离奇：在《变形记》中，职业为推销员的主人翁一觉醒来，发现自己变成了一只巨大的跳蚤。
一天早晨,格里高尔从梦中醒来时发现自己躺在床上变成了一只巨大的甲虫,全身长出了许多只细得可怜的小腿,坚硬得像铁甲一样的背贴着床而仰卧着,不能翻身,也下不了床. 但他必须起来。他要静悄悄不受打扰地起床,穿起衣服,最要紧的是吃饱早饭,再考虑下一步该怎么办,因为他非常明白,躲在床上瞎想一气是想不出什么明堂的. 他还记得过去也是因为睡觉姿势不好,躺在床上时往往会觉得这儿那儿隐隐作痛,及至起来,就知道纯属心理作用,所以他殷切地盼望今天早晨的幻觉会逐渐消逝。格里高尔,虽然人己'物化'为虫子,但他还存在人的思维,还要象正常人一样生活和思考.由于担心赶不上五点钟的火车.格里高尔心情既焦急又恐慌,又生怕公司来人,自己这种面目如何见人!他竭力挣扎。 格里高尔慢慢地把椅子推向门边,接着便放开椅子,抓住门来支撑自己——他那些细腿的脚底上倒是颇有粘性的。他在门上靠了一会儿,喘过一口气来.接着他始用嘴巴转动插在锁孔里的钥匙.不幸的是,他并没什么牙齿。他得用什么来咬住钥匙呢 ？钥匙需要转动时,他便用嘴巴衔住它,自己也绕着锁孔转了一圈,好把钥匙扭过去,或者不如说,使用全身的重量使它转动.终于屈服的锁发出了响亮的咔塔一声,使格里高尔大为高兴··· ···
《变形记》-情节和主题
《变形记》创作于1912年，发表于1915年。小说分成三部分，用一、二、三标明。课文节选了原小说的一半内容。
第一部分
格里高尔发现自己变成“巨大的甲虫”，惊慌而又忧郁。父亲发现后大怒，把他赶回自己的卧室。
第二部分
格里高尔变了，养成了甲虫的生活习性，却保留了人的意识。他失业了，仍旧关心怎样还清父亲欠的债务，送妹妹上音乐学院。可是，一个月后，他成了全家的累赘。父亲、母亲、妹妹对他改变了态度。
第三部分
为了生存，家人只得打工挣钱，忍受不了格里高尔这个负担。妹妹终于提出把哥哥弄走。格里高尔又饿又病，陷入绝望，“他怀着深情和爱意想他的一家人”，“然后他的头就自己垂倒在地板上，他的鼻孔呼出了最后一丝气息”，死了。父亲、母亲和妹妹开始过着自己养活自己的新生活。
情节的发展由两条线索交互展开：
格里高尔：变成甲虫——成为累赘——绝望而死
家里亲人：惊慌、同情—— 逐渐憎恨——“把他弄走”
格里高尔自始至终关心家庭、怀恋亲人，可是亲人最终抛弃了他，对他的死无动于衷，而且决定去郊游。
作者描写这种人情反差，揭示了当时社会生活对人的异化，致使亲情淡薄，人性扭曲。《变形记》的主题具有强烈的批判性。卡夫卡创作的文学作品的主题，不同的读者从不同的角度，会有不同的体验和理解。有人认为《变形记》的主题是：表现人对自己命运的无能为力，人失去自我就处于绝境。也有人认为，格里高尔变成甲虫，无利于人，自行死亡；一家人重新工作，走向新生活；存在就是合理，生活规律是无情的。
《变形记》-人物和心理描写
主人公格里高尔是个小人物。父亲破产，母亲生病，妹妹上学。沉重的家庭
《变形记》《变形记》
负担和父亲的债务，压得格里高尔喘不过气来。他拼命干活，目的是还清父债，改善家庭生活。在公司，他受老板的气，指望还清父债后辞职。可以说，对父母他是个孝子，对妹妹他是个好哥哥，对公司他是个好职员。变成甲虫，身体越来越差，他还为还清父债担忧，还眷恋家人，甚至为讨父亲欢心，自己艰难地乖乖爬回卧室。这样善良、忠厚而又富有责任感的人，最终被亲人抛弃。格里高尔的悲剧是令人心酸的，具有丰富的社会内涵。
小说用心理描写的方法刻画格里高尔这个人物。格里高尔过去的生活、变甲虫后的思想感情和个性特点，都是通过心理描写表现出来的。
小说用许多笔墨写了变形后格里高尔悲哀凄苦的内心世界，格里高尔虽然变成了甲虫，但他的心理始终保持着人的状态，他突然发现自己变成大甲虫时的惊慌、忧郁，他考虑家庭经济状况时的焦虑、自责，他遭亲人厌弃后的绝望、痛苦，无不展示了一个善良、忠厚、富有责任感的小人物渴望人的理解和接受的心理。只是这种愿望终于被彻底的绝望所代替，弥漫在人物心头的是无边的孤独、冷漠与悲凉。应该说，《变形记》的内在主线就是格里高尔变成甲虫后的心理—情感流动的过程，主人公变成甲虫后的内心感受和心理活动是小说的主体。小说用内心独白、回忆、联想、幻想等手法，去表现人物的心理活动。他不断地回忆、联想过去和今后的事情，不时由于恐惧焦虑、痛苦和绝望而产生幻想、幻觉，并且在自由联想中经常出现时空倒错、逻辑混乱、思维跳跃等，具有一定的意识流特征。
《变形记》-评价
表现主义
卡夫卡的创作旺盛期正值德国表现主义文学运动的高潮时期。他的短篇小说《变形记》可以说是表现主义的典型之作。
表现主义的创作主张是遵循“表现论”美学原则而与传统现实主义的“模仿论”原则相对立的。它反对“复制世界”，即不把客观事物的表面现象作为真实的依据，而主张凭认真“观察”和重新思考去发现或洞察被习俗观念掩盖着的，而为一般人所不注意的真实。为此就需要一种特殊的艺术手段，把描写的客观对象加以 “陌生化”的处理，以造成审美主体与被描写的客体之间的距离，从而引起你的惊异，迫使你从另一个角度去探悉同一个事物的本质。这种艺术手段通称“间离法”，在布莱希特那里叫作“陌生化效果”。《变形记》的变形即是一种间离（或“陌生化”）技巧。作者想借以揭示人与人之间——包括伦常之间——表面亲亲热热，内心里却是极为孤独和陌生的实质；之所以亲亲热热，因为互相有共同的利害关系维系着，一旦割断这种关系，则那种亲热的外观马上就消失而暴露出冷酷和冷漠的真相。正如恩格斯在《英国工人阶级状况》一文中所揭示的：“维系家庭的纽带并不是家庭的爱，而是隐藏在财产共有关系之后的私人利益。”可谓一针见血。
当格里高尔身体健康，每月能拿回工资供养全家的时候，他是这个家庭里一名堂堂正正的而且受人尊敬的长子。但当他一旦患了不治之症，失去了公司里的职务，因而无法与家庭保持这种经济联系的时候，他在家庭里的一切尊严很快被剥夺干净，甚至连维持生命的正常饮食都无人过问。他变成“非人”，他的处境无异于动物。当然也可以让主人公得一种致命的重病或遭遇一次丧失劳动力的重残，然后写他被家人厌弃的过程。但这样的构思其艺术效果不如变形那样强烈。因为作为病人，他有口会说话，有眼睛会看人，你不能当着他的面表现出对他的厌倦，或不给他送饭吃。而一只甲虫，既不会说话，也没有表情，他的孤独感就更加令人感到凄然了——以上是从社会学观点去看的。
如果从西方流行的“异化”观念去看，这篇小说也是写人与人之间、人与自我之间关系的一篇杰作。在实际生活中，卡夫卡在家庭里与父亲的关系确实是不和谐的，但与母亲关系是正常的，与他第三个妹妹特别要好。但卡夫卡却在一封信中说：“我在自己的家里比陌生人还要陌生。”现在卡夫卡通过《变形记》暗示我们：即使像他的妹妹那样爱着哥哥，但一旦这位哥哥得了一种致命的绝症，久而久之，她也会像小说中的那位女郎那样厌弃他的。这里，卡夫卡写的是一种普遍的人类生存状况。人的变形，也是自我“异化”的一种写照。尤其是主人公变成甲虫以后，人的习性渐渐消失，而“虫性” 日益增加，仿佛格里高尔异化出人的世界以后，倒是在动物的世界里找到“虫”的自我了。这样的写法是绝妙的。
在人与人之间还没有取得和谐关系的世界里，人的变形也是一种象征，一切倒霉人的象征：人一旦遭遇不幸（丧失工作能力的疾病、伤残、政治袭击等），他就不再被社会承认，从而失去作为人的价值的“自我”，成为无异于低等动物的“非人”。
在现代艺术创作中，变形是一种怪诞的表现手段，是一种创造 “距离”或“陌生化”的技巧。按照美国美学家桑塔那那的说法，怪诞也是一种创造；它违背客观事物的表面真实，却并不违背客观事物的内在逻辑，因此它已进入现代美学的范畴，成为表现主义文学艺术偏爱的一种手法。表现主义文学创作强调从主观的内心感受出发，作品往往具有一种个人的真实性，这在卡夫卡笔下呈现为自传色彩。不仅主人公的身份（公司雇员）和心理（作为长子必须尽家庭义务）与作者近似，其他人物如父亲、母亲和妹妹几乎都可以与卡夫卡的家庭成员进行比较。
内涵
《变形记》这个故事表面看来荒诞不经，实则蕴涵了丰富而深刻的内容，主要包括以下方面：
1、首先，它真实地表现了西方现代资本主义社会里人的异化.在西方现代资本主义社会人(例如金钱,机器,产品,生产方式等)所驱使，所胁迫，所统治而不能自主,成为物的奴隶，进而失去人的本性，变为非人.。《变形记》主人公里高尔的故事正是人异化为非人这一哲学生存现状.。
2、其次，作品还表现了在现代社会里人的一种生存恐惧。人变甲虫，在这里象征着莫明其妙的巨大灾难的降临，这种人不能掌握自己命运的感觉表现 了现代西方人的某种精神状态，尤其是进入20世纪以后，两次世界大战的灾难，周期性的经济危机，超级大国的军备竞赛，核战争的威胁，环境污染和自然界生态平衡的破坏，这一切使人们对未来的命运处于一种不可知的恐惧状态之中。《变形记》中格里高尔的命运正反映了这种精神状态本质的东西。
3、再次，《变形记》还表现了现代社会中人与人之间的冷漠关系。小说详细的描写了家人对他从关心到厌恶到必欲置其于死地的过程，这一过程实际上是希望他恢复赚钱的能力到彻底绝望的过程。这是一个为家庭奉献了一切，却由于失去了原有的价值而被家庭抛弃的小人物的悲剧，这类悲剧在人情冷漠的现代社会里并不罕见。
作品创造的艺术世界，涵盖思想内容和艺术形式两个方面，是内容和形式的有机统一。就思想而言，较为曲折地反映了资本主义社会的种种弊端，将荒唐、人性异化看着特定历史条件下人类社会不可避免的现象，赋予作品以浓厚的虚无主义和悲观主义情调;就艺术而言,善于运用怪诞和象征的表现手法，特别是用富有表现力的手法去表现抽象的思想感情。
受存在主义学说的影响，作品深刻反映了世纪末情绪，表现了人的孤独与恐惧，展示在人们面前的是荒诞的世界和异化的主题, 形成了独持的“卡夫卡式”艺术风格和思想内容。特别是卡夫卡对表现主义手法运用自如,达到登峰造极之境界。其作品往往寓荒诞于真实之中，融幻想和怪诞于一体，或描写人与“非人”的人有机碰撞;或执著于精神层面的不可逾越，真理的不可寻求，或寄寓象征形象的塑造来展现人物的痛苦和困惑等等，构建了“卡夫卡式”艺术风格的美学概念。
《变形记》-世人心中的卡夫卡与《变形记》
卡夫卡是现代主义文学的开山祖师，《变形记》是他的代表作品之一。如果你想了解现代主义文学，最好的办法就是从反复阅读《变形记》开始。
在本书中卡夫卡描述了小职员格里高尔·萨姆沙突然变成一只使家人都厌恶的大甲虫的荒诞情节，借以揭示人与人之间--包括伦常之间--表面上亲亲热热，内心里却极为孤独和陌生的实质，生动而深刻地再现了资本主义社会中人与人之间的冷漠。在荒诞的、不合逻辑的世界里描绘"人类生活的一切活动及其逼真的细节"，这正是著名小说家卡夫卡的天赋之所在。
阅读《变形记》，有一种思维的乐趣，有一种睿智的感觉，思想上的所得显然多于心灵的收获，能从那极度的变形与夸张里体会到生命的悸动与冲突。本书比较完整地代表了卡夫卡的思想深度与创造特点，是西方现代主义文学的经典作品之一。
卡夫卡的《变形记》把我们带往不熟悉的另一世界，而其实，那另一世界原本属于我们的人性之邦，只是卡夫卡试图用另一套叙述方式与技巧来展示我们人性内部的黑暗王国。因为我们平时不朝它看上一眼，初见之下，才会感到它是如此的陌生、怪异和难以理解。
在描写人被物化的作品中，奥地利著名的"现代艺术的探险者"卡夫卡１９１２年完成的中篇小说《变形记》，是西方现代派文学中描写人被异化的杰作。
《影响历史进程的一百本书》：
西方文坛推崇"卡夫卡是本世纪最佳作家之一"，并说"如果要举出一个作家，他与我们时代的关系最近似但丁、莎士比亚、歌德与他们时代的关系，那么，卡夫卡是首先会想到的名字"。尽管这些赞词未免有过甚其词之嫌，但以《变形记》为代表的卡夫卡的作品，的确对西方现代派文学产生了很深的影响，以至形成了一门专门研究和讨论其作品的"卡夫卡学"。
《卡夫卡传》：
如果你读书是为了找乐赶时髦，卡夫卡的《变形记》绝对不适合你，不适合你美酒加咖啡的浪漫。书中荒诞的痛苦，会将你刚刚举起的酒杯轻易击碎。如果你不是一个盲目的乐观主义者，此书可谓精彩至极，可反复阅读、细细品味。
陌生的卡夫卡
什么是好小说这是个永远可以谈论却又永远难以求解的问题。但好小说不一定是好看的小说，不一定适合大众读者的阅读口味，因为好小说都是新鲜的、独特的。它在与传统阅读习惯"对抗"过程中提供了新的艺术因素，使习惯于传统阅读的读者不得不陷入难解之谜的深渊，所以也往往给人们留下了不怎么好看的印象。阅读卡夫卡的《变形记》，对读者是一种智力、情感上的挑战，因为他的作品是文学上的一个变数，很陌生，用传统的阅读方法很难解读。
《变形记》超越时空的限制，对事件的交代极其模糊，不指明具体的时间、地点和背景。甚至泯灭了幻象和日常生活之间的界限，虚幻与现实难解难分地结合成一个整体了。看来，卡夫卡的《变形记》把我们带往不熟悉的另一世界，而其实，那另一世界原本属于我们的人性之邦，只是卡夫卡试图用另一套叙述方式与技巧来展示我们人性内部的黑暗王国。因为我们平时不朝它看上一眼，初见之下，才会感到它是如此的陌生、怪异和难以理解。
捷克作家米兰·昆德拉在《小说的艺术》中称小说家为"存在的勘探者"，而把小说的使命确定为"通过想像的人物对存在进行深思"，"揭示存在不为人知的方面"。卡夫卡的《变形记》就是探究存在之谜的，但他所关注的重点是"不可视的内心生活"--人的内心同样作为现实的一部分而存在。他的《变形记》就是以深邃的寓意体现人类的某种常常被遗忘的存在状态。
卡夫卡的小说是"梦与真实的绝妙混合。既有对现代世界最清醒的审视，又有最疯狂的想像"。所以如果我们联想一下现实生活中类似的事情，当我们自身的存在被一些谁也无法预料、无法逃避的境况所决定时，生活的荒诞与这个故事的荒诞就有了一种比拟的联系，那么摆在我们面前的问题就尖锐了：当我们突然无法动弹，在完全无能为力，丧失了人的一切自主性的情况下，我们应该怎么办卡夫卡的小说带出了我们深深的疑问。显然，在如此荒诞的突变中，卡夫卡敏锐地觉察到现实生活某些带本质性的问题，才用这种象征、夸张甚至荒诞的手法加以表现。
卡夫卡冷峻的眼光聚焦的是"真"。在他看来，"真"若要体现，就必须借助于"丑"。于是《变形记》中出现了大量的丑陋的意象，卡夫卡毫不客气地放逐了文学的审美价值，似乎他觉得丑就是丑，甚至根本没必要用美作为小说结束之前的一点安慰。所以，一直到小说的结尾，卡夫卡也没有让这些丑陋的意象从背面发出一点美的光芒。
最后引用一句王小波的话来结束本文，他说："我正等待着有一天，自己能够打开一本书不再期待它有趣，只期待自己能受到教育。"《变形记》就是一本这样的好书。
在西方文学中我学到了卡夫卡这位作家及他的作品，对于卡夫卡，我不是很熟悉，但他诸多成果中的一部《变形记》却让我难以忘怀。
《变形记》为现代主义文学的奠基之作，卡夫卡是现代主义文学的先驱，对后来现代主义文学的发展产生了深远的影响。卡夫卡的创作旺盛期正值德国表现主义文学运动的高潮时期。他的短篇小说《变形记》可以说是表现主义的典型之作。1998 年，英国BBC广播电台作了一个系列节目，回顾20世纪的艺术经典，介绍100部20世纪最有影响的艺术作品，第一集就是关于卡夫卡的《变形记》。变形似乎一直是人类的一种理想，也是文学、影视作品中的经典题材，我小时便羡慕孙悟空的七十二变，今天的孩子也看着变形金刚一类的动画片中威风凛凛的变形动作兴奋不已，而且百看不厌。变形似乎是童话的专利。但卡夫卡的《变形记》却是极为独特的，格里高尔也变形了，但他似乎变得并不轻松，让我们读起来也并不觉得兴奋，卡夫卡究竟想要告诉我们什么？
“一天早晨，格里高尔。萨姆沙从不安的睡梦中醒来，发现自己躺在床上变成了一只巨大的甲虫。”（选自北京燕山出版社中篇小说集《变形记》中第86页）这便是故事的开篇，我本以为是科幻小说，谁知道不是。卡夫卡用一种介呼于身临其境的独白，平静的表叙着这个极尽荒诞的故事。但在他的笔下，不会有荒诞，有的只是真实，让人感觉恐慌的真实。一种新的写法的诞生，让后世不少人为之惊诧，“原来文学也可以这么写！”。又一位大师就这样横空出世了。记得美国作家奥登说过：就作家与其处的时代的关系而论，当代能与但丁、莎士比亚和歌德相提并论的第一人是卡夫卡。
表现主义的创作主张是遵循“表现论”美学原则而与传统现实主义的“模仿论”原则相对立的。它反对“复制世界”，即不把客观事物的表面现象作为真实的依据，而主张凭认真“观察”和重新思考去发现或洞察被习俗观念掩盖着的，而为一般人所不注意的真实。为此就需要一种特殊的艺术手段，把描写的客观对象加以“陌生化”的处理，以造成审美主体与被描写的客体之间的距离，从而引起你的惊异，迫使你从另一个角度去探悉同一个事物的本质。这种艺术手段通称“间离法”，在布莱希特那里叫作“陌生化效果”。《变形记》的变形即是一种间离（或“陌生化”）技巧。作者想借以揭示人与人之间——包括伦常之间——表面亲亲热热，内心里却是极为孤独和陌生的实质；之所以亲亲热热，因为互相有共同的利害关系维系着，一旦割断这种关系，则那种亲热的外观马上就消失而暴露出冷酷和冷漠的真相。正如恩格斯在《英国工人阶级状况》一文中所揭示的：“维系家庭的纽带并不是家庭的爱，而是隐藏在财产共有关系之后的私人利益。”可谓一针见血。你看，当格里高尔身体健康，每月能拿回工资供养全家的时候，他是这个家庭里一名堂堂正正的而且受人尊敬的长子。
但当他一旦患了不治之症，失去了公司里的职务，因而无法与家庭保持这种经济联系的时候，他在家庭里的一切尊严很快被剥夺干净，甚至连维持生命的正常饮食都无人过问。
他变成“非人”，他的处境无异于动物。当然也可以让主人公得一种致命的重病或遭遇一次丧失劳动力的重残，然后写他被家人厌弃的过程。但这样的构思其艺术效果不如变形那样强烈。因为作为病人，他有口会说话，有眼睛会看人，你不能当着他的面表现出对他的厌倦，或不给他送饭吃。而一只甲虫，既不会说话，也没有表情，他的孤独感就更加令人感到凄然了。
如果从西方流行的“异化”观念去看，这篇小说也是写人与人之间、人与自我之间关系的一篇杰作。在实际生活中，卡夫卡在家庭里与父亲的关系确实是不和谐的，但与母亲关系是正常的，与他第三个妹妹特别要好。但卡夫卡却在一封信中说：“我在自己的家里比陌生人还要陌生。”现在卡夫卡通过《变形记》暗示我们：即使像他的妹妹那样爱着哥哥，但一旦这位哥哥得了一种致命的绝症，久而久之，她也会像小说中的那位女郎那样厌弃他的。这里，卡夫卡写的是一种普遍的人类生存状况。人的变形，也是自我“异化”的一种写照。尤其是主人公变成甲虫以后，人的习性渐渐消失，而“虫性”
日益增加，仿佛格里高尔异化出人的世界以后，倒是在动物的世界里找到“虫”的自我了。这样的写法是绝妙的。
“格里高尔的眼睛接着又朝窗口望去，天空很阴暗——可以听到雨打点打在窗槛上的声音——他的心情也变的很忧郁了。”
“这时候天更亮了，可以清清楚楚地看到街对面一幢长得没有尽头的深灰色的建筑——这是一所医院——上面惹眼地开着一排排呆板的窗子；雨还在下，不过已成为一滴滴看得清的大颗粒了。”（以上均节选自《变形记》）。
上面的两段都是对窗外景物的描写，卡夫卡在轻易之间便把气氛渲染的如此浓重。为主旋律的叙述又增加的完整的节拍。仿佛各个方面的特征都是为了主题的烘托，而主题又毫无痕迹的呈现出各个方面的特征。这种完美统一的连贯，使得文章让人觉得如此的酣畅淋漓，故事好象就在自己的身边发生，让人欲罢不能。
1911年出现的《变形记》是晦涩的，深奥的，即使在近一百年后的今天，这个伟大的预言一样的小说文本也并不是那么容易理解。即使读懂了这个寓言般的小说，又如何感知卡夫卡之所以悲哀呢？况且还有比悲哀更为深远的东西包裹在其后。
Plot summary
Gregor Samsa awakes one morning to find himself inexplicably transformed from a human into a monstrous insect. Rather than lament his transformation, Gregor worries about how he will get to his job as a traveling salesman; Gregor is the sole financial provider for his parents and sister, Grete, and their comfort is dependent on his ability to work. When Gregor's supervisor arrives at the house and demands Gregor come out of his room, Gregor manages to roll out of bed and unlock his door. His appearance horrifies his family and supervisor; his supervisor flees and Gregor attempts to chase after him, but his family shoos him back into his room. Grete attempts to care for her brother by providing him with milk and the stale, rotten food he now prefers. Gregor also develops the fears of an insect, being effectively shooed away by hissing voices and stamping feet. However, Gregor remains a devoted and loving son, and takes to hiding beneath a sofa whenever someone enters his room in order to shield them from his insect form. When alone, he amuses himself by looking out of his window and crawling up the walls and on the ceiling.
