Elena Rehberg's Blog

Metamorphosis Translation By: Elena Rehberg The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka was originally published in German but when it was translated to English, it still contained themes of the absurdity of existence, although not to the degree of hopelessness. It's important to recognize the impact of translation, as it can alter the author's original intention or make it lack cohesiveness.  Kafka's first line of  Metamorphosis  sets the tone for the remainder of the text, and the English translation provides a simplistic introduction. What Can Be Lost in Translation? Translation #1: " Gregory Samsa woke from uneasy dreams one morning to find himself changed into a giant bug." The first translation is a moderate length and contains words that are easy to understand, perhaps alluding that this book is about a common man, or an average person. The imagery provided in this line is worrisome as "uneasy dreams" hold neg...

Don't Judge a Book by its Cover (or do) Elena Rehberg Figure Two Figure One Aside from the Golden Rule of "Treat others how you want to be treated", my parents always stressed the importance of "Never judging a book by its cover". I would preface this by apologizing to my parents, but the lesson they were teaching me was metaphorical, and the following is strictly literal. The four book covers (Figures 1-4) were all designed for the novel Never Let Me Go  (2005) by Kazuo Ishiguro.  Figure One is the first cover of Never Let Me Go  for "judging". In this, the cover contains the least variety of color as opposed to Figures 2-4. The picture illustrated is a simple drawing of the human digestive and respiratory system, and the text is scattered and  Figure Three Figure Four  distorted. This book cover is certainly the darkest, which represents a common dichotomy in the novel of Alienation vs. Creation. Since the main characters a...