No longer able to rely on Gregor's income, the other family members are forced to take on jobs and Grete's caretaking deteriorates. One day, when Gregor emerges from his room, his father chases him around the dining room table and pelts him with apples. One of the apples becomes embedded in his back, causing an infection. Due to his infection and his hunger, Gregor is soon barely able to move at all. Later, his parents take in lodgers and use Gregor's room as a dumping area for unwanted objects. Gregor becomes dirty, covered in dust and old bits of rotten food. One day, Gregor hears Grete playing her violin to entertain the lodgers. Gregor is attracted to the music, and slowly walks into the dining room despite himself, entertaining a fantasy of getting his beloved sister to join him in his room and play her violin for him. The lodgers see him and give notice, refusing to pay the rent they owe, even threatening to sue the family for harboring him while they stayed there. Grete determines that the monstrous insect is no longer Gregor, since Gregor would have left them out of love and taken their burden away, and claims that they must get rid of it. Gregor retreats to his room and collapses, finally succumbing to his wound.
The point of view shifts as, upon discovery of his corpse, the family feels an enormous burden has been lifted from them, and start planning for the future again. The family discovers that they aren't doing financially bad at all, especially since, following Gregor's demise, they can take a smaller flat. The brief process of forgetting Gregor and shutting him from their lives is quickly completed. The tale concludes with the mother and father taking note of Grete's new womanhood and growth.
Characters
Gregor Samsa
Gregor is the protagonist of the story. He works hard as a travelling salesman to provide for his sister and parents. He wakes up one morning as a monstrous insect. After the transformation, Gregor was unable to work, causing his father to work at a bank to provide for the family and pay owed debts.
Grete Samsa
Grete is Gregor's younger sister, who becomes his caretaker after the metamorphosis. At the beginning Grete and Gregor have a strong relationship but this relationship fades with time. While Grete originally volunteers to feed him and clean his room, throughout the story she grows more and more impatient with the task to the point of deliberately leaving messes in his room out of spite. She plays the violin and dreams of going to the conservatorium, a dream that Gregor was going to make come true. He was going to announce this on Christmas Eve. To help provide an income for the family after Gregor's transformation she starts working as a salesgirl in a shop.
Mr Samsa
Gregor's father owes a large debt to Gregor's boss, which is why Gregor can't quit his hated job. He is lazy and elderly, while Gregor works, but when, after the metamorphosis, Gregor is unable to provide for the family, he is shown to be an able-bodied worker. He also attempts to kill Gregor when he is discovered in his monstrous state.
Mrs Samsa
Mrs Samsa is the mother of Grete and Gregor. She is initially shocked at Gregor's transformation, however eventually decides she wants to enter his room. This seems too much for her to handle, and Gregor hides away from her in an attempt to protect her. Mrs Samsa is conflicted in her maternal concern and sympathy for Gregor, and her inherent fear of his new monstrous form.
Chief Clerk
The Chief Clerk is Gregor's boss and the person to whom Mr Samsa is in debt. He pressures Gregor to prepare for his workday with a urgency pertaining to the precarious position of his job.
Tenants
Three tenants are invited to live with the Samsas to supplement their income. The family shows great deference to these tenants throughout the length of their stay. They are fussy and cannot stand dirtiness, eventually leading to the point when they discover Gregor and threaten the family with a lawsuit, apparently believing he's just an extraordinarily large insect.
Lost in translation
The opening sentence of the novella is famous in English:
"When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from uneasy dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous insect."
"Als Gregor Samsa eines Morgens aus unruhigen Träumen erwachte, fand er sich in seinem Bett zu einem ungeheueren Ungeziefer verwandelt."
Kafka's sentences often deliver an unexpected impact just before the full stop—that being the finalizing meaning and focus. This is achieved due to the construction of sentences in German that require that the participle be positioned at the end of the sentence; in the above sentence, the equivalent of 'changed' is the final word, 'verwandelt'. Such constructions are not replicable in English, so it is up to the translator to provide the reader with the same effect found in the original text.
English translators have often sought to render the word Ungeziefer as "insect", but this is not strictly accurate. In Middle German, Ungeziefer literally means "unclean animal not suitable for sacrifice" and is sometimes used colloquially to mean "bug" – a very general term, unlike the scientific sounding "insect". Kafka had no intention of labeling Gregor as any specific thing, but instead wanted to convey Gregor's disgust at his transformation. The phrasing used in the David Wyllie translation and Joachim Neugroschel is "transformed in his bed into a monstrous vermin".
However, "vermin" denotes in English many animals (particularly mice, rats and foxes) and in Kafka's letter to his publisher of 25 October 1915, in which he discusses his concern about the cover illustration for the first edition, he uses the term "Insekt", saying "The insect itself is not to be drawn. It is not even to be seen from a distance." While this shows his concern not to give precise information about the type of creature Gregor becomes, the use of the general term "insect" can therefore be defended on the part of translators wishing to improve the readability of the end text.
Ungeziefer has sometimes been translated as "cockroach", "dung beetle", "beetle", and other highly specific terms. The term "dung beetle" or Mistkäfer is in fact used in the novella by the cleaning lady near the end of the story, but it is not used in the narration. Ungeziefer also denotes a sense of separation between him and his environment: he is unclean and must therefore be excluded.
Vladimir Nabokov, who was a lepidopterist as well as writer and literary critic, insisted that Gregor was not a cockroach, but a beetle with wings under his shell, and capable of flight — if only he had known it. Nabokov left a sketch annotated "just over three feet long" on the opening page of his (heavily corrected) English teaching copy. In his accompanying lecture notes, Nabokov discusses the type of vermin Gregor has been transformed into, concluding that Gregor "is not, technically, a dung beetle. He is merely a big beetle. (I must add that neither Gregor nor Kafka saw that beetle any too clearly.)"
Adaptations to other media
There are several film versions, including:
* Metamorphosis (1987) at the Internet Movie Database
* Die Verwandlung (1975) at the Internet Movie Database
* Förvandlingen (1976/I) at the Internet Movie Database
* The Metamorphosis of Mr. Samsa (1977) at the Internet Movie Database by Caroline Leaf
* The Metamorphosis of Franz Kafka (1993) by Carlos Atanes.
* Prevrashcheniye (2002) at the Internet Movie Database
* Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis acoustical liberation from LibriVox.
* Metamorfosis (2004) at the Internet Movie Database
* A Metamorfose (2007) at the Internet Movie Database
* Immersive Kafka: The Metamorphosis / Atvaltozas (2010) by Sandor Kardos, Barnabas Takacs.
A stage adaptation was performed by Steven Berkoff in 1969. Berkoff's text was also used for the libretto to Brian Howard's 1983 opera Metamorphosis. Another stage adaptation was performed in 2006 by the Icelandic company Vesturport, showing at the Lyric Hammersmith, London. That adaptation is set to be performed in the Icelandic theater fall of 2008. Another stage adaptation was performed in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2005 by the Centre for Asian Theatre. That performance is still continuing in Bangladesh. The Lyric Theatre Company toured the UK in 2006 with its stage adaptation of Metamorphosis, accompanied by a unique soundtrack performed by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. American comic artist Peter Kuper illustrated a graphic-novel version, first published by the Crown Publishing Group in 2003. Megan Rees is currently working on a new stage adaptation that should be published by 2010.
Allusions/references from other works
Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (February 2008)
Stage
* Philip Glass composed incidental music for two separate theater productions of the story. These two themes, along with two themes from the Errol Morris film The Thin Blue Line, were incorporated into a five-part piece of music for solo piano entitled Metamorphosis.
Literature
Jacob M. Appel's H. E. Francis Award-winning story, "The Vermin Episode," retells The Metamorphosis from the point-of-view of the Samsas' neighbors.
Film
* The 2005 film The Producers includes a scene where the two protagonists are searching for a sure flop. The opening for the play of Metamorphosis is read and rejected for being too good.
* The 2008 film The Reader features Ralph Fiennes reading aloud from Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis.
* In 2002 a Russian version titled Prevrashchenie was directed by Valery Fokin with Yevgeny Mironov as Gregor.
* In 1995, the actor Peter Capaldi won an Oscar for his short-film Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life. The plot of the film has the author (played by Richard E. Grant) trying to write the opening line of Metamorphosis and experimenting with various things that Gregor might turn into, such as a banana or a kangaroo. The film is also notable for a number of Kafkaesque moments.
* In 1993 Carlos Atanes directed The Metamorphosis of Franz Kafka, a controversial adaptation based on The Metamorphosis as well on biographical details from Kafka's family.
* in Noah Baumbach's Squid and the Whale, Jeff Daniels and Jesse Eisenberg make several references to The Metamorphosis
Animation
* In The Venture Bros. episode "Mid-Life Chrysalis", Dr. Venture's transformation into a caterpillar slightly mirrors that of Gregor Samsa's transformation.
* A reference appears in the 2006 Aardman Animations feature film Flushed Away when a refrigerator falls through the floor of the protagonist Rita's home and a giant cockroach appears reading a copy of The Metamorphosis.
* In the short-lived TV animated series Extreme Ghostbusters, season 1, episode 11 ("The Crawler"), the bug monster (that resembles a giant insect) calls himself Gregor Samsa when trying to seduce Janine to be his queen in his human form.
* Jack Feldstein created a tribute to Gregor Samsa and The Metamorphosis in his stream-of-consciousness neon animation "Shmetamorphosis" about a bug who hysterically bursts into therapist Bertold Krasenstein's office, begging to be saved.
* In the first season of the anime Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei there is an episode titled "One Morning, When Gregor Samsa Awoke, He was Carrying a Mikoshi", an obvious parody of the first line of The Metamorphosis.
Comics
* American cartoonist Robert Crumb drew an illustrated adaptation of the novella which appears in the book Introducing Kafka.
* In the comic book Johnny the Homicidal Maniac by Jhonen Vasquez, the eponymous Johnny is plagued by a roach that keeps appearing in his house no matter how many times he kills it (whether or not this roach is immortal or simply many different roaches is up to interpretation) and is affectionately named "Mr. Samsa".
* In The Simpsons book Treehouse of Horror Spook-tacular, Matt Groening did a spoof on the metamorphosis, entitling it Metamorphosimpsons. In addition, in one of the episodes, Lisa attends a place called "Cafe Kafka", which is shown to be a popular place for college students, and features several posters of cockroaches in Bohemian-like poses.
* Peter Kuper (illustrator of Kafka's Give It Up!) also adapted Kafka's Metamorphosis.
Television
* In the TV series Supernatural, the 4th episode of season 4 is named "Metamorphosis."
* The TV series Smallville, which is a retelling of Superman's early years as a teenager, alludes to Kafka's story in the season one, episode "Metamorphosis" where the 'Freak of the Week' is transformed into a being with insect-like abilities after suffering from exposure to meteor-infected insects (Kryptonite-induced).
* In the TV series Home Movies there is an entire episode based on Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis as a Rock Opera.
* In the TV series The Venture Bros., in the 8th episode of season 1, Dr. Venture undergoes a metamorphosis and alludes to the story.
* In the TV series The Ricky Gervais Show, in the 11th episode of season 1, named "Beetles," the characters discuss the potential of Karl Pilkingtons's metamorphosis.
Music
* Gregor Samsa is the name of an American post-rock band.
* The Rolling Stones' 1975 album Metamorphosis features cover art of the band members with insect heads.
* Showbread has a song named "Sampsa Meets Kafka". The misspelling of Samsa is intentional. Josh Dies the lead singer also lists Kafka as one of his biggest influences.
* The name of the German darkwave/metal/neoclassical band Samsas Traum is inspired by the story.
Video games
* Bad Mojo is a 1996 computer game, the storyline of which is loosely based on The Metamorphosis.
* Spore: Galactic Adventures made an adventure version of The Metamorphosis.
* In the 2001 Wizardry 8, the first boss is a gigantic cockroach named "Gregor".
《变形记》-作者简介
弗兰兹·卡夫卡弗兰兹·卡夫卡
弗兰兹·卡夫卡（Franz Kafka，1883年7月3日—1924年6月3日），奥地利小说家，20世纪德语小说家。文笔明净而想像奇诡，常采用寓言体,背后的寓意人言人殊，暂无（或永无）定论。
卡夫卡他是一位用德语写作的业余作家，他与法国作家马赛尔·普鲁斯特，爱尔兰作家詹姆斯·乔伊斯并称为西方现代主义文学的先驱和大师。卡夫卡生前默默无闻，孤独地奋斗，随着时间的流逝，他的价值才逐渐为人们所认识，作品引起了世界的震动，并在世界范围内形成一股“卡夫卡”热，经久不衰。
后世的批评家，往往过分强调卡夫卡作品阴暗的一面，忽视其明朗、风趣的地方，米兰·昆德拉在《被背叛的遗嘱》（Les testaments trahis）中试图纠正这一点。其实据布劳德的回忆，卡夫卡喜欢在朋友面前朗读自己的作品，读到得意的段落时会忍俊不禁，自己大笑起来。
卡夫卡一生的作品并不多，但对后世文学的影响却是极为深远的。美国诗人奥登认为：“他与我们时代的关系最近似但丁、莎士比亚、歌德与他们时代的关系。”卡夫卡的小说揭示了一种荒诞的充满非理性色彩的景象，个人式的、忧郁的、孤独的情绪，运用的是象征式的手法。三四十年代的超现实主义余党视之为同仁，四五十年代的荒诞派以之为先驱，六十年代的美国”黑色幽默“奉之为典范。
卡夫卡1909年开始发表作品，1915年因短篇小说《司炉工》获冯塔纳德国文学奖金。卡夫卡创作勤奋，但并不以发表、成名为目的。工作之余的创作是他寄托思想感情和排谴忧郁苦闷的手段。许多作品随意写来，并无结尾，他对自己的作品也多为不满，临终前让挚友布洛德全部烧毁其作品。布洛德出于友谊与崇敬之情，违背了卡夫卡遗愿，整理出版了《卡夫卡全集》（1950—1980）共九卷。其中八卷中的作品是首次刊出，引起文坛轰动。
《变形记》-内容简介
背景
1914年至1918年的第一次世界大战，使许多资本主义国家经济萧条，社会动荡，人民生活在水深火热之中。黑暗的现实，痛苦的生活，使得人们对资本主义社会失去信心，一方面寻求出路，锐意改革，一方面又陷于孤独、颓废、绝望之中。19世纪末至20世纪初，一些思想敏锐的艺术家认为世界是混乱的、荒诞的，他们著书立说，批判资本主义的人际关系，批判摧残人性的社会制度。第一次世界大战前后和第二次世界大战前后，现代主义文学应运而生。现代主义文学作品反映了资本主义社会的黑暗，人和人之间关系的冷酷，人对社会的绝望。艺术上强调使用极度夸张以至怪诞离奇的表现手法，描绘扭曲的人性，表现人的本能和无意识的主观感受，开掘个人的直觉、本能、无意识、梦幻、变态心理以至半疯狂、疯狂的言行、心理。现代主义的优秀文学作品探索人的心灵，为揭示人的内心世界提供了新的艺术手法。
内容
小说写人变成动物,故事神秘离奇：在《变形记》中，职业为推销员的主人翁一觉醒来，发现自己变成了一只巨大的跳蚤。
一天早晨,格里高尔从梦中醒来时发现自己躺在床上变成了一只巨大的甲虫,全身长出了许多只细得可怜的小腿,坚硬得像铁甲一样的背贴着床而仰卧着,不能翻身,也下不了床. 但他必须起来。他要静悄悄不受打扰地起床,穿起衣服,最要紧的是吃饱早饭,再考虑下一步该怎么办,因为他非常明白,躲在床上瞎想一气是想不出什么明堂的. 他还记得过去也是因为睡觉姿势不好,躺在床上时往往会觉得这儿那儿隐隐作痛,及至起来,就知道纯属心理作用,所以他殷切地盼望今天早晨的幻觉会逐渐消逝。格里高尔,虽然人己'物化'为虫子,但他还存在人的思维,还要象正常人一样生活和思考.由于担心赶不上五点钟的火车.格里高尔心情既焦急又恐慌,又生怕公司来人,自己这种面目如何见人!他竭力挣扎。 格里高尔慢慢地把椅子推向门边,接着便放开椅子,抓住门来支撑自己——他那些细腿的脚底上倒是颇有粘性的。他在门上靠了一会儿,喘过一口气来.接着他始用嘴巴转动插在锁孔里的钥匙.不幸的是,他并没什么牙齿。他得用什么来咬住钥匙呢 ？钥匙需要转动时,他便用嘴巴衔住它,自己也绕着锁孔转了一圈,好把钥匙扭过去,或者不如说,使用全身的重量使它转动.终于屈服的锁发出了响亮的咔塔一声,使格里高尔大为高兴··· ···
《变形记》-情节和主题
《变形记》创作于1912年，发表于1915年。小说分成三部分，用一、二、三标明。课文节选了原小说的一半内容。
第一部分
格里高尔发现自己变成“巨大的甲虫”，惊慌而又忧郁。父亲发现后大怒，把他赶回自己的卧室。
第二部分
格里高尔变了，养成了甲虫的生活习性，却保留了人的意识。他失业了，仍旧关心怎样还清父亲欠的债务，送妹妹上音乐学院。可是，一个月后，他成了全家的累赘。父亲、母亲、妹妹对他改变了态度。
第三部分
为了生存，家人只得打工挣钱，忍受不了格里高尔这个负担。妹妹终于提出把哥哥弄走。格里高尔又饿又病，陷入绝望，“他怀着深情和爱意想他的一家人”，“然后他的头就自己垂倒在地板上，他的鼻孔呼出了最后一丝气息”，死了。父亲、母亲和妹妹开始过着自己养活自己的新生活。
情节的发展由两条线索交互展开：
格里高尔：变成甲虫——成为累赘——绝望而死
家里亲人：惊慌、同情—— 逐渐憎恨——“把他弄走”
格里高尔自始至终关心家庭、怀恋亲人，可是亲人最终抛弃了他，对他的死无动于衷，而且决定去郊游。
作者描写这种人情反差，揭示了当时社会生活对人的异化，致使亲情淡薄，人性扭曲。《变形记》的主题具有强烈的批判性。卡夫卡创作的文学作品的主题，不同的读者从不同的角度，会有不同的体验和理解。有人认为《变形记》的主题是：表现人对自己命运的无能为力，人失去自我就处于绝境。也有人认为，格里高尔变成甲虫，无利于人，自行死亡；一家人重新工作，走向新生活；存在就是合理，生活规律是无情的。
《变形记》-人物和心理描写
主人公格里高尔是个小人物。父亲破产，母亲生病，妹妹上学。沉重的家庭
《变形记》《变形记》
负担和父亲的债务，压得格里高尔喘不过气来。他拼命干活，目的是还清父债，改善家庭生活。在公司，他受老板的气，指望还清父债后辞职。可以说，对父母他是个孝子，对妹妹他是个好哥哥，对公司他是个好职员。变成甲虫，身体越来越差，他还为还清父债担忧，还眷恋家人，甚至为讨父亲欢心，自己艰难地乖乖爬回卧室。这样善良、忠厚而又富有责任感的人，最终被亲人抛弃。格里高尔的悲剧是令人心酸的，具有丰富的社会内涵。
小说用心理描写的方法刻画格里高尔这个人物。格里高尔过去的生活、变甲虫后的思想感情和个性特点，都是通过心理描写表现出来的。
小说用许多笔墨写了变形后格里高尔悲哀凄苦的内心世界，格里高尔虽然变成了甲虫，但他的心理始终保持着人的状态，他突然发现自己变成大甲虫时的惊慌、忧郁，他考虑家庭经济状况时的焦虑、自责，他遭亲人厌弃后的绝望、痛苦，无不展示了一个善良、忠厚、富有责任感的小人物渴望人的理解和接受的心理。只是这种愿望终于被彻底的绝望所代替，弥漫在人物心头的是无边的孤独、冷漠与悲凉。应该说，《变形记》的内在主线就是格里高尔变成甲虫后的心理—情感流动的过程，主人公变成甲虫后的内心感受和心理活动是小说的主体。小说用内心独白、回忆、联想、幻想等手法，去表现人物的心理活动。他不断地回忆、联想过去和今后的事情，不时由于恐惧焦虑、痛苦和绝望而产生幻想、幻觉，并且在自由联想中经常出现时空倒错、逻辑混乱、思维跳跃等，具有一定的意识流特征。
《变形记》-评价
表现主义
卡夫卡的创作旺盛期正值德国表现主义文学运动的高潮时期。他的短篇小说《变形记》可以说是表现主义的典型之作。
表现主义的创作主张是遵循“表现论”美学原则而与传统现实主义的“模仿论”原则相对立的。它反对“复制世界”，即不把客观事物的表面现象作为真实的依据，而主张凭认真“观察”和重新思考去发现或洞察被习俗观念掩盖着的，而为一般人所不注意的真实。为此就需要一种特殊的艺术手段，把描写的客观对象加以 “陌生化”的处理，以造成审美主体与被描写的客体之间的距离，从而引起你的惊异，迫使你从另一个角度去探悉同一个事物的本质。这种艺术手段通称“间离法”，在布莱希特那里叫作“陌生化效果”。《变形记》的变形即是一种间离（或“陌生化”）技巧。作者想借以揭示人与人之间——包括伦常之间——表面亲亲热热，内心里却是极为孤独和陌生的实质；之所以亲亲热热，因为互相有共同的利害关系维系着，一旦割断这种关系，则那种亲热的外观马上就消失而暴露出冷酷和冷漠的真相。正如恩格斯在《英国工人阶级状况》一文中所揭示的：“维系家庭的纽带并不是家庭的爱，而是隐藏在财产共有关系之后的私人利益。”可谓一针见血。
当格里高尔身体健康，每月能拿回工资供养全家的时候，他是这个家庭里一名堂堂正正的而且受人尊敬的长子。但当他一旦患了不治之症，失去了公司里的职务，因而无法与家庭保持这种经济联系的时候，他在家庭里的一切尊严很快被剥夺干净，甚至连维持生命的正常饮食都无人过问。他变成“非人”，他的处境无异于动物。当然也可以让主人公得一种致命的重病或遭遇一次丧失劳动力的重残，然后写他被家人厌弃的过程。但这样的构思其艺术效果不如变形那样强烈。因为作为病人，他有口会说话，有眼睛会看人，你不能当着他的面表现出对他的厌倦，或不给他送饭吃。而一只甲虫，既不会说话，也没有表情，他的孤独感就更加令人感到凄然了——以上是从社会学观点去看的。
如果从西方流行的“异化”观念去看，这篇小说也是写人与人之间、人与自我之间关系的一篇杰作。在实际生活中，卡夫卡在家庭里与父亲的关系确实是不和谐的，但与母亲关系是正常的，与他第三个妹妹特别要好。但卡夫卡却在一封信中说：“我在自己的家里比陌生人还要陌生。”现在卡夫卡通过《变形记》暗示我们：即使像他的妹妹那样爱着哥哥，但一旦这位哥哥得了一种致命的绝症，久而久之，她也会像小说中的那位女郎那样厌弃他的。这里，卡夫卡写的是一种普遍的人类生存状况。人的变形，也是自我“异化”的一种写照。尤其是主人公变成甲虫以后，人的习性渐渐消失，而“虫性” 日益增加，仿佛格里高尔异化出人的世界以后，倒是在动物的世界里找到“虫”的自我了。这样的写法是绝妙的。
在人与人之间还没有取得和谐关系的世界里，人的变形也是一种象征，一切倒霉人的象征：人一旦遭遇不幸（丧失工作能力的疾病、伤残、政治袭击等），他就不再被社会承认，从而失去作为人的价值的“自我”，成为无异于低等动物的“非人”。
在现代艺术创作中，变形是一种怪诞的表现手段，是一种创造 “距离”或“陌生化”的技巧。按照美国美学家桑塔那那的说法，怪诞也是一种创造；它违背客观事物的表面真实，却并不违背客观事物的内在逻辑，因此它已进入现代美学的范畴，成为表现主义文学艺术偏爱的一种手法。表现主义文学创作强调从主观的内心感受出发，作品往往具有一种个人的真实性，这在卡夫卡笔下呈现为自传色彩。不仅主人公的身份（公司雇员）和心理（作为长子必须尽家庭义务）与作者近似，其他人物如父亲、母亲和妹妹几乎都可以与卡夫卡的家庭成员进行比较。
内涵
《变形记》这个故事表面看来荒诞不经，实则蕴涵了丰富而深刻的内容，主要包括以下方面：
1、首先，它真实地表现了西方现代资本主义社会里人的异化.在西方现代资本主义社会人(例如金钱,机器,产品,生产方式等)所驱使，所胁迫，所统治而不能自主,成为物的奴隶，进而失去人的本性，变为非人.。《变形记》主人公里高尔的故事正是人异化为非人这一哲学生存现状.。
2、其次，作品还表现了在现代社会里人的一种生存恐惧。人变甲虫，在这里象征着莫明其妙的巨大灾难的降临，这种人不能掌握自己命运的感觉表现 了现代西方人的某种精神状态，尤其是进入20世纪以后，两次世界大战的灾难，周期性的经济危机，超级大国的军备竞赛，核战争的威胁，环境污染和自然界生态平衡的破坏，这一切使人们对未来的命运处于一种不可知的恐惧状态之中。《变形记》中格里高尔的命运正反映了这种精神状态本质的东西。
3、再次，《变形记》还表现了现代社会中人与人之间的冷漠关系。小说详细的描写了家人对他从关心到厌恶到必欲置其于死地的过程，这一过程实际上是希望他恢复赚钱的能力到彻底绝望的过程。这是一个为家庭奉献了一切，却由于失去了原有的价值而被家庭抛弃的小人物的悲剧，这类悲剧在人情冷漠的现代社会里并不罕见。
作品创造的艺术世界，涵盖思想内容和艺术形式两个方面，是内容和形式的有机统一。就思想而言，较为曲折地反映了资本主义社会的种种弊端，将荒唐、人性异化看着特定历史条件下人类社会不可避免的现象，赋予作品以浓厚的虚无主义和悲观主义情调;就艺术而言,善于运用怪诞和象征的表现手法，特别是用富有表现力的手法去表现抽象的思想感情。
受存在主义学说的影响，作品深刻反映了世纪末情绪，表现了人的孤独与恐惧，展示在人们面前的是荒诞的世界和异化的主题, 形成了独持的“卡夫卡式”艺术风格和思想内容。特别是卡夫卡对表现主义手法运用自如,达到登峰造极之境界。其作品往往寓荒诞于真实之中，融幻想和怪诞于一体，或描写人与“非人”的人有机碰撞;或执著于精神层面的不可逾越，真理的不可寻求，或寄寓象征形象的塑造来展现人物的痛苦和困惑等等，构建了“卡夫卡式”艺术风格的美学概念。
《变形记》-世人心中的卡夫卡与《变形记》
卡夫卡是现代主义文学的开山祖师，《变形记》是他的代表作品之一。如果你想了解现代主义文学，最好的办法就是从反复阅读《变形记》开始。
在本书中卡夫卡描述了小职员格里高尔·萨姆沙突然变成一只使家人都厌恶的大甲虫的荒诞情节，借以揭示人与人之间--包括伦常之间--表面上亲亲热热，内心里却极为孤独和陌生的实质，生动而深刻地再现了资本主义社会中人与人之间的冷漠。在荒诞的、不合逻辑的世界里描绘"人类生活的一切活动及其逼真的细节"，这正是著名小说家卡夫卡的天赋之所在。
阅读《变形记》，有一种思维的乐趣，有一种睿智的感觉，思想上的所得显然多于心灵的收获，能从那极度的变形与夸张里体会到生命的悸动与冲突。本书比较完整地代表了卡夫卡的思想深度与创造特点，是西方现代主义文学的经典作品之一。
卡夫卡的《变形记》把我们带往不熟悉的另一世界，而其实，那另一世界原本属于我们的人性之邦，只是卡夫卡试图用另一套叙述方式与技巧来展示我们人性内部的黑暗王国。因为我们平时不朝它看上一眼，初见之下，才会感到它是如此的陌生、怪异和难以理解。
在描写人被物化的作品中，奥地利著名的"现代艺术的探险者"卡夫卡１９１２年完成的中篇小说《变形记》，是西方现代派文学中描写人被异化的杰作。
《影响历史进程的一百本书》：
西方文坛推崇"卡夫卡是本世纪最佳作家之一"，并说"如果要举出一个作家，他与我们时代的关系最近似但丁、莎士比亚、歌德与他们时代的关系，那么，卡夫卡是首先会想到的名字"。尽管这些赞词未免有过甚其词之嫌，但以《变形记》为代表的卡夫卡的作品，的确对西方现代派文学产生了很深的影响，以至形成了一门专门研究和讨论其作品的"卡夫卡学"。
《卡夫卡传》：
如果你读书是为了找乐赶时髦，卡夫卡的《变形记》绝对不适合你，不适合你美酒加咖啡的浪漫。书中荒诞的痛苦，会将你刚刚举起的酒杯轻易击碎。如果你不是一个盲目的乐观主义者，此书可谓精彩至极，可反复阅读、细细品味。
陌生的卡夫卡
什么是好小说这是个永远可以谈论却又永远难以求解的问题。但好小说不一定是好看的小说，不一定适合大众读者的阅读口味，因为好小说都是新鲜的、独特的。它在与传统阅读习惯"对抗"过程中提供了新的艺术因素，使习惯于传统阅读的读者不得不陷入难解之谜的深渊，所以也往往给人们留下了不怎么好看的印象。阅读卡夫卡的《变形记》，对读者是一种智力、情感上的挑战，因为他的作品是文学上的一个变数，很陌生，用传统的阅读方法很难解读。
《变形记》超越时空的限制，对事件的交代极其模糊，不指明具体的时间、地点和背景。甚至泯灭了幻象和日常生活之间的界限，虚幻与现实难解难分地结合成一个整体了。看来，卡夫卡的《变形记》把我们带往不熟悉的另一世界，而其实，那另一世界原本属于我们的人性之邦，只是卡夫卡试图用另一套叙述方式与技巧来展示我们人性内部的黑暗王国。因为我们平时不朝它看上一眼，初见之下，才会感到它是如此的陌生、怪异和难以理解。
捷克作家米兰·昆德拉在《小说的艺术》中称小说家为"存在的勘探者"，而把小说的使命确定为"通过想像的人物对存在进行深思"，"揭示存在不为人知的方面"。卡夫卡的《变形记》就是探究存在之谜的，但他所关注的重点是"不可视的内心生活"--人的内心同样作为现实的一部分而存在。他的《变形记》就是以深邃的寓意体现人类的某种常常被遗忘的存在状态。
卡夫卡的小说是"梦与真实的绝妙混合。既有对现代世界最清醒的审视，又有最疯狂的想像"。所以如果我们联想一下现实生活中类似的事情，当我们自身的存在被一些谁也无法预料、无法逃避的境况所决定时，生活的荒诞与这个故事的荒诞就有了一种比拟的联系，那么摆在我们面前的问题就尖锐了：当我们突然无法动弹，在完全无能为力，丧失了人的一切自主性的情况下，我们应该怎么办卡夫卡的小说带出了我们深深的疑问。显然，在如此荒诞的突变中，卡夫卡敏锐地觉察到现实生活某些带本质性的问题，才用这种象征、夸张甚至荒诞的手法加以表现。
卡夫卡冷峻的眼光聚焦的是"真"。在他看来，"真"若要体现，就必须借助于"丑"。于是《变形记》中出现了大量的丑陋的意象，卡夫卡毫不客气地放逐了文学的审美价值，似乎他觉得丑就是丑，甚至根本没必要用美作为小说结束之前的一点安慰。所以，一直到小说的结尾，卡夫卡也没有让这些丑陋的意象从背面发出一点美的光芒。
最后引用一句王小波的话来结束本文，他说："我正等待着有一天，自己能够打开一本书不再期待它有趣，只期待自己能受到教育。"《变形记》就是一本这样的好书。
在西方文学中我学到了卡夫卡这位作家及他的作品，对于卡夫卡，我不是很熟悉，但他诸多成果中的一部《变形记》却让我难以忘怀。
《变形记》为现代主义文学的奠基之作，卡夫卡是现代主义文学的先驱，对后来现代主义文学的发展产生了深远的影响。卡夫卡的创作旺盛期正值德国表现主义文学运动的高潮时期。他的短篇小说《变形记》可以说是表现主义的典型之作。1998 年，英国BBC广播电台作了一个系列节目，回顾20世纪的艺术经典，介绍100部20世纪最有影响的艺术作品，第一集就是关于卡夫卡的《变形记》。变形似乎一直是人类的一种理想，也是文学、影视作品中的经典题材，我小时便羡慕孙悟空的七十二变，今天的孩子也看着变形金刚一类的动画片中威风凛凛的变形动作兴奋不已，而且百看不厌。变形似乎是童话的专利。但卡夫卡的《变形记》却是极为独特的，格里高尔也变形了，但他似乎变得并不轻松，让我们读起来也并不觉得兴奋，卡夫卡究竟想要告诉我们什么？
“一天早晨，格里高尔。萨姆沙从不安的睡梦中醒来，发现自己躺在床上变成了一只巨大的甲虫。”（选自北京燕山出版社中篇小说集《变形记》中第86页）这便是故事的开篇，我本以为是科幻小说，谁知道不是。卡夫卡用一种介呼于身临其境的独白，平静的表叙着这个极尽荒诞的故事。但在他的笔下，不会有荒诞，有的只是真实，让人感觉恐慌的真实。一种新的写法的诞生，让后世不少人为之惊诧，“原来文学也可以这么写！”。又一位大师就这样横空出世了。记得美国作家奥登说过：就作家与其处的时代的关系而论，当代能与但丁、莎士比亚和歌德相提并论的第一人是卡夫卡。
表现主义的创作主张是遵循“表现论”美学原则而与传统现实主义的“模仿论”原则相对立的。它反对“复制世界”，即不把客观事物的表面现象作为真实的依据，而主张凭认真“观察”和重新思考去发现或洞察被习俗观念掩盖着的，而为一般人所不注意的真实。为此就需要一种特殊的艺术手段，把描写的客观对象加以“陌生化”的处理，以造成审美主体与被描写的客体之间的距离，从而引起你的惊异，迫使你从另一个角度去探悉同一个事物的本质。这种艺术手段通称“间离法”，在布莱希特那里叫作“陌生化效果”。《变形记》的变形即是一种间离（或“陌生化”）技巧。作者想借以揭示人与人之间——包括伦常之间——表面亲亲热热，内心里却是极为孤独和陌生的实质；之所以亲亲热热，因为互相有共同的利害关系维系着，一旦割断这种关系，则那种亲热的外观马上就消失而暴露出冷酷和冷漠的真相。正如恩格斯在《英国工人阶级状况》一文中所揭示的：“维系家庭的纽带并不是家庭的爱，而是隐藏在财产共有关系之后的私人利益。”可谓一针见血。你看，当格里高尔身体健康，每月能拿回工资供养全家的时候，他是这个家庭里一名堂堂正正的而且受人尊敬的长子。
但当他一旦患了不治之症，失去了公司里的职务，因而无法与家庭保持这种经济联系的时候，他在家庭里的一切尊严很快被剥夺干净，甚至连维持生命的正常饮食都无人过问。
他变成“非人”，他的处境无异于动物。当然也可以让主人公得一种致命的重病或遭遇一次丧失劳动力的重残，然后写他被家人厌弃的过程。但这样的构思其艺术效果不如变形那样强烈。因为作为病人，他有口会说话，有眼睛会看人，你不能当着他的面表现出对他的厌倦，或不给他送饭吃。而一只甲虫，既不会说话，也没有表情，他的孤独感就更加令人感到凄然了。
如果从西方流行的“异化”观念去看，这篇小说也是写人与人之间、人与自我之间关系的一篇杰作。在实际生活中，卡夫卡在家庭里与父亲的关系确实是不和谐的，但与母亲关系是正常的，与他第三个妹妹特别要好。但卡夫卡却在一封信中说：“我在自己的家里比陌生人还要陌生。”现在卡夫卡通过《变形记》暗示我们：即使像他的妹妹那样爱着哥哥，但一旦这位哥哥得了一种致命的绝症，久而久之，她也会像小说中的那位女郎那样厌弃他的。这里，卡夫卡写的是一种普遍的人类生存状况。人的变形，也是自我“异化”的一种写照。尤其是主人公变成甲虫以后，人的习性渐渐消失，而“虫性”
日益增加，仿佛格里高尔异化出人的世界以后，倒是在动物的世界里找到“虫”的自我了。这样的写法是绝妙的。
“格里高尔的眼睛接着又朝窗口望去，天空很阴暗——可以听到雨打点打在窗槛上的声音——他的心情也变的很忧郁了。”
“这时候天更亮了，可以清清楚楚地看到街对面一幢长得没有尽头的深灰色的建筑——这是一所医院——上面惹眼地开着一排排呆板的窗子；雨还在下，不过已成为一滴滴看得清的大颗粒了。”（以上均节选自《变形记》）。
上面的两段都是对窗外景物的描写，卡夫卡在轻易之间便把气氛渲染的如此浓重。为主旋律的叙述又增加的完整的节拍。仿佛各个方面的特征都是为了主题的烘托，而主题又毫无痕迹的呈现出各个方面的特征。这种完美统一的连贯，使得文章让人觉得如此的酣畅淋漓，故事好象就在自己的身边发生，让人欲罢不能。
1911年出现的《变形记》是晦涩的，深奥的，即使在近一百年后的今天，这个伟大的预言一样的小说文本也并不是那么容易理解。即使读懂了这个寓言般的小说，又如何感知卡夫卡之所以悲哀呢？况且还有比悲哀更为深远的东西包裹在其后。
Plot summary
Gregor Samsa awakes one morning to find himself inexplicably transformed from a human into a monstrous insect. Rather than lament his transformation, Gregor worries about how he will get to his job as a traveling salesman; Gregor is the sole financial provider for his parents and sister, Grete, and their comfort is dependent on his ability to work. When Gregor's supervisor arrives at the house and demands Gregor come out of his room, Gregor manages to roll out of bed and unlock his door. His appearance horrifies his family and supervisor; his supervisor flees and Gregor attempts to chase after him, but his family shoos him back into his room. Grete attempts to care for her brother by providing him with milk and the stale, rotten food he now prefers. Gregor also develops the fears of an insect, being effectively shooed away by hissing voices and stamping feet. However, Gregor remains a devoted and loving son, and takes to hiding beneath a sofa whenever someone enters his room in order to shield them from his insect form. When alone, he amuses himself by looking out of his window and crawling up the walls and on the ceiling.
No longer able to rely on Gregor's income, the other family members are forced to take on jobs and Grete's caretaking deteriorates. One day, when Gregor emerges from his room, his father chases him around the dining room table and pelts him with apples. One of the apples becomes embedded in his back, causing an infection. Due to his infection and his hunger, Gregor is soon barely able to move at all. Later, his parents take in lodgers and use Gregor's room as a dumping area for unwanted objects. Gregor becomes dirty, covered in dust and old bits of rotten food. One day, Gregor hears Grete playing her violin to entertain the lodgers. Gregor is attracted to the music, and slowly walks into the dining room despite himself, entertaining a fantasy of getting his beloved sister to join him in his room and play her violin for him. The lodgers see him and give notice, refusing to pay the rent they owe, even threatening to sue the family for harboring him while they stayed there. Grete determines that the monstrous insect is no longer Gregor, since Gregor would have left them out of love and taken their burden away, and claims that they must get rid of it. Gregor retreats to his room and collapses, finally succumbing to his wound.
The point of view shifts as, upon discovery of his corpse, the family feels an enormous burden has been lifted from them, and start planning for the future again. The family discovers that they aren't doing financially bad at all, especially since, following Gregor's demise, they can take a smaller flat. The brief process of forgetting Gregor and shutting him from their lives is quickly completed. The tale concludes with the mother and father taking note of Grete's new womanhood and growth.
Characters
Gregor Samsa
Gregor is the protagonist of the story. He works hard as a travelling salesman to provide for his sister and parents. He wakes up one morning as a monstrous insect. After the transformation, Gregor was unable to work, causing his father to work at a bank to provide for the family and pay owed debts.
Grete Samsa
Grete is Gregor's younger sister, who becomes his caretaker after the metamorphosis. At the beginning Grete and Gregor have a strong relationship but this relationship fades with time. While Grete originally volunteers to feed him and clean his room, throughout the story she grows more and more impatient with the task to the point of deliberately leaving messes in his room out of spite. She plays the violin and dreams of going to the conservatorium, a dream that Gregor was going to make come true. He was going to announce this on Christmas Eve. To help provide an income for the family after Gregor's transformation she starts working as a salesgirl in a shop.
Mr Samsa
Gregor's father owes a large debt to Gregor's boss, which is why Gregor can't quit his hated job. He is lazy and elderly, while Gregor works, but when, after the metamorphosis, Gregor is unable to provide for the family, he is shown to be an able-bodied worker. He also attempts to kill Gregor when he is discovered in his monstrous state.
Mrs Samsa
Mrs Samsa is the mother of Grete and Gregor. She is initially shocked at Gregor's transformation, however eventually decides she wants to enter his room. This seems too much for her to handle, and Gregor hides away from her in an attempt to protect her. Mrs Samsa is conflicted in her maternal concern and sympathy for Gregor, and her inherent fear of his new monstrous form.
Chief Clerk
The Chief Clerk is Gregor's boss and the person to whom Mr Samsa is in debt. He pressures Gregor to prepare for his workday with a urgency pertaining to the precarious position of his job.
Tenants
Three tenants are invited to live with the Samsas to supplement their income. The family shows great deference to these tenants throughout the length of their stay. They are fussy and cannot stand dirtiness, eventually leading to the point when they discover Gregor and threaten the family with a lawsuit, apparently believing he's just an extraordinarily large insect.
Lost in translation
The opening sentence of the novella is famous in English:
"When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from uneasy dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous insect."
"Als Gregor Samsa eines Morgens aus unruhigen Träumen erwachte, fand er sich in seinem Bett zu einem ungeheueren Ungeziefer verwandelt."
Kafka's sentences often deliver an unexpected impact just before the full stop—that being the finalizing meaning and focus. This is achieved due to the construction of sentences in German that require that the participle be positioned at the end of the sentence; in the above sentence, the equivalent of 'changed' is the final word, 'verwandelt'. Such constructions are not replicable in English, so it is up to the translator to provide the reader with the same effect found in the original text.
English translators have often sought to render the word Ungeziefer as "insect", but this is not strictly accurate. In Middle German, Ungeziefer literally means "unclean animal not suitable for sacrifice" and is sometimes used colloquially to mean "bug" – a very general term, unlike the scientific sounding "insect". Kafka had no intention of labeling Gregor as any specific thing, but instead wanted to convey Gregor's disgust at his transformation. The phrasing used in the David Wyllie translation and Joachim Neugroschel is "transformed in his bed into a monstrous vermin".
However, "vermin" denotes in English many animals (particularly mice, rats and foxes) and in Kafka's letter to his publisher of 25 October 1915, in which he discusses his concern about the cover illustration for the first edition, he uses the term "Insekt", saying "The insect itself is not to be drawn. It is not even to be seen from a distance." While this shows his concern not to give precise information about the type of creature Gregor becomes, the use of the general term "insect" can therefore be defended on the part of translators wishing to improve the readability of the end text.
Ungeziefer has sometimes been translated as "cockroach", "dung beetle", "beetle", and other highly specific terms. The term "dung beetle" or Mistkäfer is in fact used in the novella by the cleaning lady near the end of the story, but it is not used in the narration. Ungeziefer also denotes a sense of separation between him and his environment: he is unclean and must therefore be excluded.
Vladimir Nabokov, who was a lepidopterist as well as writer and literary critic, insisted that Gregor was not a cockroach, but a beetle with wings under his shell, and capable of flight — if only he had known it. Nabokov left a sketch annotated "just over three feet long" on the opening page of his (heavily corrected) English teaching copy. In his accompanying lecture notes, Nabokov discusses the type of vermin Gregor has been transformed into, concluding that Gregor "is not, technically, a dung beetle. He is merely a big beetle. (I must add that neither Gregor nor Kafka saw that beetle any too clearly.)"
Adaptations to other media
There are several film versions, including:
* Metamorphosis (1987) at the Internet Movie Database
* Die Verwandlung (1975) at the Internet Movie Database
* Förvandlingen (1976/I) at the Internet Movie Database
* The Metamorphosis of Mr. Samsa (1977) at the Internet Movie Database by Caroline Leaf
* The Metamorphosis of Franz Kafka (1993) by Carlos Atanes.
* Prevrashcheniye (2002) at the Internet Movie Database
* Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis acoustical liberation from LibriVox.
* Metamorfosis (2004) at the Internet Movie Database
* A Metamorfose (2007) at the Internet Movie Database
* Immersive Kafka: The Metamorphosis / Atvaltozas (2010) by Sandor Kardos, Barnabas Takacs.
A stage adaptation was performed by Steven Berkoff in 1969. Berkoff's text was also used for the libretto to Brian Howard's 1983 opera Metamorphosis. Another stage adaptation was performed in 2006 by the Icelandic company Vesturport, showing at the Lyric Hammersmith, London. That adaptation is set to be performed in the Icelandic theater fall of 2008. Another stage adaptation was performed in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2005 by the Centre for Asian Theatre. That performance is still continuing in Bangladesh. The Lyric Theatre Company toured the UK in 2006 with its stage adaptation of Metamorphosis, accompanied by a unique soundtrack performed by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. American comic artist Peter Kuper illustrated a graphic-novel version, first published by the Crown Publishing Group in 2003. Megan Rees is currently working on a new stage adaptation that should be published by 2010.
Allusions/references from other works
Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (February 2008)
Stage
* Philip Glass composed incidental music for two separate theater productions of the story. These two themes, along with two themes from the Errol Morris film The Thin Blue Line, were incorporated into a five-part piece of music for solo piano entitled Metamorphosis.
Literature
Jacob M. Appel's H. E. Francis Award-winning story, "The Vermin Episode," retells The Metamorphosis from the point-of-view of the Samsas' neighbors.
Film
* The 2005 film The Producers includes a scene where the two protagonists are searching for a sure flop. The opening for the play of Metamorphosis is read and rejected for being too good.
* The 2008 film The Reader features Ralph Fiennes reading aloud from Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis.
* In 2002 a Russian version titled Prevrashchenie was directed by Valery Fokin with Yevgeny Mironov as Gregor.
* In 1995, the actor Peter Capaldi won an Oscar for his short-film Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life. The plot of the film has the author (played by Richard E. Grant) trying to write the opening line of Metamorphosis and experimenting with various things that Gregor might turn into, such as a banana or a kangaroo. The film is also notable for a number of Kafkaesque moments.
* In 1993 Carlos Atanes directed The Metamorphosis of Franz Kafka, a controversial adaptation based on The Metamorphosis as well on biographical details from Kafka's family.
* in Noah Baumbach's Squid and the Whale, Jeff Daniels and Jesse Eisenberg make several references to The Metamorphosis
Animation
* In The Venture Bros. episode "Mid-Life Chrysalis", Dr. Venture's transformation into a caterpillar slightly mirrors that of Gregor Samsa's transformation.
* A reference appears in the 2006 Aardman Animations feature film Flushed Away when a refrigerator falls through the floor of the protagonist Rita's home and a giant cockroach appears reading a copy of The Metamorphosis.
* In the short-lived TV animated series Extreme Ghostbusters, season 1, episode 11 ("The Crawler"), the bug monster (that resembles a giant insect) calls himself Gregor Samsa when trying to seduce Janine to be his queen in his human form.
* Jack Feldstein created a tribute to Gregor Samsa and The Metamorphosis in his stream-of-consciousness neon animation "Shmetamorphosis" about a bug who hysterically bursts into therapist Bertold Krasenstein's office, begging to be saved.
* In the first season of the anime Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei there is an episode titled "One Morning, When Gregor Samsa Awoke, He was Carrying a Mikoshi", an obvious parody of the first line of The Metamorphosis.
Comics
* American cartoonist Robert Crumb drew an illustrated adaptation of the novella which appears in the book Introducing Kafka.
* In the comic book Johnny the Homicidal Maniac by Jhonen Vasquez, the eponymous Johnny is plagued by a roach that keeps appearing in his house no matter how many times he kills it (whether or not this roach is immortal or simply many different roaches is up to interpretation) and is affectionately named "Mr. Samsa".
* In The Simpsons book Treehouse of Horror Spook-tacular, Matt Groening did a spoof on the metamorphosis, entitling it Metamorphosimpsons. In addition, in one of the episodes, Lisa attends a place called "Cafe Kafka", which is shown to be a popular place for college students, and features several posters of cockroaches in Bohemian-like poses.
* Peter Kuper (illustrator of Kafka's Give It Up!) also adapted Kafka's Metamorphosis.
Television
* In the TV series Supernatural, the 4th episode of season 4 is named "Metamorphosis."
* The TV series Smallville, which is a retelling of Superman's early years as a teenager, alludes to Kafka's story in the season one, episode "Metamorphosis" where the 'Freak of the Week' is transformed into a being with insect-like abilities after suffering from exposure to meteor-infected insects (Kryptonite-induced).
* In the TV series Home Movies there is an entire episode based on Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis as a Rock Opera.
* In the TV series The Venture Bros., in the 8th episode of season 1, Dr. Venture undergoes a metamorphosis and alludes to the story.
* In the TV series The Ricky Gervais Show, in the 11th episode of season 1, named "Beetles," the characters discuss the potential of Karl Pilkingtons's metamorphosis.
Music
* Gregor Samsa is the name of an American post-rock band.
* The Rolling Stones' 1975 album Metamorphosis features cover art of the band members with insect heads.
* Showbread has a song named "Sampsa Meets Kafka". The misspelling of Samsa is intentional. Josh Dies the lead singer also lists Kafka as one of his biggest influences.
* The name of the German darkwave/metal/neoclassical band Samsas Traum is inspired by the story.
Video games
* Bad Mojo is a 1996 computer game, the storyline of which is loosely based on The Metamorphosis.
* Spore: Galactic Adventures made an adventure version of The Metamorphosis.
* In the 2001 Wizardry 8, the first boss is a gigantic cockroach named "Gregor".
卡夫卡出生在布拉格的一个犹太商人家庭，沿袭了纯种犹太人聪明的血统。父亲是一个半行乞的屠夫的儿子，白手起家，在家中专横如暴君，任意虐待妻儿，他对卡夫卡的学习、生活不闻不问，只是偶尔指手画脚地训斥一通———他想把儿子培养成为性格坚强而又能干的年轻人，但结果是适得其反。卡夫卡内心中一直对父亲存有无法消除的畏惧心理，自小心里充满恐惧，敏感成性。加上他作为布拉格讲德语的少数人的一分子，更造就了他无边无际的孤独。
迫于父亲的压力，他学习法律，后入一家私人保险公司任低薪职员，一直湮没在人群之中。他一生三次订婚，又三次解除婚约，其中原因之一就是怕结婚会破坏他已经习惯的孤独生活。后来他患上肺结核病，更使他远离热闹的尘世生活，沉浸在自己孤独的内心世界中。
这个孤僻的小职员的最大爱好就是写作，他那敏感、怯懦的性格和孤僻、忧郁的气质确实适合做一个作家。卡夫卡业余创作的大部分作品在他生前一直锁在抽屉里，少量面世的短篇小说还不足让他一鸣惊人，而且对他的同时代人来说，他的小说太超前了，当时的人们远未有能力体验卡夫卡独特而奇怪的荒谬感。他病逝后遗留下大量手稿。
二战之后，世界在废墟上重建，战争所带来的人类心灵深重的阴影，使人们不约而同地把目光转向了30年前死去的无名作家卡夫卡，他及其作品在西方世界掀起了一股热潮，人们像投票选举政界要员一样把他列为现代派小说家的第一候选人。
推荐阅读版本：汤永宽译，武汉大学出版社出版。
《城堡》-内容精要
一个寒冷的冬天的夜晚，土地测量员K来到了一个村子，他的目的是要前往村子附近的那座城堡去执行公务。当K在村口遥望城堡时，他感到笼罩在夜色之中的城堡，如同一片空洞虚无的幻景，这样的感觉似乎预示着他的任务不是那么容易完成的。
他前往客店投宿，可是客店老板对他的到来有点不知所措。他告诉K已经客满了，只好把K勉强安顿下来。客店里的人得知K要去城堡，都用特别的眼神看他。一位年轻人告诉K，每个进入城堡的人都必须得有一张许可证，而要想得到许可证，就必须去找城堡里的伯爵。
第二天，K走向城堡，可是耗费了一整天的时间他也无法靠近城堡一步。天色暗下来，他只好先去找栖身之处。找来找去，又回到了昨天晚上的那家客店。在搭雪橇前往客店的途中，他遇到了两个自称是他的助手的人。他们非常热情地帮助 K，并且用电话联络城堡里的办事机构，询问具体何时能上城堡去，对方回答：“任何时候都不能来。”
这时，来了一位叫巴纳巴斯的人，他是城堡的信使，K对他的来到十分兴奋，认为他可以成为自己和城堡联系的中间人。巴纳巴斯给他带来了城堡的信，信里既没有对K的到来表示欢迎，也没有暗示他赶快离开。事情依旧毫无转机。K和信使一道去了他家，信使的妹妹又表示她可以帮助K，于是把 K送进了一家旅馆，她告诉K，城堡的头面人物克拉姆住在那里，可以借机找克拉姆打通关节。
在旅馆的酒吧里，K认识了克拉姆的情妇弗丽达，K顿时使出浑身解数试图靠近弗丽达，然而旅馆里的人不停地添乱，助手们也在一边添乱，使他无法和弗丽达亲密地谈一谈关于克拉姆。他甚至用与弗丽达结婚的许诺想换得跟克拉姆谈一次话的机会。但K最终发现弗丽达这条路是走不通的，因为她和信使一样，是个无关紧要的小人物，她早已失宠。
K去见村长，村长告诉他，K来到村子完全是个错误，因为这里根本用不着土地测量员。城堡里不同部门彼此封闭，造成了一些差错，所以K才会收到公文，然而这份公文是早已无效的。村长承认他在几年前收到一个招聘一位土地测量员的公文，然而他无论如何找不到那张可以证明K合法身份的薄纸片。村长表达了自己对这件事情的看法，他觉得K收到的公文其实是一封某个主管，比如克拉姆，对他表示私人关心的的信，不能代表城堡的意见，因此K应当趁早回去。
K感到受骗上当了，但他坚持要求得到他应得的权利，那就是找一个住处，安顿他和弗丽达的新家。客栈老板一心想赶走K，K临走前，又从老板娘那里听到了关于她和克拉姆旧情的回忆，这使K感到很不舒服，因为他不由自主地想到了自己的未婚妻。
这时村里学校的教师奉村长之命前来，允许K带家眷住进学校任看门人，同时他也强调，学校其实并不需要一个看门人，他完全遵从村长的命令。K感到受到了侮辱，他拒绝了这份工作。可弗丽达坚持K接受它，她说如果K不接受，连个安身之处都没有，那么这对K对她自己都是十分羞愧的事情。
K对于进入城堡仍然抱着最后的希望，这已经不单纯是执行公务，而是有关个人尊严的问题。他冒雪来到克拉姆的旅馆，女招待说这会儿克拉姆正准备离开旅馆，雪橇已在院子里等着他，K二话没话，守到雪橇边，喝着白兰地等克拉姆出来。和以前一样，克拉姆本人永远不会出现，他的秘书摩麦斯出来告诉K： “不管你跟我走或者留在这里，你都不会见到他。”K反而陷入了进退两难的地步，如果他离开，周围人的神色举止里就表明克拉姆就此脱身了；如果他坚持等下去，显然也是没有结果的。秘书拿出一份会谈记录，向K指出这是引K走向克拉姆的惟一道路，但首先K必须接受一番苛刻的审查，K觉得不可忍受，于是他们两人大笑着分别了。
《城堡》作家卡夫卡
信使巴纳巴斯又带来了克拉姆的一封信，克拉姆赞赏了K及其助手的测量工作，这使K困惑不已，他至今为止从未干什么测量工作，每天做的事情就是在等待争取城堡的许可。K开始怀疑信使的可靠，但他仍托巴纳巴斯带去一个回音，申诉自己焦灼地渴盼见到克拉姆一面的心情。
之后K回到他和弗丽达的新家，那是学校里的一间大教室，可是K和弗丽达的生活并不安宁。两个助手不停地淘气，争食物，瞅准机会睡到惟一的稻草垫子上去。第二天，学校的女教师来了，她十分吃惊，继而不断地责骂 K，K几乎像个劣等动物一样被欺辱，可他决不接受校方的解职通知。他迁怒于两位无用的助手，宣布辞退他们，助手们施出浑身气力哀求K。弗丽达反对K的决定，她说一旦辞退助手，K就永远没有机会见到克拉姆了。弗丽达鼓励K不要丧失信心。
K 来到信使家等待回音，信使的姐妹奥尔伽和阿玛丽亚总向K暗示她们的倾慕之情，并且在闲聊中，暗示K，她们的哥哥巴纳巴斯可能从未见过克拉姆，他总是给K带来那些耽误了很久，失去时效的信。就连克拉姆本人，也是可疑的，关于克拉姆的种种情况，很大程度上是村里人想象出来的。奥尔伽又告诉K，城堡里的官员如同暴君，他们可以随时瞧上村里的任何姑娘，给她们写下流无比的信。他们的谈话离正题越来越远，奥尔伽讲起了阿玛丽亚因为拒绝城堡里另一位大官员索尔蒂尼的求爱而遭受的不幸，他们全家都被迫接受了一种几乎整天无所事事的刑罚，城堡强制他们退出社会生活。奥尔伽提醒K，不要指望任何一位有同情心的官员为他说话。巴纳巴斯为K送信，其实不过是想让自己一家人不露痕迹地再受恩宠，对于K来说，没有任何意义。这场繁冗而推心置腹的谈话被K的一位助手打断了，K很快意识到弗丽达和另一位助手呆在家里，他赶紧回家了。
到家里，K发现弗丽达不见了。原来她以为K跑去勾搭巴纳巴斯的姐妹，于是和另一个助手达成协议，背叛K。这时，巴纳巴斯又跑来找K，兴冲冲地通知他，克拉姆的主要秘书之一艾朗格要和K当面谈一谈。K和一群人等候在漆黑的旅馆门口，K被最先领了进去，但艾朗格却睡着了，K只好等着。在等待的时候，他又重新见到了弗丽达，他们激烈争论了忠实与不忠实的问题。弗丽达坦然地告诉K，她已经和那位助手同居了。K则十分平静地回敬她：自从你相继失去了克拉姆的情妇以及我的未婚妻这两种身份之后，你早已经没有了魅力。听完此话后，弗丽达似乎被触动了。但是她又见到助手时，马上就改变主意。她说：她再也不想回到K身边接受他的折磨。
小说就在此处戛然而止，卡夫卡未写完它，他原来打算的结尾是K将精疲力竭而死。后世及研究者预计的结局是：K弥留之际，城堡终于来了通知，允许K留在村子里，但不许进入城堡，K永远不可能到达那里，一直到死。
《城堡》-专家点评
当一个作家不能被他同时代的人所理解时，他会怎样处理自己的作品。卡夫卡选择的是毁灭。他在遗书中委托好友布罗德将其所有作品“毫无保留地，读也不必读就统统予以焚毁”。万幸布罗德自作主张将卡夫卡的遗稿保存下来，整理出版，这一次明智的“背信弃义”使我们今天依旧能一睹卡夫卡这位文学大师一生勤奋的成果。
人们提到卡夫卡，总是会提起他的《变形记》，里面的小公务员一早起来发现自己变成了一个大甲虫。西方文学中常常用《变形记》来指代现代化文明中人的异化。然而在这里所推荐的《城堡》，因其多义性更富于阅读的快乐。中篇小说《城堡》与《审判》及《美国》合称“卡夫卡三部曲”，它们都具有卡夫卡小说一贯的荒诞不经风格：异化现象，难以排遣的孤独和危机感，无法克服的荒诞和恐惧。卡夫卡的小说揭示了一种荒诞的充满非理性色彩的景象，个人式的、忧郁的、孤独的情绪，运用的是象征式的手法。其中《城堡》更富于“卡夫卡式”的构思和语言风格。
和卡夫卡的其他小说一样，《城堡》没有惟一正确的解释，解释权授予了每个阅读者，这来源于这部作品的多义性。表面上，这作品的故事再简单不过了，一个土地测量员K来到一个村庄，想进入管辖附近地区的伯爵居住的城堡，他费了九牛二虎之力，摊上一切也没能达到目的。《城堡》所具有的荒谬、虚拟，无明确的时代地理背景的特征使它抹上很浓的寓言色彩，无论评论家还是普通读者都能够获得不同的结论，《城堡》究竟表达了怎样的主题，这终了还是一个难解之谜，有人说它表现的是“人试图进入天国而不得的痛苦”；有人则认为它集中反映了卡夫卡本人的精神世界的荒诞、孤独与恐惧；有人则结合写作年代背景，说明城堡实际上反映了奥匈帝国官僚体制与大众的鸿沟，更有论者以为，《城堡》和《审判》、《美国》的主题相同，即“人们所追求的真理，不管是自由、安定，还是法律，都是存在的，但这个荒诞的世界给人们设置了种种障碍，无论你怎么努力， 总是追求不到， 最后只能以失败告终。” 在《城堡》中，“城堡”是最大的谜团，它与主人公K的目标总是若即若离，也正因此，能够激起人们相当的阅读兴趣，其中的人物如CC伯爵，以至于克拉姆部长等都神秘莫测，足以见卡夫卡这位小说家的天才的智慧。
《城堡》小说家卡夫卡
阅读卡夫卡的小说，对每一个读者来说都是挑战。他喜欢长句子，字里行间充满了大量的暗喻，他用文字堆起了一个个迷宫。读者会在穿行文字时遇到极大的阻力。然而当你习惯他的文字风格后，你会发现，原先的阻力变成了动力，带给你阅读的快感。
1913年8月15日，卡夫卡在自己的日记里写道：“我将不顾一切地与所有人隔绝，与所有人敌对，不同任何人讲话。”6天后他又这样写道：“现在我在我的家庭里，在那些最好的、最亲爱的人们中间，比一个陌生人还要陌生。近年来我和我的母亲平均每天说不上20句话；和我的父亲除了有时彼此寒暄几句几乎就没有更多的话可说；和我的已婚的妹妹和妹夫们除了跟他们生气我压根儿就不说话。理由很简单：我和他们没有任何一丁点儿的事情要说。一切不是文学的事情都使我无聊， 叫我憎恨”三年之后，这个不仅和整个世界格格不入，而且也和自己格格不入的犹太人，虽然尚未进入完全与世隔绝的城堡，却终于从家庭里逃出，为自己找到了一条窄得像西服袖子一样的幽深的死巷。这就是如今在布拉格颇为知名的黄金巷、又译为“炼金术士巷”。黄金巷22号的连栋屋中间，有座建于16世纪的、只有一个房间和一间小阁楼的小小蓝屋，墙壁很薄，房舍低矮得伸手便可触及天花板。这是被他的好友马克斯·布罗德称之为“一个真正的作家的修道士般的密室”的处所。卡夫卡在这里继续用谜一般的文字构筑着自己灵魂的城堡。
《城堡》卡夫卡及家人
在卡夫卡的世界里，噩梦永远没有醒来的时候，在荒诞的、不合逻辑的世界里描绘“人类生活的一切活动及其逼真的细节”，这正是作为小说家的卡夫卡的天赋所在，当我们读到《变形记》、《城堡》、《审判》等作品时，简直就像面对着一尊尊充满力量的雕塑，你能从那极度的变形与夸张里体会到生命的悸动与冲突。对于卡夫卡自己来说，生存就是一场必须“恰当运用自己的力量（因为我们的力量永远是有限的）”的抗争。虽然前途黯淡，但前途毕竟终会到来。通过写作这一形式卡夫卡为自己的抗争找到了存在的形象。从卡夫卡自己的书信与日记，我们也许能领会到那无穷无尽的力量源泉，他这样写道：“不要绝望，甚至对你并不感到绝望这一点也不要绝望。恰恰在似乎一切都完了的时候，新的力量毕竟来临，给你以帮助，而这正表明你是活着的。”“一场倾盆大雨。站立着面对这场大雨吧！让它的钢铁般的光芒刺穿你。你在那想把你冲走的雨水中飘浮，但你还是要坚持，昂首屹立，等待那即将来临的无穷无尽的阳光的照耀。”令人吃惊的是，它们竟然带着这样一些姿态：忧伤、理解、痛苦、谦卑，卡夫卡由此走向了无限深渊。最终他完成了对自己的塑造：他成为无限深渊中惟一裸行的思想者。卡夫卡的道路是对抗之路，他与存在于他身边的世界和秩序一直是抗争着的，艺术或者说文学写作是他对抗外部荒诞世界的惟一武器，他别无选择。虽然在此期间，他极度渴望实现艺术与现实的统一，甚至他个人与外部世界有过短暂的统一，但这种统一也是一瞬即逝的，表面和形式上的。他也渴望有自己的家庭，但他害怕家庭损害他的写作；他也像凡夫俗子一样，渴望有自己的孩子，做一名好父亲，但直到他有一个已长到7岁才夭折的孩子。
卡夫卡生前默默无闻，孤独地奋斗，随着时间的流逝，他的价值才逐渐为人们所认识，作品引起了世界的震动，并在世界范围内形成一股“卡夫卡”热，经久不衰。他一生的作品并不多，但对后世文学的影响却是极为深远的。他与法国作家马赛尔·普鲁斯特、爱尔兰作家詹姆斯·乔伊斯并称为西方现代主义文学的先驱和大师。美国诗人奥登认为：“他与我们时代的关系最近似但丁、莎士比亚、歌德与他们时代的关系。”后世的许多现代主义文学流派如“荒诞派戏剧”、法国的“新小说”等都把卡夫卡奉为自己的鼻祖。
关于卡夫卡，我们还可以说上很多很多。据说在现代文学的研究中，关于卡夫卡的论文数量之大，仅仅打印题目就需要几十页。但是，理解卡夫卡最好的方法，就是进入他的文字世界，安静地倾听他通过语言表达的内心。这不正是我们现在这个浮躁的现代文明所缺少的吗？
《城堡》-妙语佳句
他真要以为外面是灰色的天空与灰色的土地浑然一体的荒漠世界了。
可是如果这一切的平静、舒适与满足都要想恐怖地告一段落，那该怎么办呢？
History of the novel
Kafka began writing The Castle on the evening of January 27, 1922, the day he arrived at the mountain resort of Spindlermühle (now in the Czech Republic). A picture taken of him upon his arrival shows him by a horse-drawn sleigh in the snow in a setting reminiscent of The Castle. Hence, the significance that the first few chapters of the handwritten manuscript were written in first person and at some point later changed by Kafka to a third person narrator, 'K.'
Max Brod
Kafka died prior to finishing The Castle and it is questionable whether Kafka intended on finishing it if he had survived his tuberculosis. On separate occasions he told his friend Max Brod of two different conditions: K., the book's protagonist, would continue to reside and die in the village; the castle notifying him on his death bed that his "legal claim to live in the village was not valid, yet, taking certain auxiliary circumstances into account, he was permitted to live and work there" , but then on September 11, 1922 in a letter to Max Brod, he said he was giving up on the book and would never return to it. As it is, the book ends mid-sentence.
Although Brod was instructed by Kafka to destroy all his works on his death, he did not and set about publishing Kafka's writings. The Castle was originally published in German in 1926 by the publisher Kurt Wolff Verlag of Munich. This edition sold far less than the 1500 copies that were printed. It was republished in 1935 by Schocken Verlag in Berlin, and in 1946 by Schocken Books of New York.
Brod had to heavily edit the work to ready it for publication. His goal was to gain acceptance of the work and the author, not to maintain the structure of Kafka's writing. This would play heavily in the future of the translations and continues to be the center of discussion on the text. Brod donated the manuscript to Oxford University.
Brod placed a strong religious significance to the symbolism of the castle. This is one possible interpretation of the work based on numerous Judeo-Christian references as noted by many including Arnold Heidsieck.
Malcolm Pasley
The publisher, Salmen Schocken, soon realized the translations were "bad" and in 1940 desired a "completely different approach". In 1961 Malcolm Pasley got access to all of Kafka's works, except The Trial, and deposited them in Oxford's Bodleian library. Pasley and a team of scholars (Gerhard Neumann, Malcolm Pasley, Jost Schillemeit, and Jürgen Born) started publishing the works in 1982 through S. Fischer Verlag. Das Schloß was published that year as a two volume set — the novel in the first volume, and the fragments, deletions and editor's notes in a second volume. This team restored the original German text to its full, and incomplete state, including the unique Kafka punctuation considered critical to the style.
Stroemfeld/Roter Stern
Interpretations of Kafka's intent for the manuscript are ongoing. Stroemfeld/Roter Stern Verlag is working for the rights to publish another critical edition with manuscript and transcription side-by-side. But they have met with resistance from the Kafka heirs and Pasley. This edition is not yet available.
Major editions
* 1930 Translators: Willa and Edwin Muir. Based on the First German edition, by Max Brod. Published By Secker & Warburg in England and Alfred A. Knopf in the United States.
* 1941 Translators: Willa and Edwin Muir. Edition include an Homage by Thomas Mann.
* 1954 Translators: Willa and Edwin Muir additional sections translated by Eithne Wilkins and Ernst Kaiser. "Definitive edition". Based on the Schocken 1951 Definitive edition .
* 1994 Translators: Muir, et al. Preface by Irving Howe.
* 1997 Translator: J. A. Underwood, Introduction: Idris Parry. Based on Pasley Critical German Text.
* 1998 Translator: Mark Harman Based on Pasley Critical German Text.
The title
The title, Das Schloß, may be translated as "the castle" or "the lock". It is also similar to Der Schluß (close or end). The castle is locked and closed to K and the townspeople; neither can gain access.
Plot
The narrator, K. arrives in the village, governed by the castle. When seeking shelter at the town inn, he gives himself out to be a land surveyor summoned by the castle authorities. He is quickly notified that his castle contact is an official named Klamm, who, in the introductory note, informs K. he will report to the Council Chairman.
The Council Chairman informs K. that, through a mix up in communication between the castle and the village, he was erroneously requested but, trying to accommodate K., the Council Chairman offers him a position in the service of the school teacher as a janitor. Meanwhile, K., unfamiliar with the customs, bureaucracy and processes of the village, continues to attempt to reach the official Klamm, who is not accessible.
The villagers hold the officials and the castle in the highest regard, justifying, quite elaborately at times, the actions of the officials, even though they do not appear to know what officials do or why they do it; they simply defend it. The number of assumptions and justifications about the functions of the officials and their dealings are enumerated through lengthy monologues of the villagers. Everyone appears to have an explanation for the official's actions that appear to be founded on assumptions and gossip. One of the more obvious contradictions between the "official word" and the village conception is the dissertation by the secretary Erlanger on Frieda's required return to service as a barmaid. K. is the only villager that knows that the request is being forced by the castle (even though Frieda may be the genesis), with no regard for anyone in the village, only Klamm. Pepi and Jeremiah quickly come to their conclusions and do not hesitate to state them.
The castle is the ultimate bureaucracy with copious paperwork that the bureaucracy maintains is "flawless". This flawlessness is of course a lie; it is a flaw in the paperwork that has brought K. to the village. There are other failures of the system which are occasionally referred to. K. witnesses a flagrant misprocessing after his nighttime interrogation by Erlanger as a servant destroys paperwork when he cannot determine who the recipient should be.
The castle's occupants appear to be all adult men and there is little reference to the castle other than to its bureaucratic functions. The two notable instances are the reference to a fire brigade and that Otto Brunswick's wife is self declared as from the castle. The latter builds the importance of Hans (Otto's son) in K's eyes, as a way to gain access to the castle officials.
The functions of the officials are never mentioned. The officials that are discussed have one or more secretaries that do their work in their village. Although the officials come to the village they do not interact with the villagers unless they need female companionship, implied to be sexual.
Characters
Note: The Muir translations refer to the Herrenhof Inn where the Harman translations translate this to the Gentleman's Inn. Below all references to the inn where the officials stay in the village is the Herrenhof Inn since this was the first, and potentially more widely read, translation.
Character Description
K., the Land-Surveyor The protagonist of the story, recognized as a land surveyor, employed as the school janitor, and a stranger to the townspeople. He spends most of the novel trying to overcome the bureaucracy of the village and to contact the castle official Klamm.
Frieda A former barmaid at the Herrenhof, who is K.'s fiancée for most of the novel. She often finds herself torn between her duty to K. and her fears regarding his over-zealousness. She eventually leaves K. and ends up in the arms of his former assistant, Jeremiah (who has since become a waitperson at the Herrenhof).
Hans, landlord
(Bridge Inn) Nephew of the original owner of the inn. According to his wife, Gardena, he is lazy and overly nice to K.
Gardena, landlady
(Bridge Inn) The self proclaimed firebrand of the Bridge Inn she is a former short-term mistress to Klamm and very distrustful of K.'s motives. She remains infatuated with Klamm.
Barnabas, a messenger A messenger of the castle assigned to K. He is new to the service. K. is instructed to use him to communicate with the official Klamm. He is very immature and sensitive.
Arthur and Jeremiah, K's assistants
(Artur and Jeremias in Harman edition) Shortly after his arrival in the village, K. is given two assistants to help him with his various needs. They are a continual source of frustration for him, however, and he eventually drives them from his service through his brutal treatment. They have been assigned to K., to make him happy, by the official Galater who was deputizing for Klamm at the time.
Mayor/Superintendent
(Village Council Chairman in Harman edition) Assigned by Klamm to give K. his assignment and hence is his superior. He explains to K why he is not needed as a land surveyor. He offers K. the job of school janitor to the dismay of the Teacher.
Mizzi, the mayor's wife The wife and assistant of the Mayor, Gardena refers to her as the one who does the work.
Klamm An elusive castle official who is K.'s Castle Authority. Like the other Castle officials in the book, his actual area of expertise is never mentioned. K. spends a large portion of the novel trying to secure a meeting with Klamm. K., it seems, fixes many of his hopes for a successful resolution to his problems upon this meeting with Klamm. He has at least two secretaries—Erlanger (First Secretary) and Momus.
In Czech (and Kafka was able to speak and read/write Czech) "klam" means "illusion."
Momus, Klamm's secretary Handles all written work for and receives all petitions to Klamm. He is also secretary for Vallabne, who is not mentioned again in the novel.
Erlanger, Klamm's secretary The First Secretary of Klamm who is sent to "interrogate" K, but only gives him a short message.
Olga, Barnabas' sister The older sister of Amalia and Barnabas. She helps K. on his quest, partly by telling him the story of why her family is considered outcasts and by teaching him some of the village customs.
Amalia, Barnabas' sister Younger sister of Barnabas and Olga. She was disgraced in the village after rudely turning down a summons from the castle official Sortini for sexual favors.
Barnabas' Father The father of Olga, Amalia and Barnabas. Past village cobbler and notable fireman. After Amalia's disgraceful interactions with Sortini's messenger, his business is ruined and he is stripped of his fire credentials
Barnabas' Mother The mother of Olga, Amalia and Barnabas.
Otto Brunswick, son-in-law of Lasemann
(brother-in-law of Lasemann in Harman edition) Hans Brunswick's father. Opportunistically takes over Barnabas' father's customers as the Barnabas family falls into disrepute from Amalia's rude treatment of Sortini's Messenger. According to the Mayor, Brunswick was the only person in the village that desired that a land surveyor be hired. No reason for this is given.
Frau Brunswick Hans Brunswick's Mother. She refers to herself as "from the castle" and is the only reference to a female at the castle.
Hans, a sympathetic Student A student at the school where K is a janitor. Offers to help K and K uses him to attempt to find ways to get to the castle through his mother.
Herrenhof Landlord Landlord of the Herrenhof Inn.
Herrenhof Landlady Well dressed landlady at the Herrenhof Inn. Seems to be the matriarch of the Inn (as is Gardena at the Bridge Inn). Is distrustful of K.
Galater He is the castle official that assigned the assistants to K. He was also "rescued" by Barnabas' father in a minor fire at the Herrenhof Inn.
Brügel
(Bürgel in Harman edition) A Secretary of a castle official, Friedrich. Friedrich is not mentioned again in the book, but in deleted text is referred to as an official who is falling out of favor. Brügel is a long winded secretary who muses about Castle interrogations with K, when the latter errantly enters his room at the Herrenhof Inn.
Sordini Castle secretary who exhaustively manages any transactions at the castle for his department and is suspicious of any potential error.
Sortini Castle official associated with the village fire brigade who solicits Amalia with a sexually explicit and rude request to come to his room at the Herrenhof.
Teacher When K. becomes the janitor at the school, the teacher becomes K.'s de facto superior. He does not approve of K. working at the school, but does not appear to have the authority to terminate K's appointment.
Miss Gisa, the school mistress The assistant school teacher who is courted by Schwarzer and also dislikes K.
Schwarzer An under-castellan's son who appears to have given up living in the castle to court Miss Gisa and become her student teacher.
Pepi A former chamber maid who is promoted to Frieda's barmaid position when the latter leaves her position at the Herrenhoff to live with K. She was a chambermaid with Emilie and Hennriette
Lasemann, a tanner, father-in-law of Otto Brunswick
(brother-in-law of Otto Brunswick in Harman edition) The village tanner that offers a few hours shelter to K. during on his first full day in the village.
Gerstacker, a Coachman Initially suspicious of K. but gives him a free sleigh back to the Bridge Inn after refusing to provide a ride to the castle. At the end of the book attempts to befriend K. since he believes K. has clout with Erlanger.
Seemann, the Fire Company chief The fire chief that strips Barnabas' father of his fireman diploma after Barnabas' family falls into shame from Amalia's rude treatment of Sortini's Messenger.
Major themes
Theological
It is well documented that Brod's original construction was based on religious themes and this was furthered by the Muirs in their translations. But it has not ended with the Critical Editions. Numerous interpretations have been made with a variety of theological angles.
One interpretation of K.'s struggle to contact the castle is that it represents a man's search for salvation. According to Mark Harman, translator of a recent edition of The Castle, this was the interpretation favored by the original translators Willa and Edwin Muir, who produced the first English volume in 1925. Harman feels he has removed the bias in the translations toward this view, but many still feel this is the point of the book.
Fueling the biblical interpretations of the novel are the various names and situations. For example, the official Galater (the German word for Galatians), one of the initial regions to develop a strong Christian following from the work of Apostle Paul and his assistant Barnabas. The name of the messenger, Barnabas, for the same reason. Even the Critical Editions naming of the beginning chapter, "Arrival", among other things liken K. to an Old Testament messiah.
Abuse of power
While in talking to Olga in (Chapter XVII, "Amalia's Secret") K. himself ridicules the officials, in general, based on Sortini's "abuse of power" in requesting Amalia to come to the Gentleman's Inn. K. caught, once again, in not understanding the customs of the village is shocked at the behavior of Sortini. Olga expresses the "heroic" actions of Amalia, but appears too understanding of the community's acceptance of the status quo when it comes to the solicitations by the officials.
Bureaucracy
The obvious thread throughout The Castle is bureaucracy. The extreme degree is nearly comical and the village residents' justifications of it are amazing. Hence it is no surprise that many feel that the work is a direct result of the political situation of the era in which it was written, which was shot through with anti-Semitism, remnants of the Habsburg bureaucracy, etc.
But even in these analyses, the veiled references to more sensitive issues are pointed out. For instance, the treatment of the Barnabas family, with their requirement to first prove guilt before they could request a pardon from it and the way their fellow villagers desert them have been pointed out as a direct reference to the anti-Semitic climate at the time.
Allusions to other works
Critics often talk of The Castle and The Trial in concert, highlighting the struggle of the protagonist against a bureaucratic system and standing before the law's door unable to enter as in the parable of the priest in The Trial.
In spite of motifs common with other works of Kafka, The Castle is quite different from The Trial. While K., the main hero of The Castle, faces similar uncertainty and difficulty in grasping the reality that suddenly surrounds him; Josef K., the protagonist of The Trial, seems to be more experienced and emotionally stronger. On the other hand, while Josef K.'s surroundings stay familiar even when strange events befall him, K. finds himself in a new world whose laws and rules are unfamiliar to him.
Publication history
Harman translation
In 1926 Max Brod persuaded Kurt Wolff Verlag to publish the first German edition of The Castle. Due to its unfinished nature and his desire to get Kafka's work published, Max Brod took some editorial freedom.
In 1961 Malcolm Pasley was able to gain control of the manuscript, along with most of the other Kafka writings (save The Trial) and had it placed in the Oxford's Bodleian library. There, Pasley headed a team of scholars and recompiled Kafka's works into the Critical Edition. The Castle Critical Edition, in German, consists of two volumes—the novel in one volume and the fragments, deletions and editor's notes in a second volume. They were published by S. Fischer Verlag in 1982, hence occasionally referred to as the "Fischer Editions".
Mark Harman used the first volume of this set to create the 1998 edition of The Castle, often refer to as based on the "Restored Text" or the "English Critical Edition".
The lack of the fragments and missing text would have little meaning to most readers if the Muir translation did not let one know that there was more to read. The casual reader may not find the additional text of value, which Harman mentions that he has not included the text. According to the Publisher's Note:
"We decided to omit the variants and passages deleted by Kafka that are included in Pasley's second volume, even though variants can indeed shed light on the genesis of literary texts. The chief objective of this new edition, which is intended for the general public, is to present the text in a form that is as close as possible to the state in which the author left the manuscript."
Harman has received general acceptance of his translation as being technically accurate and true to the original German. He has, though, received criticism for, at times not creating the prosaic form of Kafka. Some of this is due, as with Muir's translations, on accusations that Pasley compilations are also inaccurate, although better than Brod's.
As noted in the Table of Contents above, Harman includes an eleven page discussion on his philosophy behind the translation. This section provides significant information about the method he used and his thought process. There are numerous examples of passages from Pasley, Muir's translation and his translation to provide the reader with a better feel for the work. As referenced above, some feel that his (and the publisher's) praise for his work and his "patronizing" of the Muirs goes a little too far.
Muir translation
In 1930 Willa and Edwin Muir translated the First German edition of The Castle as it was compiled by Max Brod. It was published by Secker & Warburg in England and Alfred A. Knopf in the United States. 1941 edition was the edition that fed the Kafka post-war craze. The 1941 edition included a homage by Thomas Mann.
In 1954 the "Definitive" edition was published and included additional sections Brod had added to the Schocken Definitive German edition. The new sections were translated by Eithne Wilkins and Ernst Kaiser. Some edits were made in the Muir text namely the changes were "Town Council" to "Village Council", "Superintendent" to "Mayor", "Clients" to "Applicants" .
The 1994 edition, the current publication, contains a preface by Irving Howe.
The Muir translations make use of wording that is often considered "spiritual" in nature. In one notable example, the Muirs translate the description of the castle as "soaring unfalteringly" where Harman uses "tapered decisively". Furthermore, the word "illusory" is used from the opening paragraph forward. Some critics note this as further evidence of the bias in the translation leaning toward a mystical interpretation.
Underwood translation
A translation by J. A. Underwood was published in 1997 and 2000 (ISBN 0-14-018504-6) by Penguin in the UK.
Adaptations
The book was adapted by German director Rudolf Noelte into a film released in 1968. It was also filmed by Austrian director Michael Haneke in 1997 under the original German title Das Schloß, starring Ulrich Mühe as K. There is a 1994 Russian movie adaptation, The Castle, directed by Aleksei Balabanov. Another less-well-known adaptation was also made in Russia in 1994, called The Land Surveyor (Землемер). It was a 46-minute-long animation created at Diogen Studio and directed by Dmitriy Naumov and Valentin Telegin. . A 120-minute-long French radio adaptation, written by Stephane Michaka and directed by Cedric Aussir, was aired by France Culture in 2010.
Allusions to The Castle in other works
A story similar to that of The Castle is told in the British television series The Prisoner. In the late 1970s, an unlicensed computer game spin-off of The Prisoner took things one step further by incorporating elements of The Castle into the game play.
The novel Oficina Número 1 (Office Number 1) by Venezuelan writer Miguel Otero Silva has one character reading The Castle, and although never referred to by name, describes several parts of it.
The Castle is also referred to in Lawrence Thornton's Imagining Argentina. A professor is arrested under suspicion of subversive activities. He tells the authorities he has been meeting Dostoevsky, Koestler and Camus at a place called "the Castle". The main character's cat is also named Kafka.
Although not expressly stated as such, the Steven Soderbergh film Kafka from 1991, starring Jeremy Irons, incorporates the basic thematic elements of The Castle as well as allusions to Kafka's own life as a writer and his collected works. The title character, "Kafka", an insurance company clerk by day and a writer by night, lives and works in the shadow of the mysterious Castle, which rules over the life and death of the local citizenry through a seemingly incomprehensibly complex conspiracy of bureaucracy and cover-ups.
Iain Banks's novel Walking on Glass has characters who find themselves in a situation similar to K.'s: trapped in a castle, subject to arbitrary and bizarre rules which they must obey in order to find a way of leaving, and surrounded by "servants" who comply entirely with the rules by which the castle is run. The allusion is made specific in one of the final chapters, where reading The Castle (along with The Trial and Titus Groan) is hinted at as a key to the characters' escape from their own castle.
K., the protagonist of J.M. Coetzee's The Life and Times of Michael K, attempts to live simply outside the governing system of war torn South Africa.[citation needed]
African-American author Richard Wright references The Castle in his autobiography Black Boy.
Japanese game designer Suda51, creator of No More Heroes, is planning to make a game based on The Castle, titled Kuriyami
A world in the children's Nintendo DS game Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter, the Galactic Jungle, presents the player with a stubborn bureaucracy not unlike the one portrayed in the novel.
Gene Wolfe's novel There Are Doors contains numerous references to The Castle throughout, including a high-placed official known as Klamm, several characters referred to as "Herr K.," and an actual copy of Das Schloss found nailed to a table within a dream.
Argentinian writer Ernesto Sabato is said to be influenced by Kafka's existentialism. The main character in his novelle, "The Tunnel", is named Castel, presumably after Kafka's story title.
迫于父亲的压力，他学习法律，后入一家私人保险公司任低薪职员，一直湮没在人群之中。他一生三次订婚，又三次解除婚约，其中原因之一就是怕结婚会破坏他已经习惯的孤独生活。后来他患上肺结核病，更使他远离热闹的尘世生活，沉浸在自己孤独的内心世界中。
这个孤僻的小职员的最大爱好就是写作，他那敏感、怯懦的性格和孤僻、忧郁的气质确实适合做一个作家。卡夫卡业余创作的大部分作品在他生前一直锁在抽屉里，少量面世的短篇小说还不足让他一鸣惊人，而且对他的同时代人来说，他的小说太超前了，当时的人们远未有能力体验卡夫卡独特而奇怪的荒谬感。他病逝后遗留下大量手稿。
二战之后，世界在废墟上重建，战争所带来的人类心灵深重的阴影，使人们不约而同地把目光转向了30年前死去的无名作家卡夫卡，他及其作品在西方世界掀起了一股热潮，人们像投票选举政界要员一样把他列为现代派小说家的第一候选人。
推荐阅读版本：汤永宽译，武汉大学出版社出版。
《城堡》-内容精要
一个寒冷的冬天的夜晚，土地测量员K来到了一个村子，他的目的是要前往村子附近的那座城堡去执行公务。当K在村口遥望城堡时，他感到笼罩在夜色之中的城堡，如同一片空洞虚无的幻景，这样的感觉似乎预示着他的任务不是那么容易完成的。
他前往客店投宿，可是客店老板对他的到来有点不知所措。他告诉K已经客满了，只好把K勉强安顿下来。客店里的人得知K要去城堡，都用特别的眼神看他。一位年轻人告诉K，每个进入城堡的人都必须得有一张许可证，而要想得到许可证，就必须去找城堡里的伯爵。
第二天，K走向城堡，可是耗费了一整天的时间他也无法靠近城堡一步。天色暗下来，他只好先去找栖身之处。找来找去，又回到了昨天晚上的那家客店。在搭雪橇前往客店的途中，他遇到了两个自称是他的助手的人。他们非常热情地帮助 K，并且用电话联络城堡里的办事机构，询问具体何时能上城堡去，对方回答：“任何时候都不能来。”
这时，来了一位叫巴纳巴斯的人，他是城堡的信使，K对他的来到十分兴奋，认为他可以成为自己和城堡联系的中间人。巴纳巴斯给他带来了城堡的信，信里既没有对K的到来表示欢迎，也没有暗示他赶快离开。事情依旧毫无转机。K和信使一道去了他家，信使的妹妹又表示她可以帮助K，于是把 K送进了一家旅馆，她告诉K，城堡的头面人物克拉姆住在那里，可以借机找克拉姆打通关节。
在旅馆的酒吧里，K认识了克拉姆的情妇弗丽达，K顿时使出浑身解数试图靠近弗丽达，然而旅馆里的人不停地添乱，助手们也在一边添乱，使他无法和弗丽达亲密地谈一谈关于克拉姆。他甚至用与弗丽达结婚的许诺想换得跟克拉姆谈一次话的机会。但K最终发现弗丽达这条路是走不通的，因为她和信使一样，是个无关紧要的小人物，她早已失宠。
K去见村长，村长告诉他，K来到村子完全是个错误，因为这里根本用不着土地测量员。城堡里不同部门彼此封闭，造成了一些差错，所以K才会收到公文，然而这份公文是早已无效的。村长承认他在几年前收到一个招聘一位土地测量员的公文，然而他无论如何找不到那张可以证明K合法身份的薄纸片。村长表达了自己对这件事情的看法，他觉得K收到的公文其实是一封某个主管，比如克拉姆，对他表示私人关心的的信，不能代表城堡的意见，因此K应当趁早回去。
K感到受骗上当了，但他坚持要求得到他应得的权利，那就是找一个住处，安顿他和弗丽达的新家。客栈老板一心想赶走K，K临走前，又从老板娘那里听到了关于她和克拉姆旧情的回忆，这使K感到很不舒服，因为他不由自主地想到了自己的未婚妻。
这时村里学校的教师奉村长之命前来，允许K带家眷住进学校任看门人，同时他也强调，学校其实并不需要一个看门人，他完全遵从村长的命令。K感到受到了侮辱，他拒绝了这份工作。可弗丽达坚持K接受它，她说如果K不接受，连个安身之处都没有，那么这对K对她自己都是十分羞愧的事情。
K对于进入城堡仍然抱着最后的希望，这已经不单纯是执行公务，而是有关个人尊严的问题。他冒雪来到克拉姆的旅馆，女招待说这会儿克拉姆正准备离开旅馆，雪橇已在院子里等着他，K二话没话，守到雪橇边，喝着白兰地等克拉姆出来。和以前一样，克拉姆本人永远不会出现，他的秘书摩麦斯出来告诉K： “不管你跟我走或者留在这里，你都不会见到他。”K反而陷入了进退两难的地步，如果他离开，周围人的神色举止里就表明克拉姆就此脱身了；如果他坚持等下去，显然也是没有结果的。秘书拿出一份会谈记录，向K指出这是引K走向克拉姆的惟一道路，但首先K必须接受一番苛刻的审查，K觉得不可忍受，于是他们两人大笑着分别了。
《城堡》作家卡夫卡
信使巴纳巴斯又带来了克拉姆的一封信，克拉姆赞赏了K及其助手的测量工作，这使K困惑不已，他至今为止从未干什么测量工作，每天做的事情就是在等待争取城堡的许可。K开始怀疑信使的可靠，但他仍托巴纳巴斯带去一个回音，申诉自己焦灼地渴盼见到克拉姆一面的心情。
之后K回到他和弗丽达的新家，那是学校里的一间大教室，可是K和弗丽达的生活并不安宁。两个助手不停地淘气，争食物，瞅准机会睡到惟一的稻草垫子上去。第二天，学校的女教师来了，她十分吃惊，继而不断地责骂 K，K几乎像个劣等动物一样被欺辱，可他决不接受校方的解职通知。他迁怒于两位无用的助手，宣布辞退他们，助手们施出浑身气力哀求K。弗丽达反对K的决定，她说一旦辞退助手，K就永远没有机会见到克拉姆了。弗丽达鼓励K不要丧失信心。
K 来到信使家等待回音，信使的姐妹奥尔伽和阿玛丽亚总向K暗示她们的倾慕之情，并且在闲聊中，暗示K，她们的哥哥巴纳巴斯可能从未见过克拉姆，他总是给K带来那些耽误了很久，失去时效的信。就连克拉姆本人，也是可疑的，关于克拉姆的种种情况，很大程度上是村里人想象出来的。奥尔伽又告诉K，城堡里的官员如同暴君，他们可以随时瞧上村里的任何姑娘，给她们写下流无比的信。他们的谈话离正题越来越远，奥尔伽讲起了阿玛丽亚因为拒绝城堡里另一位大官员索尔蒂尼的求爱而遭受的不幸，他们全家都被迫接受了一种几乎整天无所事事的刑罚，城堡强制他们退出社会生活。奥尔伽提醒K，不要指望任何一位有同情心的官员为他说话。巴纳巴斯为K送信，其实不过是想让自己一家人不露痕迹地再受恩宠，对于K来说，没有任何意义。这场繁冗而推心置腹的谈话被K的一位助手打断了，K很快意识到弗丽达和另一位助手呆在家里，他赶紧回家了。
到家里，K发现弗丽达不见了。原来她以为K跑去勾搭巴纳巴斯的姐妹，于是和另一个助手达成协议，背叛K。这时，巴纳巴斯又跑来找K，兴冲冲地通知他，克拉姆的主要秘书之一艾朗格要和K当面谈一谈。K和一群人等候在漆黑的旅馆门口，K被最先领了进去，但艾朗格却睡着了，K只好等着。在等待的时候，他又重新见到了弗丽达，他们激烈争论了忠实与不忠实的问题。弗丽达坦然地告诉K，她已经和那位助手同居了。K则十分平静地回敬她：自从你相继失去了克拉姆的情妇以及我的未婚妻这两种身份之后，你早已经没有了魅力。听完此话后，弗丽达似乎被触动了。但是她又见到助手时，马上就改变主意。她说：她再也不想回到K身边接受他的折磨。
小说就在此处戛然而止，卡夫卡未写完它，他原来打算的结尾是K将精疲力竭而死。后世及研究者预计的结局是：K弥留之际，城堡终于来了通知，允许K留在村子里，但不许进入城堡，K永远不可能到达那里，一直到死。
《城堡》-专家点评
当一个作家不能被他同时代的人所理解时，他会怎样处理自己的作品。卡夫卡选择的是毁灭。他在遗书中委托好友布罗德将其所有作品“毫无保留地，读也不必读就统统予以焚毁”。万幸布罗德自作主张将卡夫卡的遗稿保存下来，整理出版，这一次明智的“背信弃义”使我们今天依旧能一睹卡夫卡这位文学大师一生勤奋的成果。
人们提到卡夫卡，总是会提起他的《变形记》，里面的小公务员一早起来发现自己变成了一个大甲虫。西方文学中常常用《变形记》来指代现代化文明中人的异化。然而在这里所推荐的《城堡》，因其多义性更富于阅读的快乐。中篇小说《城堡》与《审判》及《美国》合称“卡夫卡三部曲”，它们都具有卡夫卡小说一贯的荒诞不经风格：异化现象，难以排遣的孤独和危机感，无法克服的荒诞和恐惧。卡夫卡的小说揭示了一种荒诞的充满非理性色彩的景象，个人式的、忧郁的、孤独的情绪，运用的是象征式的手法。其中《城堡》更富于“卡夫卡式”的构思和语言风格。
和卡夫卡的其他小说一样，《城堡》没有惟一正确的解释，解释权授予了每个阅读者，这来源于这部作品的多义性。表面上，这作品的故事再简单不过了，一个土地测量员K来到一个村庄，想进入管辖附近地区的伯爵居住的城堡，他费了九牛二虎之力，摊上一切也没能达到目的。《城堡》所具有的荒谬、虚拟，无明确的时代地理背景的特征使它抹上很浓的寓言色彩，无论评论家还是普通读者都能够获得不同的结论，《城堡》究竟表达了怎样的主题，这终了还是一个难解之谜，有人说它表现的是“人试图进入天国而不得的痛苦”；有人则认为它集中反映了卡夫卡本人的精神世界的荒诞、孤独与恐惧；有人则结合写作年代背景，说明城堡实际上反映了奥匈帝国官僚体制与大众的鸿沟，更有论者以为，《城堡》和《审判》、《美国》的主题相同，即“人们所追求的真理，不管是自由、安定，还是法律，都是存在的，但这个荒诞的世界给人们设置了种种障碍，无论你怎么努力， 总是追求不到， 最后只能以失败告终。” 在《城堡》中，“城堡”是最大的谜团，它与主人公K的目标总是若即若离，也正因此，能够激起人们相当的阅读兴趣，其中的人物如CC伯爵，以至于克拉姆部长等都神秘莫测，足以见卡夫卡这位小说家的天才的智慧。
《城堡》小说家卡夫卡
阅读卡夫卡的小说，对每一个读者来说都是挑战。他喜欢长句子，字里行间充满了大量的暗喻，他用文字堆起了一个个迷宫。读者会在穿行文字时遇到极大的阻力。然而当你习惯他的文字风格后，你会发现，原先的阻力变成了动力，带给你阅读的快感。
1913年8月15日，卡夫卡在自己的日记里写道：“我将不顾一切地与所有人隔绝，与所有人敌对，不同任何人讲话。”6天后他又这样写道：“现在我在我的家庭里，在那些最好的、最亲爱的人们中间，比一个陌生人还要陌生。近年来我和我的母亲平均每天说不上20句话；和我的父亲除了有时彼此寒暄几句几乎就没有更多的话可说；和我的已婚的妹妹和妹夫们除了跟他们生气我压根儿就不说话。理由很简单：我和他们没有任何一丁点儿的事情要说。一切不是文学的事情都使我无聊， 叫我憎恨”三年之后，这个不仅和整个世界格格不入，而且也和自己格格不入的犹太人，虽然尚未进入完全与世隔绝的城堡，却终于从家庭里逃出，为自己找到了一条窄得像西服袖子一样的幽深的死巷。这就是如今在布拉格颇为知名的黄金巷、又译为“炼金术士巷”。黄金巷22号的连栋屋中间，有座建于16世纪的、只有一个房间和一间小阁楼的小小蓝屋，墙壁很薄，房舍低矮得伸手便可触及天花板。这是被他的好友马克斯·布罗德称之为“一个真正的作家的修道士般的密室”的处所。卡夫卡在这里继续用谜一般的文字构筑着自己灵魂的城堡。
《城堡》卡夫卡及家人
在卡夫卡的世界里，噩梦永远没有醒来的时候，在荒诞的、不合逻辑的世界里描绘“人类生活的一切活动及其逼真的细节”，这正是作为小说家的卡夫卡的天赋所在，当我们读到《变形记》、《城堡》、《审判》等作品时，简直就像面对着一尊尊充满力量的雕塑，你能从那极度的变形与夸张里体会到生命的悸动与冲突。对于卡夫卡自己来说，生存就是一场必须“恰当运用自己的力量（因为我们的力量永远是有限的）”的抗争。虽然前途黯淡，但前途毕竟终会到来。通过写作这一形式卡夫卡为自己的抗争找到了存在的形象。从卡夫卡自己的书信与日记，我们也许能领会到那无穷无尽的力量源泉，他这样写道：“不要绝望，甚至对你并不感到绝望这一点也不要绝望。恰恰在似乎一切都完了的时候，新的力量毕竟来临，给你以帮助，而这正表明你是活着的。”“一场倾盆大雨。站立着面对这场大雨吧！让它的钢铁般的光芒刺穿你。你在那想把你冲走的雨水中飘浮，但你还是要坚持，昂首屹立，等待那即将来临的无穷无尽的阳光的照耀。”令人吃惊的是，它们竟然带着这样一些姿态：忧伤、理解、痛苦、谦卑，卡夫卡由此走向了无限深渊。最终他完成了对自己的塑造：他成为无限深渊中惟一裸行的思想者。卡夫卡的道路是对抗之路，他与存在于他身边的世界和秩序一直是抗争着的，艺术或者说文学写作是他对抗外部荒诞世界的惟一武器，他别无选择。虽然在此期间，他极度渴望实现艺术与现实的统一，甚至他个人与外部世界有过短暂的统一，但这种统一也是一瞬即逝的，表面和形式上的。他也渴望有自己的家庭，但他害怕家庭损害他的写作；他也像凡夫俗子一样，渴望有自己的孩子，做一名好父亲，但直到他有一个已长到7岁才夭折的孩子。
卡夫卡生前默默无闻，孤独地奋斗，随着时间的流逝，他的价值才逐渐为人们所认识，作品引起了世界的震动，并在世界范围内形成一股“卡夫卡”热，经久不衰。他一生的作品并不多，但对后世文学的影响却是极为深远的。他与法国作家马赛尔·普鲁斯特、爱尔兰作家詹姆斯·乔伊斯并称为西方现代主义文学的先驱和大师。美国诗人奥登认为：“他与我们时代的关系最近似但丁、莎士比亚、歌德与他们时代的关系。”后世的许多现代主义文学流派如“荒诞派戏剧”、法国的“新小说”等都把卡夫卡奉为自己的鼻祖。
关于卡夫卡，我们还可以说上很多很多。据说在现代文学的研究中，关于卡夫卡的论文数量之大，仅仅打印题目就需要几十页。但是，理解卡夫卡最好的方法，就是进入他的文字世界，安静地倾听他通过语言表达的内心。这不正是我们现在这个浮躁的现代文明所缺少的吗？
《城堡》-妙语佳句
他真要以为外面是灰色的天空与灰色的土地浑然一体的荒漠世界了。
可是如果这一切的平静、舒适与满足都要想恐怖地告一段落，那该怎么办呢？
History of the novel
Kafka began writing The Castle on the evening of January 27, 1922, the day he arrived at the mountain resort of Spindlermühle (now in the Czech Republic). A picture taken of him upon his arrival shows him by a horse-drawn sleigh in the snow in a setting reminiscent of The Castle. Hence, the significance that the first few chapters of the handwritten manuscript were written in first person and at some point later changed by Kafka to a third person narrator, 'K.'
Max Brod
Kafka died prior to finishing The Castle and it is questionable whether Kafka intended on finishing it if he had survived his tuberculosis. On separate occasions he told his friend Max Brod of two different conditions: K., the book's protagonist, would continue to reside and die in the village; the castle notifying him on his death bed that his "legal claim to live in the village was not valid, yet, taking certain auxiliary circumstances into account, he was permitted to live and work there" , but then on September 11, 1922 in a letter to Max Brod, he said he was giving up on the book and would never return to it. As it is, the book ends mid-sentence.
Although Brod was instructed by Kafka to destroy all his works on his death, he did not and set about publishing Kafka's writings. The Castle was originally published in German in 1926 by the publisher Kurt Wolff Verlag of Munich. This edition sold far less than the 1500 copies that were printed. It was republished in 1935 by Schocken Verlag in Berlin, and in 1946 by Schocken Books of New York.
Brod had to heavily edit the work to ready it for publication. His goal was to gain acceptance of the work and the author, not to maintain the structure of Kafka's writing. This would play heavily in the future of the translations and continues to be the center of discussion on the text. Brod donated the manuscript to Oxford University.
Brod placed a strong religious significance to the symbolism of the castle. This is one possible interpretation of the work based on numerous Judeo-Christian references as noted by many including Arnold Heidsieck.
Malcolm Pasley
The publisher, Salmen Schocken, soon realized the translations were "bad" and in 1940 desired a "completely different approach". In 1961 Malcolm Pasley got access to all of Kafka's works, except The Trial, and deposited them in Oxford's Bodleian library. Pasley and a team of scholars (Gerhard Neumann, Malcolm Pasley, Jost Schillemeit, and Jürgen Born) started publishing the works in 1982 through S. Fischer Verlag. Das Schloß was published that year as a two volume set — the novel in the first volume, and the fragments, deletions and editor's notes in a second volume. This team restored the original German text to its full, and incomplete state, including the unique Kafka punctuation considered critical to the style.
Stroemfeld/Roter Stern
Interpretations of Kafka's intent for the manuscript are ongoing. Stroemfeld/Roter Stern Verlag is working for the rights to publish another critical edition with manuscript and transcription side-by-side. But they have met with resistance from the Kafka heirs and Pasley. This edition is not yet available.
Major editions
* 1930 Translators: Willa and Edwin Muir. Based on the First German edition, by Max Brod. Published By Secker & Warburg in England and Alfred A. Knopf in the United States.
* 1941 Translators: Willa and Edwin Muir. Edition include an Homage by Thomas Mann.
* 1954 Translators: Willa and Edwin Muir additional sections translated by Eithne Wilkins and Ernst Kaiser. "Definitive edition". Based on the Schocken 1951 Definitive edition .
* 1994 Translators: Muir, et al. Preface by Irving Howe.
* 1997 Translator: J. A. Underwood, Introduction: Idris Parry. Based on Pasley Critical German Text.
* 1998 Translator: Mark Harman Based on Pasley Critical German Text.
The title
The title, Das Schloß, may be translated as "the castle" or "the lock". It is also similar to Der Schluß (close or end). The castle is locked and closed to K and the townspeople; neither can gain access.
Plot
The narrator, K. arrives in the village, governed by the castle. When seeking shelter at the town inn, he gives himself out to be a land surveyor summoned by the castle authorities. He is quickly notified that his castle contact is an official named Klamm, who, in the introductory note, informs K. he will report to the Council Chairman.
The Council Chairman informs K. that, through a mix up in communication between the castle and the village, he was erroneously requested but, trying to accommodate K., the Council Chairman offers him a position in the service of the school teacher as a janitor. Meanwhile, K., unfamiliar with the customs, bureaucracy and processes of the village, continues to attempt to reach the official Klamm, who is not accessible.
The villagers hold the officials and the castle in the highest regard, justifying, quite elaborately at times, the actions of the officials, even though they do not appear to know what officials do or why they do it; they simply defend it. The number of assumptions and justifications about the functions of the officials and their dealings are enumerated through lengthy monologues of the villagers. Everyone appears to have an explanation for the official's actions that appear to be founded on assumptions and gossip. One of the more obvious contradictions between the "official word" and the village conception is the dissertation by the secretary Erlanger on Frieda's required return to service as a barmaid. K. is the only villager that knows that the request is being forced by the castle (even though Frieda may be the genesis), with no regard for anyone in the village, only Klamm. Pepi and Jeremiah quickly come to their conclusions and do not hesitate to state them.
The castle is the ultimate bureaucracy with copious paperwork that the bureaucracy maintains is "flawless". This flawlessness is of course a lie; it is a flaw in the paperwork that has brought K. to the village. There are other failures of the system which are occasionally referred to. K. witnesses a flagrant misprocessing after his nighttime interrogation by Erlanger as a servant destroys paperwork when he cannot determine who the recipient should be.
The castle's occupants appear to be all adult men and there is little reference to the castle other than to its bureaucratic functions. The two notable instances are the reference to a fire brigade and that Otto Brunswick's wife is self declared as from the castle. The latter builds the importance of Hans (Otto's son) in K's eyes, as a way to gain access to the castle officials.
The functions of the officials are never mentioned. The officials that are discussed have one or more secretaries that do their work in their village. Although the officials come to the village they do not interact with the villagers unless they need female companionship, implied to be sexual.
Characters
Note: The Muir translations refer to the Herrenhof Inn where the Harman translations translate this to the Gentleman's Inn. Below all references to the inn where the officials stay in the village is the Herrenhof Inn since this was the first, and potentially more widely read, translation.
Character Description
K., the Land-Surveyor The protagonist of the story, recognized as a land surveyor, employed as the school janitor, and a stranger to the townspeople. He spends most of the novel trying to overcome the bureaucracy of the village and to contact the castle official Klamm.
Frieda A former barmaid at the Herrenhof, who is K.'s fiancée for most of the novel. She often finds herself torn between her duty to K. and her fears regarding his over-zealousness. She eventually leaves K. and ends up in the arms of his former assistant, Jeremiah (who has since become a waitperson at the Herrenhof).
Hans, landlord
(Bridge Inn) Nephew of the original owner of the inn. According to his wife, Gardena, he is lazy and overly nice to K.
Gardena, landlady
(Bridge Inn) The self proclaimed firebrand of the Bridge Inn she is a former short-term mistress to Klamm and very distrustful of K.'s motives. She remains infatuated with Klamm.
Barnabas, a messenger A messenger of the castle assigned to K. He is new to the service. K. is instructed to use him to communicate with the official Klamm. He is very immature and sensitive.
Arthur and Jeremiah, K's assistants
(Artur and Jeremias in Harman edition) Shortly after his arrival in the village, K. is given two assistants to help him with his various needs. They are a continual source of frustration for him, however, and he eventually drives them from his service through his brutal treatment. They have been assigned to K., to make him happy, by the official Galater who was deputizing for Klamm at the time.
Mayor/Superintendent
(Village Council Chairman in Harman edition) Assigned by Klamm to give K. his assignment and hence is his superior. He explains to K why he is not needed as a land surveyor. He offers K. the job of school janitor to the dismay of the Teacher.
Mizzi, the mayor's wife The wife and assistant of the Mayor, Gardena refers to her as the one who does the work.
Klamm An elusive castle official who is K.'s Castle Authority. Like the other Castle officials in the book, his actual area of expertise is never mentioned. K. spends a large portion of the novel trying to secure a meeting with Klamm. K., it seems, fixes many of his hopes for a successful resolution to his problems upon this meeting with Klamm. He has at least two secretaries—Erlanger (First Secretary) and Momus.
In Czech (and Kafka was able to speak and read/write Czech) "klam" means "illusion."
Momus, Klamm's secretary Handles all written work for and receives all petitions to Klamm. He is also secretary for Vallabne, who is not mentioned again in the novel.
Erlanger, Klamm's secretary The First Secretary of Klamm who is sent to "interrogate" K, but only gives him a short message.
Olga, Barnabas' sister The older sister of Amalia and Barnabas. She helps K. on his quest, partly by telling him the story of why her family is considered outcasts and by teaching him some of the village customs.
Amalia, Barnabas' sister Younger sister of Barnabas and Olga. She was disgraced in the village after rudely turning down a summons from the castle official Sortini for sexual favors.
Barnabas' Father The father of Olga, Amalia and Barnabas. Past village cobbler and notable fireman. After Amalia's disgraceful interactions with Sortini's messenger, his business is ruined and he is stripped of his fire credentials
Barnabas' Mother The mother of Olga, Amalia and Barnabas.
Otto Brunswick, son-in-law of Lasemann
(brother-in-law of Lasemann in Harman edition) Hans Brunswick's father. Opportunistically takes over Barnabas' father's customers as the Barnabas family falls into disrepute from Amalia's rude treatment of Sortini's Messenger. According to the Mayor, Brunswick was the only person in the village that desired that a land surveyor be hired. No reason for this is given.
Frau Brunswick Hans Brunswick's Mother. She refers to herself as "from the castle" and is the only reference to a female at the castle.
Hans, a sympathetic Student A student at the school where K is a janitor. Offers to help K and K uses him to attempt to find ways to get to the castle through his mother.
Herrenhof Landlord Landlord of the Herrenhof Inn.
Herrenhof Landlady Well dressed landlady at the Herrenhof Inn. Seems to be the matriarch of the Inn (as is Gardena at the Bridge Inn). Is distrustful of K.
Galater He is the castle official that assigned the assistants to K. He was also "rescued" by Barnabas' father in a minor fire at the Herrenhof Inn.
Brügel
(Bürgel in Harman edition) A Secretary of a castle official, Friedrich. Friedrich is not mentioned again in the book, but in deleted text is referred to as an official who is falling out of favor. Brügel is a long winded secretary who muses about Castle interrogations with K, when the latter errantly enters his room at the Herrenhof Inn.
Sordini Castle secretary who exhaustively manages any transactions at the castle for his department and is suspicious of any potential error.
Sortini Castle official associated with the village fire brigade who solicits Amalia with a sexually explicit and rude request to come to his room at the Herrenhof.
Teacher When K. becomes the janitor at the school, the teacher becomes K.'s de facto superior. He does not approve of K. working at the school, but does not appear to have the authority to terminate K's appointment.
Miss Gisa, the school mistress The assistant school teacher who is courted by Schwarzer and also dislikes K.
Schwarzer An under-castellan's son who appears to have given up living in the castle to court Miss Gisa and become her student teacher.
Pepi A former chamber maid who is promoted to Frieda's barmaid position when the latter leaves her position at the Herrenhoff to live with K. She was a chambermaid with Emilie and Hennriette
Lasemann, a tanner, father-in-law of Otto Brunswick
(brother-in-law of Otto Brunswick in Harman edition) The village tanner that offers a few hours shelter to K. during on his first full day in the village.
Gerstacker, a Coachman Initially suspicious of K. but gives him a free sleigh back to the Bridge Inn after refusing to provide a ride to the castle. At the end of the book attempts to befriend K. since he believes K. has clout with Erlanger.
Seemann, the Fire Company chief The fire chief that strips Barnabas' father of his fireman diploma after Barnabas' family falls into shame from Amalia's rude treatment of Sortini's Messenger.
Major themes
Theological
It is well documented that Brod's original construction was based on religious themes and this was furthered by the Muirs in their translations. But it has not ended with the Critical Editions. Numerous interpretations have been made with a variety of theological angles.
One interpretation of K.'s struggle to contact the castle is that it represents a man's search for salvation. According to Mark Harman, translator of a recent edition of The Castle, this was the interpretation favored by the original translators Willa and Edwin Muir, who produced the first English volume in 1925. Harman feels he has removed the bias in the translations toward this view, but many still feel this is the point of the book.
Fueling the biblical interpretations of the novel are the various names and situations. For example, the official Galater (the German word for Galatians), one of the initial regions to develop a strong Christian following from the work of Apostle Paul and his assistant Barnabas. The name of the messenger, Barnabas, for the same reason. Even the Critical Editions naming of the beginning chapter, "Arrival", among other things liken K. to an Old Testament messiah.
Abuse of power
While in talking to Olga in (Chapter XVII, "Amalia's Secret") K. himself ridicules the officials, in general, based on Sortini's "abuse of power" in requesting Amalia to come to the Gentleman's Inn. K. caught, once again, in not understanding the customs of the village is shocked at the behavior of Sortini. Olga expresses the "heroic" actions of Amalia, but appears too understanding of the community's acceptance of the status quo when it comes to the solicitations by the officials.
Bureaucracy
The obvious thread throughout The Castle is bureaucracy. The extreme degree is nearly comical and the village residents' justifications of it are amazing. Hence it is no surprise that many feel that the work is a direct result of the political situation of the era in which it was written, which was shot through with anti-Semitism, remnants of the Habsburg bureaucracy, etc.
But even in these analyses, the veiled references to more sensitive issues are pointed out. For instance, the treatment of the Barnabas family, with their requirement to first prove guilt before they could request a pardon from it and the way their fellow villagers desert them have been pointed out as a direct reference to the anti-Semitic climate at the time.
Allusions to other works
Critics often talk of The Castle and The Trial in concert, highlighting the struggle of the protagonist against a bureaucratic system and standing before the law's door unable to enter as in the parable of the priest in The Trial.
In spite of motifs common with other works of Kafka, The Castle is quite different from The Trial. While K., the main hero of The Castle, faces similar uncertainty and difficulty in grasping the reality that suddenly surrounds him; Josef K., the protagonist of The Trial, seems to be more experienced and emotionally stronger. On the other hand, while Josef K.'s surroundings stay familiar even when strange events befall him, K. finds himself in a new world whose laws and rules are unfamiliar to him.
Publication history
Harman translation
In 1926 Max Brod persuaded Kurt Wolff Verlag to publish the first German edition of The Castle. Due to its unfinished nature and his desire to get Kafka's work published, Max Brod took some editorial freedom.
In 1961 Malcolm Pasley was able to gain control of the manuscript, along with most of the other Kafka writings (save The Trial) and had it placed in the Oxford's Bodleian library. There, Pasley headed a team of scholars and recompiled Kafka's works into the Critical Edition. The Castle Critical Edition, in German, consists of two volumes—the novel in one volume and the fragments, deletions and editor's notes in a second volume. They were published by S. Fischer Verlag in 1982, hence occasionally referred to as the "Fischer Editions".
Mark Harman used the first volume of this set to create the 1998 edition of The Castle, often refer to as based on the "Restored Text" or the "English Critical Edition".
The lack of the fragments and missing text would have little meaning to most readers if the Muir translation did not let one know that there was more to read. The casual reader may not find the additional text of value, which Harman mentions that he has not included the text. According to the Publisher's Note:
"We decided to omit the variants and passages deleted by Kafka that are included in Pasley's second volume, even though variants can indeed shed light on the genesis of literary texts. The chief objective of this new edition, which is intended for the general public, is to present the text in a form that is as close as possible to the state in which the author left the manuscript."
Harman has received general acceptance of his translation as being technically accurate and true to the original German. He has, though, received criticism for, at times not creating the prosaic form of Kafka. Some of this is due, as with Muir's translations, on accusations that Pasley compilations are also inaccurate, although better than Brod's.
As noted in the Table of Contents above, Harman includes an eleven page discussion on his philosophy behind the translation. This section provides significant information about the method he used and his thought process. There are numerous examples of passages from Pasley, Muir's translation and his translation to provide the reader with a better feel for the work. As referenced above, some feel that his (and the publisher's) praise for his work and his "patronizing" of the Muirs goes a little too far.
Muir translation
In 1930 Willa and Edwin Muir translated the First German edition of The Castle as it was compiled by Max Brod. It was published by Secker & Warburg in England and Alfred A. Knopf in the United States. 1941 edition was the edition that fed the Kafka post-war craze. The 1941 edition included a homage by Thomas Mann.
In 1954 the "Definitive" edition was published and included additional sections Brod had added to the Schocken Definitive German edition. The new sections were translated by Eithne Wilkins and Ernst Kaiser. Some edits were made in the Muir text namely the changes were "Town Council" to "Village Council", "Superintendent" to "Mayor", "Clients" to "Applicants" .
The 1994 edition, the current publication, contains a preface by Irving Howe.
The Muir translations make use of wording that is often considered "spiritual" in nature. In one notable example, the Muirs translate the description of the castle as "soaring unfalteringly" where Harman uses "tapered decisively". Furthermore, the word "illusory" is used from the opening paragraph forward. Some critics note this as further evidence of the bias in the translation leaning toward a mystical interpretation.
Underwood translation
A translation by J. A. Underwood was published in 1997 and 2000 (ISBN 0-14-018504-6) by Penguin in the UK.
Adaptations
The book was adapted by German director Rudolf Noelte into a film released in 1968. It was also filmed by Austrian director Michael Haneke in 1997 under the original German title Das Schloß, starring Ulrich Mühe as K. There is a 1994 Russian movie adaptation, The Castle, directed by Aleksei Balabanov. Another less-well-known adaptation was also made in Russia in 1994, called The Land Surveyor (Землемер). It was a 46-minute-long animation created at Diogen Studio and directed by Dmitriy Naumov and Valentin Telegin. . A 120-minute-long French radio adaptation, written by Stephane Michaka and directed by Cedric Aussir, was aired by France Culture in 2010.
Allusions to The Castle in other works
A story similar to that of The Castle is told in the British television series The Prisoner. In the late 1970s, an unlicensed computer game spin-off of The Prisoner took things one step further by incorporating elements of The Castle into the game play.
The novel Oficina Número 1 (Office Number 1) by Venezuelan writer Miguel Otero Silva has one character reading The Castle, and although never referred to by name, describes several parts of it.
The Castle is also referred to in Lawrence Thornton's Imagining Argentina. A professor is arrested under suspicion of subversive activities. He tells the authorities he has been meeting Dostoevsky, Koestler and Camus at a place called "the Castle". The main character's cat is also named Kafka.
Although not expressly stated as such, the Steven Soderbergh film Kafka from 1991, starring Jeremy Irons, incorporates the basic thematic elements of The Castle as well as allusions to Kafka's own life as a writer and his collected works. The title character, "Kafka", an insurance company clerk by day and a writer by night, lives and works in the shadow of the mysterious Castle, which rules over the life and death of the local citizenry through a seemingly incomprehensibly complex conspiracy of bureaucracy and cover-ups.
Iain Banks's novel Walking on Glass has characters who find themselves in a situation similar to K.'s: trapped in a castle, subject to arbitrary and bizarre rules which they must obey in order to find a way of leaving, and surrounded by "servants" who comply entirely with the rules by which the castle is run. The allusion is made specific in one of the final chapters, where reading The Castle (along with The Trial and Titus Groan) is hinted at as a key to the characters' escape from their own castle.
K., the protagonist of J.M. Coetzee's The Life and Times of Michael K, attempts to live simply outside the governing system of war torn South Africa.[citation needed]
African-American author Richard Wright references The Castle in his autobiography Black Boy.
Japanese game designer Suda51, creator of No More Heroes, is planning to make a game based on The Castle, titled Kuriyami
A world in the children's Nintendo DS game Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter, the Galactic Jungle, presents the player with a stubborn bureaucracy not unlike the one portrayed in the novel.
Gene Wolfe's novel There Are Doors contains numerous references to The Castle throughout, including a high-placed official known as Klamm, several characters referred to as "Herr K.," and an actual copy of Das Schloss found nailed to a table within a dream.
Argentinian writer Ernesto Sabato is said to be influenced by Kafka's existentialism. The main character in his novelle, "The Tunnel", is named Castel, presumably after Kafka's story title.
《判决》（1912）是卡夫卡最喜爱的作品，表现了父子两代人的冲突。主人公格奥尔格·本德曼是个商人，自从几年前母亲去世后就和父亲一起生活，现在生意兴隆。他在房间里给一位多年前迁居俄国的朋友写信，告诉他自己订婚的消息。写完信来到父亲的房间，意外的是父亲对他态度非常不好，怀疑他根本就没有迁居到俄国的朋友，指责他背着自己做生意，还盼着自己早死。突然，父亲又转了话题，嘲笑格奥尔格在欺骗他朋友，而父亲自己倒是一直跟那位朋友通信，并早已把格奥尔格订婚的消息告诉他了。格奥尔格忍不住顶撞了父亲一句，父亲便判独生子去投河自尽。于是独生子真的投河死了。作品所描写的在父子两人的口角过程中，清白善良的儿子竟被父亲视为有罪和执拗残暴，在父亲的淫威之下，独生子害怕、恐惧到了丧失理智，以致自尽。父亲高大强壮而毫无理性，具有一切暴君的特征。这个貌似荒诞的故事是卡夫卡负罪心态的生动描述，父亲的判决也是卡夫卡对自己的判决。主人公临死前的低声辩白——“亲爱的父母亲，我可是一直爱你们的”，则是卡夫卡最隐秘心曲的吐露。这种故事的框架是典型的卡夫卡式的，是他内心深处的负罪感具象化之后的产物。然而作品的内涵显然不在于仅仅表现父子冲突，更在于在普遍意义上揭示出人类生存在怎样一种权威和凌辱之下。另一方面又展现人物为战胜父亲进行的一系列抗争。儿子把看来衰老的父亲如同孩子般放到床上后，真的把他“盖了起来”。从表面上看，他这样做是出于孝心；在深层含义上他是想埋葬父亲，以确立自己作为新的一家之主的地位。小说在体现了卡夫卡独特的“审父”意识的同时，也表现了对家长式的奥匈帝国统治者的不满。与此同时卡夫卡还通过这个独特的故事揭示了西方社会中现实生活的荒谬性和非理性。
Like Kafka's other novels, The Trial was never completed, although it does include a chapter which brings the story to an end. After his death in 1924, Kafka's friend and literary executor Max Brod edited the text for publication.
The Trial was filmed and released in 1962 by director Orson Welles, starring Anthony Perkins (as Josef K.) and Romy Schneider. A more recent remake was released in 1993 and featured Kyle MacLachlan in the star role. In 1999, it was adapted for comics by Italian artist Guido Crepax.
Plot summary
(As the novel was never completed, certain inconsistencies exist within the novel, such as disparities in timing in addition to other flaws in narration.)
On his thirtieth birthday, a senior bank clerk, Josef K., who lives in lodgings, is unexpectedly arrested by two unidentified agents for an unspecified crime. The agents do not name the authority for which they are acting. He is not taken away, however, but left at home to await instructions from the Committee of Affairs.
K. goes to visit the magistrate, but instead is forced to have a meeting with an attendant's wife. Looking at the Magistrate's books, he discovers a cache of pornography.
K. returns home to find Fräulein Montag, a lodger from another room, moving in with Fräulein Bürstner. He suspects that this is to prevent him from pursuing his affair with the latter woman. Yet another lodger, Captain Lanz, appears to be in league with Montag.
Later, in a store room at his own bank, K. discovers the two agents who arrested him being whipped by a flogger for asking K. for bribes, as a result of complaints K. previously made about them to the Magistrate. K. tries to argue with the flogger, saying that the men need not be whipped, but the flogger cannot be swayed. The next day he returns to the store room and is shocked to find everything as he had found it the day before, including the Whipper and the two agents.
K. is visited by his uncle, who is a friend of a lawyer. The lawyer was with the Clerk of the Court. The uncle seems distressed by K.'s predicament. At first sympathetic, he becomes concerned K. is underestimating the seriousness of the case. The uncle introduces K. to an advocate, who is attended by Leni, a nurse, who K.'s uncle suspects is the advocate's mistress. K. has a sexual encounter with Leni, whilst his uncle is talking with the Advocate and the Chief Clerk of the Court, much to his uncle's anger, and to the detriment of his case.
K. visits the advocate and finds him to be a capricious and unhelpful character. K. returns to his bank but finds that his colleagues are trying to undermine him.
K. is advised by one of his bank clients to visit Titorelli, a court painter, for advice. Titorelli has no official connections, yet seems to have a deep understanding of the process. K. learns that, to Titorelli's knowledge, not a single defendant has ever been acquitted. He sets out what K.'s options are, but the consequences of all of them are unpleasant: they consist of different delay tactics to stretch out his case as long as possible before the inevitable "Guilty" verdict. Titorelli instructs K. that there's not much he can do since he doesn't know of what crime he has been accused.
K. decides to take control of his own life and visits his advocate with the intention of dismissing him. At the advocate's office he meets a downtrodden individual, Block, a client who offers K. some insight from a client's perspective. Block's case has continued for five years and he appears to have been virtually enslaved by his dependence on the advocate's meaningless and circular advice. The advocate mocks Block in front of K. for his dog-like subservience. This experience further poisons K.'s opinion of his advocate, and K is bemused as to why his advocate would think that seeing such a client, in such a state, could change his mind. (This chapter was left unfinished by the author.)
K. is asked to tour an Italian client around local places of cultural interest, but the Italian client short of time asks K. to tour him around only the cathedral, setting a time to meet there. When the client doesn't show up, K. explores the cathedral which is empty except for an old woman and a church official. K. decides to leave as a priest K. notices seems to be preparing to give a sermon from a small second pulpit, lest it begin and K. be compelled to stay for its entirety. Instead of giving a sermon, the priest calls out K.'s name, although K. has never known the priest. The priest works for the court, and tells K. a fable, (which has been published separately as Before the Law) that is meant to explain his situation, but instead causes confusion, and implies that K.'s fate is hopeless. Before the Law begins as a parable, then continues with several pages of interpretation between the Priest and K. The gravity of the priest's words prepares the reader for an unpleasant ending.
On the last day of K.'s thirtieth year, two men arrive to execute him. He offers little resistance, suggesting that he has realised this as being inevitable for some time. They lead him to a quarry where he is expected to kill himself, but he cannot. The two men then execute him. His last words describe his own death: "Like a dog!"
Characters
Others
Fräulein Bürstner - A boarder in the same house as Josef K. She lets him kiss her one night, but then rebuffs his advances. She makes a brief reappearance in the novel's final pages.
Fräulein Montag - Friend of Fräulein Bürstner, she talks to K. about ending his relationship with Fräulein Bürstner after his arrest. She claims she can bring him insight, because she is an objective third party.
Frau Grubach - The proprietress of the lodging house in which K. lives. She holds K. in high esteem, despite his arrest.
Uncle Karl - K.'s impetuous uncle from the country, formerly his guardian. Upon learning about the trial, Karl insists that K. hire Herr Huld, the lawyer.
Herr Huld, the Lawyer - K.'s pompous and pretentious advocate who provides precious little in the way of action and far too much in the way of anecdote.
Leni - Herr Huld's nurse, she has feelings for Josef K. and soon becomes his lover. She shows him her webbed hand, yet another reference to the motif of the hand throughout the book. Apparently, she finds accused men extremely attractive—the fact of their indictment makes them irresistible to her.
Vice-President - K.'s unctuous rival at the Bank, only too willing to catch K. in a compromising situation. He repeatedly takes advantage of K.'s preoccupation with the trial to advance his own ambitions.
President - Manager of the Bank. A sickly figure, whose position the Vice-President is trying to assume. Gets on well with K., inviting him to various engagements.
Rudi Block, the Merchant - Block is another accused man and client of Huld. His case is five years old, and he is but a shadow of the prosperous grain dealer he once was. All his time, energy, and resources are now devoted to his case, to the point of detriment to his own life. Although he has hired five additional lawyers on the side, he is completely and pathetically subservient to Huld.
Titorelli, the Painter - Titorelli inherited the position of Court Painter from his father. He knows a great deal about the comings and goings of the Court's lowest level. He offers to help K., and manages to unload a few identical landscape paintings on the accused man.
Style
Parable
(Taken directly from Novels for Students: The Trial.)
Kafka intentionally set out to write parables, not just novels, about the human condition. The Trial is a parable that includes the smaller parable Before the Law. There is clearly a relationship between the two but the exact meaning of either parable is left up to the individual reader. K. and the Priest discuss the many possible readings. Both the short parable and their discussion seem to indicate that the reader is much like the man at the gate; there is a meaning in the story for everyone just as there is one gate to the Law for each person.
The parable within Kafka's masterpiece highlights perfectly the essence of his philosophy. Assigned unique roles in life, individuals must search deep within the apparent absurdity of existence to achieve spiritual self-realisation. The old man, therefore, is the symbol of this universal search inherent to mankind. 'The Trial' is not simply a novel about the potential disaster of over-bureaucratisation in society; it is an exploration of the personal and, particularly, spiritual, needs of human beings.
Legality
In a recent study based on Kafka’s office writings, Reza Banakar points out that many of Kafka’s descriptions of law and legality are often treated as metaphors for things other than law, but also are worthy of examination as a particular concept of law and legality which operates paradoxically as an integral part of the human condition under modernity. Joseph K. and his inexplicable experience of the law in The Trial were, for example, born out of an actual legal case in which Kafka was involved.
Film portrayals
* In the 1962 Orson Welles movie adaptation of The Trial, Josef K. is played by Anthony Perkins. Kyle MacLachlan portrays him in the 1993 version.
* Martin Scorsese's 1985 film After Hours is a re-imagining of the Trial.
Theatre adaptions
* The writer and director Steven Berkoff adapted several of Kafka's novels into plays and directed them for stage. His version of The Trial was first performed in 1970 in London and published in 1981.
Selected publication history
* Oxford World's Classics, 4 October 2009, Translation: Mike Mitchell, ISBN 9780199238293
* Dover Thrift Editions, 22 July 2009, Translation: David Wyllie, ISBN 9780486470610
* Penguin Modern Classics, 29 June 2000, Translation: Idris Parry, ISBN 9780141182902
* Schocken Books, 25 May 1999, Translation: Breon Mitchell, ISBN 9780805209990
* Everyman's Library, 30 June 1992, Translation: Willa and Edwin Muir, ISBN 9780679409946
Like Kafka's other novels, The Trial was never completed, although it does include a chapter which brings the story to an end. After his death in 1924, Kafka's friend and literary executor Max Brod edited the text for publication.
The Trial was filmed and released in 1962 by director Orson Welles, starring Anthony Perkins (as Josef K.) and Romy Schneider. A more recent remake was released in 1993 and featured Kyle MacLachlan in the star role. In 1999, it was adapted for comics by Italian artist Guido Crepax.
Plot summary
(As the novel was never completed, certain inconsistencies exist within the novel, such as disparities in timing in addition to other flaws in narration.)
On his thirtieth birthday, a senior bank clerk, Josef K., who lives in lodgings, is unexpectedly arrested by two unidentified agents for an unspecified crime. The agents do not name the authority for which they are acting. He is not taken away, however, but left at home to await instructions from the Committee of Affairs.
K. goes to visit the magistrate, but instead is forced to have a meeting with an attendant's wife. Looking at the Magistrate's books, he discovers a cache of pornography.
K. returns home to find Fräulein Montag, a lodger from another room, moving in with Fräulein Bürstner. He suspects that this is to prevent him from pursuing his affair with the latter woman. Yet another lodger, Captain Lanz, appears to be in league with Montag.
Later, in a store room at his own bank, K. discovers the two agents who arrested him being whipped by a flogger for asking K. for bribes, as a result of complaints K. previously made about them to the Magistrate. K. tries to argue with the flogger, saying that the men need not be whipped, but the flogger cannot be swayed. The next day he returns to the store room and is shocked to find everything as he had found it the day before, including the Whipper and the two agents.
K. is visited by his uncle, who is a friend of a lawyer. The lawyer was with the Clerk of the Court. The uncle seems distressed by K.'s predicament. At first sympathetic, he becomes concerned K. is underestimating the seriousness of the case. The uncle introduces K. to an advocate, who is attended by Leni, a nurse, who K.'s uncle suspects is the advocate's mistress. K. has a sexual encounter with Leni, whilst his uncle is talking with the Advocate and the Chief Clerk of the Court, much to his uncle's anger, and to the detriment of his case.
K. visits the advocate and finds him to be a capricious and unhelpful character. K. returns to his bank but finds that his colleagues are trying to undermine him.
K. is advised by one of his bank clients to visit Titorelli, a court painter, for advice. Titorelli has no official connections, yet seems to have a deep understanding of the process. K. learns that, to Titorelli's knowledge, not a single defendant has ever been acquitted. He sets out what K.'s options are, but the consequences of all of them are unpleasant: they consist of different delay tactics to stretch out his case as long as possible before the inevitable "Guilty" verdict. Titorelli instructs K. that there's not much he can do since he doesn't know of what crime he has been accused.
K. decides to take control of his own life and visits his advocate with the intention of dismissing him. At the advocate's office he meets a downtrodden individual, Block, a client who offers K. some insight from a client's perspective. Block's case has continued for five years and he appears to have been virtually enslaved by his dependence on the advocate's meaningless and circular advice. The advocate mocks Block in front of K. for his dog-like subservience. This experience further poisons K.'s opinion of his advocate, and K is bemused as to why his advocate would think that seeing such a client, in such a state, could change his mind. (This chapter was left unfinished by the author.)
K. is asked to tour an Italian client around local places of cultural interest, but the Italian client short of time asks K. to tour him around only the cathedral, setting a time to meet there. When the client doesn't show up, K. explores the cathedral which is empty except for an old woman and a church official. K. decides to leave as a priest K. notices seems to be preparing to give a sermon from a small second pulpit, lest it begin and K. be compelled to stay for its entirety. Instead of giving a sermon, the priest calls out K.'s name, although K. has never known the priest. The priest works for the court, and tells K. a fable, (which has been published separately as Before the Law) that is meant to explain his situation, but instead causes confusion, and implies that K.'s fate is hopeless. Before the Law begins as a parable, then continues with several pages of interpretation between the Priest and K. The gravity of the priest's words prepares the reader for an unpleasant ending.
On the last day of K.'s thirtieth year, two men arrive to execute him. He offers little resistance, suggesting that he has realised this as being inevitable for some time. They lead him to a quarry where he is expected to kill himself, but he cannot. The two men then execute him. His last words describe his own death: "Like a dog!"
Characters
Others
Fräulein Bürstner - A boarder in the same house as Josef K. She lets him kiss her one night, but then rebuffs his advances. She makes a brief reappearance in the novel's final pages.
Fräulein Montag - Friend of Fräulein Bürstner, she talks to K. about ending his relationship with Fräulein Bürstner after his arrest. She claims she can bring him insight, because she is an objective third party.
Frau Grubach - The proprietress of the lodging house in which K. lives. She holds K. in high esteem, despite his arrest.
Uncle Karl - K.'s impetuous uncle from the country, formerly his guardian. Upon learning about the trial, Karl insists that K. hire Herr Huld, the lawyer.
Herr Huld, the Lawyer - K.'s pompous and pretentious advocate who provides precious little in the way of action and far too much in the way of anecdote.
Leni - Herr Huld's nurse, she has feelings for Josef K. and soon becomes his lover. She shows him her webbed hand, yet another reference to the motif of the hand throughout the book. Apparently, she finds accused men extremely attractive—the fact of their indictment makes them irresistible to her.
Vice-President - K.'s unctuous rival at the Bank, only too willing to catch K. in a compromising situation. He repeatedly takes advantage of K.'s preoccupation with the trial to advance his own ambitions.
President - Manager of the Bank. A sickly figure, whose position the Vice-President is trying to assume. Gets on well with K., inviting him to various engagements.
Rudi Block, the Merchant - Block is another accused man and client of Huld. His case is five years old, and he is but a shadow of the prosperous grain dealer he once was. All his time, energy, and resources are now devoted to his case, to the point of detriment to his own life. Although he has hired five additional lawyers on the side, he is completely and pathetically subservient to Huld.
Titorelli, the Painter - Titorelli inherited the position of Court Painter from his father. He knows a great deal about the comings and goings of the Court's lowest level. He offers to help K., and manages to unload a few identical landscape paintings on the accused man.
Style
Parable
(Taken directly from Novels for Students: The Trial.)
Kafka intentionally set out to write parables, not just novels, about the human condition. The Trial is a parable that includes the smaller parable Before the Law. There is clearly a relationship between the two but the exact meaning of either parable is left up to the individual reader. K. and the Priest discuss the many possible readings. Both the short parable and their discussion seem to indicate that the reader is much like the man at the gate; there is a meaning in the story for everyone just as there is one gate to the Law for each person.
The parable within Kafka's masterpiece highlights perfectly the essence of his philosophy. Assigned unique roles in life, individuals must search deep within the apparent absurdity of existence to achieve spiritual self-realisation. The old man, therefore, is the symbol of this universal search inherent to mankind. 'The Trial' is not simply a novel about the potential disaster of over-bureaucratisation in society; it is an exploration of the personal and, particularly, spiritual, needs of human beings.
Legality
In a recent study based on Kafka’s office writings, Reza Banakar points out that many of Kafka’s descriptions of law and legality are often treated as metaphors for things other than law, but also are worthy of examination as a particular concept of law and legality which operates paradoxically as an integral part of the human condition under modernity. Joseph K. and his inexplicable experience of the law in The Trial were, for example, born out of an actual legal case in which Kafka was involved.
Film portrayals
* In the 1962 Orson Welles movie adaptation of The Trial, Josef K. is played by Anthony Perkins. Kyle MacLachlan portrays him in the 1993 version.
* Martin Scorsese's 1985 film After Hours is a re-imagining of the Trial.
Theatre adaptions
* The writer and director Steven Berkoff adapted several of Kafka's novels into plays and directed them for stage. His version of The Trial was first performed in 1970 in London and published in 1981.
Selected publication history
* Oxford World's Classics, 4 October 2009, Translation: Mike Mitchell, ISBN 9780199238293
* Dover Thrift Editions, 22 July 2009, Translation: David Wyllie, ISBN 9780486470610
* Penguin Modern Classics, 29 June 2000, Translation: Idris Parry, ISBN 9780141182902
* Schocken Books, 25 May 1999, Translation: Breon Mitchell, ISBN 9780805209990
* Everyman's Library, 30 June 1992, Translation: Willa and Edwin Muir, ISBN 9780679409946
美国《华盛顿邮报》这样评价米兰·昆德拉：“昆德拉是欧美最杰出和始终最为有趣的小说家之一。”《新闻周刊》也说：“昆德拉把哲理小说提升到了梦态抒情和感情浓烈的一个新水平。” 《华盛顿时报》还说：“《生存中不能承受之轻》是20世纪最伟大的小说之一，昆德拉藉此奠定了他世界上最伟大的在世作家的地位。”
《生命中不能承受之轻》-名书简介
作者：（捷克）米兰·昆德拉
类型：小说
成书时间：1984年
《生命中不能承受之轻》-背景搜索
《生命中不能承受之轻》米兰·昆德拉
米兰·昆德拉，1929年生于捷克布尔诺市。父亲为钢琴家、音乐艺术学院的教授，受家庭熏陶，童年时代便学作曲；少年时开始广泛阅读世界名著；青年时从事写作、画画、音乐、电影。三十岁左右发表第一篇短篇小说，决定走文学创作之路。
1967年，他的第一部长篇小说《玩笑》在捷克出版，获得巨大成功，奠定了他在文坛上的地位。1968年，苏联入侵捷克后，《玩笑》不但被列为禁书而且昆德拉的工作也失去了。1975年与家人离开捷克，来到法国。
移居法国后，昆德拉迅速走红，成为法国读者最喜爱的外国作家之一。他的绝大多数作品，如《笑忘录》、《生命中不能承受之轻》、《不朽》等都是首先在法国走红，然后才引起世界文坛的瞩目。他曾多次获得国际文学奖，并多次被提名为诺贝尔文学奖的候选人。
《生命中不能承受之轻》-内容精要
捷克首都布拉格的一位外科医生托马斯是个固执地拒绝“媚俗”的人，他背叛父母的意愿离了婚，有着众多的情人，其中最为亲密的情人是画家萨宾娜。有一次他到郊外的一个小镇上出诊，认识了那里的女招待特丽莎。朴素而美丽的特丽莎让托马斯一见钟情，而特丽莎对风度翩翩的托马斯也颇有好感。
不久特丽莎到城里找托马斯，他们同居在一起。在萨宾娜的帮助下，爱好摄影的特丽莎在某杂志社谋到一份工作。托马斯虽然爱特丽莎，但是却不愿做家庭责任的附庸，更不愿像别人那样甘于平淡地生活，仍然与别的女人胡混。特丽莎虽然出身下层，但她内心渴望高尚的精神生活。特丽莎深爱着托马斯却不能接受他这种生活方式，然而又不能左右他，只有痛苦地与他维护着一个家庭的外壳。
1968年8月，前苏联领导人所指挥的坦克，在 “主权有限论”等等旗号下，以突然袭击的方式，一夜之间攻占了布拉格，扣押了捷克党政领导人。 “布拉格之春”强烈地震动了这个家庭，特丽莎立刻找到了自己的意义，她热心地充当着一个爱国记者的角色，拍下了大量苏军入侵的照片。与特丽莎不同，不愿媚俗的托马斯虽然憎恨入侵者，同情反抗者，却不愿用行动支持他们，不愿为他们签名，也不愿签名帮助政府，托马斯认为，为谁签名都是一种媚俗行为，他不愿替别人充当制造声势的工具。
后来，托马斯和特丽莎为了逃避当局的迫害去了中立国瑞士。令特丽莎没有想到的是萨宾娜也流亡到此，且与托马斯重修旧好。特丽莎无法继续忍受下去，愤然返回了布拉格。在离开特丽莎最初的几天，托马斯确实感到了自由，但很快这种轻飘飘的失落感又让他难以忍受，于是他也重回布拉格寻找特丽莎。在布拉格，托马斯因一篇文章得罪有关当局，并拒绝在收回自己文章的声明上签字而受到迫害。最后托马斯与特丽莎二人移居乡下，不幸在一次车祸中双双意外身亡。
和托马斯一样，萨宾娜也是一个坚决的反“媚俗”者，不过她却从人们的“媚俗”中得到了好处。在瑞士，人们由于同情她的祖国而愿意掏钱买她的画，这让她发了一大笔财。在一次宴会上，萨宾娜和瑞士的一名大学教师弗兰茨相恋。弗兰茨是一个相貌英俊的男士，事业有成，所有这些成功以后的感觉让他觉得“轻”。他渴望反抗，渴望激情，于是他加入了声援捷克人民的游行示威大军。后来在越南入侵柬埔寨期间加入赴柬医疗队，但他这种堂吉诃德式的行动并没有产生任何实际成果，后来受到歹徒的袭击而丧生。
《生命中不能承受之轻》-专家点评
米兰·昆德拉说过，生长于一个小国在他看来实在是一种优势，因为身处小国，要么做一个可怜的、眼光狭窄的人，要么成为一个广闻博识的世界性的人。昆德拉就是一个世界性的人，他说：“如果一个作家写的东西只能令本国的人了解，则他不但对不起世界上所有的人，更对不起他的同胞，因为他的同胞读了他的作品，只能变得目光短浅。”《生命中不能承受之轻》以医生托马斯、摄影爱好者特丽莎、画家萨宾娜、大学教师弗兰茨等人的生活为线索，通过他们之间的感情纠葛，散文化地展现了苏军入侵后，捷克各阶层人民的生活和情绪，富于哲理地探讨了人类天性中的“媚俗”本质，从而具备了从一个民族走向全人类的深广内涵。
米兰·昆德拉在这部小说中，围绕几个人物的不同经历，经他们对生命的选择将小说引入哲学层面，对诸如回归、媚俗、遗忘、时间偶然性与必然性等多个范畴进行了思考。这是一部哲理小说，与传统的小说不同，它不再通过故事情境本身吸引读者，而是用将读者引入哲理的思考之中，通过生活中具体的事件引起读者形而上的深层思考。米兰·昆德拉正是由于能够将小说艺术与现代西方哲学结合起来，故而成为当今世界文坛上最为引人注目的作家。
米兰·昆德拉的思想带有强烈的存在主义的倾向，因此，在《生命中不能承受之轻》中，作者对人生的命运与价值的关注是该书主题。生命的存在与价值的问题是任何一个人也无法逃避的问题，生命只是一个过程而已。在米兰·昆德拉看来，人生是一种痛苦，这种痛苦来自于我们对生活目标的错误选择，对生命价值的错误判断，世人都在为自己的目的而孜孜追求，殊不知，目标本身就是一种空虚。生命因“追求”而变得庸俗，人类成了被“追求”所役使的奴隶，在“追求”的名义下，我们不论是放浪形骸，还是循规蹈矩，最终只是无休止地重复前人。因此，人类的历史最终将只剩下两个字———“媚俗”。
媚俗一词源于德语的 Kitsch，被米兰·昆德拉在多次演讲中引用。昆德拉认为，媚俗是以做作的态度取悦大众的行为，这种行为侵蚀人类最初美好的心灵，是一种文明病。他甚至指出艺术中的现代主义在眼下几乎也变成了一种新的时髦，新的Kitsch，失掉了最开始那种解放个性的初衷。媚俗不仅是我们的敌人也是我们自己。在《生命中不能承受之轻》中，昆德拉借萨宾娜的思索表达了他的看法，只要有公众存在，只要留心公众存在，而不是按自己的意愿行事，就免不了媚俗。不管我们承认与否，媚俗是人类境况的一个组成部分，很少有人能脱俗。媚俗不仅仅是某些人或某些国家的问题，而是整个人类的问题。由于媚俗，人们往往会用意志代替个人追求，由于媚俗，人们往往会扭曲自我的价值判断以迎合整体的价值取向。当整个价值判断体系完全失重，美与丑、善与恶、好与坏无从判别，甚至形成一体时，生命在外界和内心的沉重抗击之下也就变得无所适从，变成了不能承受之轻。
《生命中不能承受之轻》-妙语佳句
人从来就想重写自己的传记，改变过去，抹去痕迹，抹去自己的，也抹去别人的，想遗忘远不是那么简单。
Synopsis
The Unbearable Lightness of Being takes place in Prague in 1968. It explores the artistic and intellectual life of Czech society during the Communist period, from the Prague Spring to the Soviet Union’s August 1968 invasion and its aftermath. The characters are Tomáš, a successful surgeon; his wife Tereza, a photographer anguished by her husband's infidelities; Tomáš’s lover Sabina, a free-spirited artist; and the secondary characters Franz, the Swiss university professor and lover of Sabina; and Simon, Tomáš’s estranged son from an earlier marriage.
Challenging Friedrich Nietzsche’s concept of eternal recurrence (the universe and its events have already occurred and will recur ad infinitum), the story’s thematic meditations posit the alternative that each person has only one life to live, and that which occurs in that life, occurs only once and shall never occur again — thus the “lightness” of being; whereas eternal recurrence imposes a “heaviness” on our lives and on the decisions we make (it gives them weight, to borrow from Nietzsche's metaphor), a heaviness that Nietzsche thought could be either a tremendous burden or great benefit depending on one's perspective.
The German expression Einmal ist keinmal encapsulates “lightness” so: “what happens but once, might as well not have happened at all. If we have only one life to live, we might as well not have lived at all”; if concluded logically, life ultimately is insignificant. Hence, because decisions do not matter, they are rendered light, because they do not cause personal suffering. Yet, simultaneously, the insignificance of decisions — our being — causes us great suffering, perceived as the unbearable lightness of being consequent to one’s awareness of life occurring once and never again; thus no one person’s actions are universally significant. This insignificance is existentially unbearable when it is considered that people want their lives to have transcendent meaning. As literary art, The Unbearable Lightness of Being is considered a modernist humanist novel and a post-modern novel of high narrative craft.[citation needed]
Publication
The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1984) was not published in the original Czech until 1985, as Czech: Nesnesitelná lehkost bytí, by the exile publishing house 68 Publishers (Toronto, Canada). The second Czech edition was published in October 2006, in Brno (Czech Republic), some eighteen years after the Velvet Revolution, because Kundera did not approve it earlier. The first English translation by Michael Henry Heim was published in hardback in 1984 by Harper & Row in the US and Faber and Faber in the UK and in paperback in 1985. The US paperback was reprinted in New York City by Perennial in 1999 with ISBN 0-06-093213-9.
Characters
* Tomáš - The story's protagonist: a Czech surgeon and intellectual. Tomáš is a light-hearted womanizer who lives for his work. He considers sex and love to be distinct entities: he copulates with many women but loves only his wife, Tereza. He sees no contradiction between these two activities. He explains womanizing as an imperative to explore the idiosyncrasies of people (women, in this case) only expressed during sex. At first he views his wife as a burden he is obligated to take care of, but this changes when he abandons his twin obsessions of work and womanizing and moves to the country with Tereza. There, he communicates with his son after having to deal with the consequences of a letter to the editor in which he likens the Czech Communists to Oedipus (although this was unintentional). Later, his son Simon tells Sabina that Tomáš and Tereza died in a car crash. His epitaph is He wanted the Kingdom of God on Earth.
* Tereza - Young wife of Tomáš. A gentle, intellectual photographer, she delves into dangerous and dissident photojournalism during the Soviet occupation of Prague. Tereza does not condemn Tomáš for his infidelities, instead characterising herself as weaker than he is. She is mostly defined by the division she places between soul and body due to her mother's flagrant embrace of all the body's grotesque functions which has led Tereza to view her body as disgusting and shameful. Throughout the book she expresses a fear of simply being another body in Tomáš's array of women. Once Tomáš and Tereza move to the countryside she devotes herself to taking care of cattle and reading. During this time she becomes fond of animals, reaching the conclusion that they were the last link to the paradise abandoned by Adam and Eve, and becomes alienated from other humans.
* Sabina - Tomáš's favorite mistress and closest friend. Sabina lives her life as an extreme example of lightness, finding profound satisfaction in the act of betrayal. She declares war on kitsch and struggles against the constraints imposed by her puritan ancestry and the communist party. This struggle is shown through her paintings. She occasionally expresses excitement at humiliation, shown through the use of her grandfather's bowler hat, a symbol that is born during one sexual encounter between her and Tomáš, before it eventually changes meaning and becomes a relic of the past. Later in the novel she begins to correspond with Simon while living under the roof of some older Americans who admire her artistic skill. She expresses her desire to be cremated and thrown to the winds after death - the last symbol of eternal lightness.
* Franz - Sabina's lover and a Geneva professor and idealist. Franz falls in love with Sabina whom he (erroneously) considers a liberal and romantically tragic Czech dissident. Sabina considers both of those identities kitsch. He is a kind and compassionate man. As one of the dreamers of the novel, he bases his actions on loyalty to the memories of his mother and of Sabina. His life revolves completely around books and academia eventually to the extent that he seeks lightness and ecstasy by participating in marches and protests, the last of which is a march in Thailand to the Cambodian border. While in Bangkok, after the march he is mortally wounded during a mugging. Ironically, he always sought to escape the kitsch of his wife, Marie-Claude, but dies in her presence allowing Marie-Claude to claim he always loved her. The inscription on his grave was: "A return after long wanderings."
* Karenin - The dog of Tomáš and Tereza. Although physically a female, the name given always alludes to masculinity, and is a reference to the husband of Anna in Anna Karenina. Karenin lives his life according to routine and displays extreme dislike of change. Once the married couple moves to the country, Karenin becomes more content than ever as he is able to enjoy more the attention of his owners. He also quickly befriends a pig named Mefisto. During this time Tomáš discovers that Karenin has cancer and even after removing a tumor it is clear that Karenin is going to die. On his deathbed he unites Tereza and Tomáš through his "smile" at their attempts to improve his health. When he dies, Tereza expresses a wish to place an inscription over his grave: "Here lies Karenin. He gave birth to two rolls and a bee" in reference to a dream she had shortly before his death.
Film
Main article: The Unbearable Lightness of Being (film)
In 1988, an American-made film adaptation of the novel was released starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Lena Olin, and Juliette Binoche.
《生命中不能承受之轻》-名书简介
作者：（捷克）米兰·昆德拉
类型：小说
成书时间：1984年
《生命中不能承受之轻》-背景搜索
《生命中不能承受之轻》米兰·昆德拉
米兰·昆德拉，1929年生于捷克布尔诺市。父亲为钢琴家、音乐艺术学院的教授，受家庭熏陶，童年时代便学作曲；少年时开始广泛阅读世界名著；青年时从事写作、画画、音乐、电影。三十岁左右发表第一篇短篇小说，决定走文学创作之路。
1967年，他的第一部长篇小说《玩笑》在捷克出版，获得巨大成功，奠定了他在文坛上的地位。1968年，苏联入侵捷克后，《玩笑》不但被列为禁书而且昆德拉的工作也失去了。1975年与家人离开捷克，来到法国。
移居法国后，昆德拉迅速走红，成为法国读者最喜爱的外国作家之一。他的绝大多数作品，如《笑忘录》、《生命中不能承受之轻》、《不朽》等都是首先在法国走红，然后才引起世界文坛的瞩目。他曾多次获得国际文学奖，并多次被提名为诺贝尔文学奖的候选人。
《生命中不能承受之轻》-内容精要
捷克首都布拉格的一位外科医生托马斯是个固执地拒绝“媚俗”的人，他背叛父母的意愿离了婚，有着众多的情人，其中最为亲密的情人是画家萨宾娜。有一次他到郊外的一个小镇上出诊，认识了那里的女招待特丽莎。朴素而美丽的特丽莎让托马斯一见钟情，而特丽莎对风度翩翩的托马斯也颇有好感。
不久特丽莎到城里找托马斯，他们同居在一起。在萨宾娜的帮助下，爱好摄影的特丽莎在某杂志社谋到一份工作。托马斯虽然爱特丽莎，但是却不愿做家庭责任的附庸，更不愿像别人那样甘于平淡地生活，仍然与别的女人胡混。特丽莎虽然出身下层，但她内心渴望高尚的精神生活。特丽莎深爱着托马斯却不能接受他这种生活方式，然而又不能左右他，只有痛苦地与他维护着一个家庭的外壳。
1968年8月，前苏联领导人所指挥的坦克，在 “主权有限论”等等旗号下，以突然袭击的方式，一夜之间攻占了布拉格，扣押了捷克党政领导人。 “布拉格之春”强烈地震动了这个家庭，特丽莎立刻找到了自己的意义，她热心地充当着一个爱国记者的角色，拍下了大量苏军入侵的照片。与特丽莎不同，不愿媚俗的托马斯虽然憎恨入侵者，同情反抗者，却不愿用行动支持他们，不愿为他们签名，也不愿签名帮助政府，托马斯认为，为谁签名都是一种媚俗行为，他不愿替别人充当制造声势的工具。
后来，托马斯和特丽莎为了逃避当局的迫害去了中立国瑞士。令特丽莎没有想到的是萨宾娜也流亡到此，且与托马斯重修旧好。特丽莎无法继续忍受下去，愤然返回了布拉格。在离开特丽莎最初的几天，托马斯确实感到了自由，但很快这种轻飘飘的失落感又让他难以忍受，于是他也重回布拉格寻找特丽莎。在布拉格，托马斯因一篇文章得罪有关当局，并拒绝在收回自己文章的声明上签字而受到迫害。最后托马斯与特丽莎二人移居乡下，不幸在一次车祸中双双意外身亡。
和托马斯一样，萨宾娜也是一个坚决的反“媚俗”者，不过她却从人们的“媚俗”中得到了好处。在瑞士，人们由于同情她的祖国而愿意掏钱买她的画，这让她发了一大笔财。在一次宴会上，萨宾娜和瑞士的一名大学教师弗兰茨相恋。弗兰茨是一个相貌英俊的男士，事业有成，所有这些成功以后的感觉让他觉得“轻”。他渴望反抗，渴望激情，于是他加入了声援捷克人民的游行示威大军。后来在越南入侵柬埔寨期间加入赴柬医疗队，但他这种堂吉诃德式的行动并没有产生任何实际成果，后来受到歹徒的袭击而丧生。
《生命中不能承受之轻》-专家点评
米兰·昆德拉说过，生长于一个小国在他看来实在是一种优势，因为身处小国，要么做一个可怜的、眼光狭窄的人，要么成为一个广闻博识的世界性的人。昆德拉就是一个世界性的人，他说：“如果一个作家写的东西只能令本国的人了解，则他不但对不起世界上所有的人，更对不起他的同胞，因为他的同胞读了他的作品，只能变得目光短浅。”《生命中不能承受之轻》以医生托马斯、摄影爱好者特丽莎、画家萨宾娜、大学教师弗兰茨等人的生活为线索，通过他们之间的感情纠葛，散文化地展现了苏军入侵后，捷克各阶层人民的生活和情绪，富于哲理地探讨了人类天性中的“媚俗”本质，从而具备了从一个民族走向全人类的深广内涵。
米兰·昆德拉在这部小说中，围绕几个人物的不同经历，经他们对生命的选择将小说引入哲学层面，对诸如回归、媚俗、遗忘、时间偶然性与必然性等多个范畴进行了思考。这是一部哲理小说，与传统的小说不同，它不再通过故事情境本身吸引读者，而是用将读者引入哲理的思考之中，通过生活中具体的事件引起读者形而上的深层思考。米兰·昆德拉正是由于能够将小说艺术与现代西方哲学结合起来，故而成为当今世界文坛上最为引人注目的作家。
米兰·昆德拉的思想带有强烈的存在主义的倾向，因此，在《生命中不能承受之轻》中，作者对人生的命运与价值的关注是该书主题。生命的存在与价值的问题是任何一个人也无法逃避的问题，生命只是一个过程而已。在米兰·昆德拉看来，人生是一种痛苦，这种痛苦来自于我们对生活目标的错误选择，对生命价值的错误判断，世人都在为自己的目的而孜孜追求，殊不知，目标本身就是一种空虚。生命因“追求”而变得庸俗，人类成了被“追求”所役使的奴隶，在“追求”的名义下，我们不论是放浪形骸，还是循规蹈矩，最终只是无休止地重复前人。因此，人类的历史最终将只剩下两个字———“媚俗”。
媚俗一词源于德语的 Kitsch，被米兰·昆德拉在多次演讲中引用。昆德拉认为，媚俗是以做作的态度取悦大众的行为，这种行为侵蚀人类最初美好的心灵，是一种文明病。他甚至指出艺术中的现代主义在眼下几乎也变成了一种新的时髦，新的Kitsch，失掉了最开始那种解放个性的初衷。媚俗不仅是我们的敌人也是我们自己。在《生命中不能承受之轻》中，昆德拉借萨宾娜的思索表达了他的看法，只要有公众存在，只要留心公众存在，而不是按自己的意愿行事，就免不了媚俗。不管我们承认与否，媚俗是人类境况的一个组成部分，很少有人能脱俗。媚俗不仅仅是某些人或某些国家的问题，而是整个人类的问题。由于媚俗，人们往往会用意志代替个人追求，由于媚俗，人们往往会扭曲自我的价值判断以迎合整体的价值取向。当整个价值判断体系完全失重，美与丑、善与恶、好与坏无从判别，甚至形成一体时，生命在外界和内心的沉重抗击之下也就变得无所适从，变成了不能承受之轻。
《生命中不能承受之轻》-妙语佳句
人从来就想重写自己的传记，改变过去，抹去痕迹，抹去自己的，也抹去别人的，想遗忘远不是那么简单。
Synopsis
The Unbearable Lightness of Being takes place in Prague in 1968. It explores the artistic and intellectual life of Czech society during the Communist period, from the Prague Spring to the Soviet Union’s August 1968 invasion and its aftermath. The characters are Tomáš, a successful surgeon; his wife Tereza, a photographer anguished by her husband's infidelities; Tomáš’s lover Sabina, a free-spirited artist; and the secondary characters Franz, the Swiss university professor and lover of Sabina; and Simon, Tomáš’s estranged son from an earlier marriage.
Challenging Friedrich Nietzsche’s concept of eternal recurrence (the universe and its events have already occurred and will recur ad infinitum), the story’s thematic meditations posit the alternative that each person has only one life to live, and that which occurs in that life, occurs only once and shall never occur again — thus the “lightness” of being; whereas eternal recurrence imposes a “heaviness” on our lives and on the decisions we make (it gives them weight, to borrow from Nietzsche's metaphor), a heaviness that Nietzsche thought could be either a tremendous burden or great benefit depending on one's perspective.
The German expression Einmal ist keinmal encapsulates “lightness” so: “what happens but once, might as well not have happened at all. If we have only one life to live, we might as well not have lived at all”; if concluded logically, life ultimately is insignificant. Hence, because decisions do not matter, they are rendered light, because they do not cause personal suffering. Yet, simultaneously, the insignificance of decisions — our being — causes us great suffering, perceived as the unbearable lightness of being consequent to one’s awareness of life occurring once and never again; thus no one person’s actions are universally significant. This insignificance is existentially unbearable when it is considered that people want their lives to have transcendent meaning. As literary art, The Unbearable Lightness of Being is considered a modernist humanist novel and a post-modern novel of high narrative craft.[citation needed]
Publication
The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1984) was not published in the original Czech until 1985, as Czech: Nesnesitelná lehkost bytí, by the exile publishing house 68 Publishers (Toronto, Canada). The second Czech edition was published in October 2006, in Brno (Czech Republic), some eighteen years after the Velvet Revolution, because Kundera did not approve it earlier. The first English translation by Michael Henry Heim was published in hardback in 1984 by Harper & Row in the US and Faber and Faber in the UK and in paperback in 1985. The US paperback was reprinted in New York City by Perennial in 1999 with ISBN 0-06-093213-9.
Characters
* Tomáš - The story's protagonist: a Czech surgeon and intellectual. Tomáš is a light-hearted womanizer who lives for his work. He considers sex and love to be distinct entities: he copulates with many women but loves only his wife, Tereza. He sees no contradiction between these two activities. He explains womanizing as an imperative to explore the idiosyncrasies of people (women, in this case) only expressed during sex. At first he views his wife as a burden he is obligated to take care of, but this changes when he abandons his twin obsessions of work and womanizing and moves to the country with Tereza. There, he communicates with his son after having to deal with the consequences of a letter to the editor in which he likens the Czech Communists to Oedipus (although this was unintentional). Later, his son Simon tells Sabina that Tomáš and Tereza died in a car crash. His epitaph is He wanted the Kingdom of God on Earth.
* Tereza - Young wife of Tomáš. A gentle, intellectual photographer, she delves into dangerous and dissident photojournalism during the Soviet occupation of Prague. Tereza does not condemn Tomáš for his infidelities, instead characterising herself as weaker than he is. She is mostly defined by the division she places between soul and body due to her mother's flagrant embrace of all the body's grotesque functions which has led Tereza to view her body as disgusting and shameful. Throughout the book she expresses a fear of simply being another body in Tomáš's array of women. Once Tomáš and Tereza move to the countryside she devotes herself to taking care of cattle and reading. During this time she becomes fond of animals, reaching the conclusion that they were the last link to the paradise abandoned by Adam and Eve, and becomes alienated from other humans.
* Sabina - Tomáš's favorite mistress and closest friend. Sabina lives her life as an extreme example of lightness, finding profound satisfaction in the act of betrayal. She declares war on kitsch and struggles against the constraints imposed by her puritan ancestry and the communist party. This struggle is shown through her paintings. She occasionally expresses excitement at humiliation, shown through the use of her grandfather's bowler hat, a symbol that is born during one sexual encounter between her and Tomáš, before it eventually changes meaning and becomes a relic of the past. Later in the novel she begins to correspond with Simon while living under the roof of some older Americans who admire her artistic skill. She expresses her desire to be cremated and thrown to the winds after death - the last symbol of eternal lightness.
* Franz - Sabina's lover and a Geneva professor and idealist. Franz falls in love with Sabina whom he (erroneously) considers a liberal and romantically tragic Czech dissident. Sabina considers both of those identities kitsch. He is a kind and compassionate man. As one of the dreamers of the novel, he bases his actions on loyalty to the memories of his mother and of Sabina. His life revolves completely around books and academia eventually to the extent that he seeks lightness and ecstasy by participating in marches and protests, the last of which is a march in Thailand to the Cambodian border. While in Bangkok, after the march he is mortally wounded during a mugging. Ironically, he always sought to escape the kitsch of his wife, Marie-Claude, but dies in her presence allowing Marie-Claude to claim he always loved her. The inscription on his grave was: "A return after long wanderings."
* Karenin - The dog of Tomáš and Tereza. Although physically a female, the name given always alludes to masculinity, and is a reference to the husband of Anna in Anna Karenina. Karenin lives his life according to routine and displays extreme dislike of change. Once the married couple moves to the country, Karenin becomes more content than ever as he is able to enjoy more the attention of his owners. He also quickly befriends a pig named Mefisto. During this time Tomáš discovers that Karenin has cancer and even after removing a tumor it is clear that Karenin is going to die. On his deathbed he unites Tereza and Tomáš through his "smile" at their attempts to improve his health. When he dies, Tereza expresses a wish to place an inscription over his grave: "Here lies Karenin. He gave birth to two rolls and a bee" in reference to a dream she had shortly before his death.
Film
Main article: The Unbearable Lightness of Being (film)
In 1988, an American-made film adaptation of the novel was released starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Lena Olin, and Juliette Binoche.