NO RISK PURCHASE! See Below...
METAMORPHOSIS ~ THE CASTLE ~ AMERIKA
THREE CLASSICS by FRANZ KAFKA
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Up for grabs is a special buy on 3 of Kafka's most famous tomes, all produced by The Folio Society. ALL three are ILLUSTRATED by BILL BRAGG and translated by Michael Hofmann.
METAMORPHOSIS and OTHER STORIESNo author produces a more claustrophobic, unsettling and exhilarating literary effect than Franz Kafka. In ‘Metamorphosis’, one of the most memorable short stories ever written, he treads an extraordinary tightrope between the surreal and the prosaic. When the young salesman Gregor Samsa awakes to find himself transformed into a giant cockroach, his first confused thoughts are that he will be late for work: ‘The next train left at seven; to catch it meant hurrying like a madman, and his samples weren’t yet packed, and he himself didn’t feel exactly agile or vigorous.’ The hapless Gregor was previously his family’s financial support: will they still love him in his monstrous new form? 
The scenario of ‘Metamorphosis’ is nightmarish, yet it is filled with unexpected humour and pathos: a powerful examination of family, love, isolation and identity.
The other stories are equally disturbing and arresting, filled with breathtaking twists and reversals. In ‘The Judgement’ – written in a single night of feverish inspiration – a successful young man, Georg, writes to a friend living abroad who seems to have lost his way in life. But does this friend really exist, and why does Georg’s father react so violently to the mention of him? Shorter vignettes – ‘The Plight of the Bachelor’; ‘The Businessman’; ‘The Rejection’ – are beautifully observed semi-autobiographical sketches. In contrast ‘The Hunger Artist’ and ‘In the Penal Colony’ are gripping dystopian fables. Like Kafka’s later novels, they are uncanny harbingers of the totalitarian horrors of the 20th century.
Born in Prague of Jewish parents, Kafka worked in an insurance company for most of his life. Before his early death from tuberculosis, he asked his friend Max Brod to destroy his unpublished works. Brod could not bring himself to do so, and as a result, Kafka’s works are among the most celebrated of all time. Introducer Will Self describes the ‘paradoxical thrill’ of reading Kafka: ‘the simultaneous exaltation of freedom, and its shouting-down by terrifying constraint’..42 stories in all,
248 pages - 8 Color Illustrations.
THE CASTLE
Unsettling, thought-provoking, yet with frequent flashes of humour, Kafka's novels have left an indelible mark on modern literature. More below...
The Castle, Kafka's final novel, is about a man who is caught between two types of society, both equally alienating. The protagonist K., a land surveyor, has been summoned to a castle, located in a snowy nowhere-land. Yet the castle is closed to him and there is no record of him being summoned – his entire presence there, it seems, is due to a bureaucratic error. The count who sent the summons is never seen; the castle is filled with clerks filing documents, issuing diktats and seducing the women of the village. K. seems doomed to remain an outsider in the village and yet is excluded from the castle.
In his introduction to this edition, John Sutherland observes that Kafka was the first, and greatest, writer to dramatise the shift in European society from feudal, familial ‘community’ (the village) to rational ‘bureaucracy’ (the castle).
This Folio Society edition is based on the original manuscript and hailed by J.M. Coetzee as 'the translation of preference for some time to come.' 336 pages
AMERIKA
‘He took his hand away from his chin, and waved it feebly, as though to indicate at one and the same time the remoteness of Europe and the insignificance of whatever plans might have been made there.’
Amerika was the first of Kafka’s novels, but the last to be published. A picaresque and idiosyncratic romp, it follows the adventures of Karl Rossmann, sent away from home after getting a maid pregnant, as he leaves Europe and travels across America. Kafka himself never visited America, and the novel contains many charming idiosyncrasies: San Francisco is situated on the east coast, and a bridge connects New York with Boston,
Part social satire, part coming-of-age novel, Amerika is lighter in tone than the rest of Kafka’s fiction, and owes a debt to a writer he hugely admired: Charles Dickens. In his introduction, James Lasdun provides a fascinating exploration of two writers who shared ‘an instinctive sympathy with the downtrodden;an abiding interest in the effect of large, impersonal forces on small, vulnerable human beings’. Their differences however, he says, are equally revealing: ‘In Dickens, the source of cruelty is largely social and therefore amenable to correction. In Kafka, it is intrinsic to human existence.’ 272 pages
Each book can be purchases separately on my site for roughly $50 each if you don't want all three. As a special offer, all three can be purchased, brand new for much less right here. Each book is the same size and measures roughly 9" × 6 ¼" A physical description follows...
Founded in 1947, The Folio Society applies the highest standards of design, binding, typography and illustration to commercially-produced books. Nearly sixty years on, they publish books that will stand the test of time, in handsome, imaginatively designed and beautifully made editions - a combination of quality and value that few publishers can match.
Care and attention is devoted to every detail of the physical attributes of each book. Exacting standards require that every one has a proper sewn binding and comes in a protective slipcase. A wide range of binding materials are employed, from buckram, silk, leather and hand-marbled papers to traditional woven cloth. We choose from a selection of legible and elegant typefaces, seeking to preserve their character through a combination of modern and traditional printing techniques.
- DESIGN - Above all, the feature that distinguishes folio books from most others produced today is the rich variety and sophistication of the binding designs. A wide range of traditional materials - such as buckram, cotton, silk or leather - is employed for the bindings. These costly fabrics are the foundation upon which the artists and designers produce their creations. Sometimes their designs are printed in ink, but more often they are blocked - that is to say, impressed with foil into the surface of the material; frequently the two processes are employed together.
- BINDING - All books are sewn in 16-page sections: this gives strength to the book and enables the pages to be opened flat with ease. There are decorative head- and tailbands; also gilded or coloured top edges where we feel they are appropriate. The endpapers, in a wide array of colours, are often printed with maps, illustrations or other designs. Most important of all, the books are hardback-bound to the highest standard, so that they not only look well on the shelves but are always a pleasure to open and read.
- PAPER & TYPOGRAPHY - In the typography of Folio books the traditional virtues of legibility and elegance are paramount. The selection of paper for a particular book will involve deciding on a shade and character which harmonises with the illustrations and binding materials. The papers for Folio Society books are produced by a small number of European mills, chosen for their ability to produce the highest quality papers with absolute consistency. Books printed on inferior stocks will go brown and brittle within a few years; all Folio books are printed on wood-free and acid-free paper, designed for reading and rereading over many generations.
- THE SLIPCASE - A distinctive feature of Folio Society books which immediately strikes the eye is their presentation not in dust-jackets but in slipcases - the traditional protective covering for fine editions. The dustjacket evolved in the 20th century as a marketing device designed to catch the eye in a crowded bookshop. It does not, however, protect the book, and is itself easily damaged. With Folio books the design emphasis is on the binding itself, a permanent part of the book. Fine bindings need protection from dust and light, and this is furnished by the slipcase, which matches the binding materials and design of the book.
Folio Society Books are a testament to an uncompromising dedication to the craft of bookmaking, a commitment to striving towards perfection which rises above mere commercial considerations.
If you are looking for a fine investment or phenomenal gift idea, consider this as a prime option..
SPECIAL OFFER: This is one of MANY GIFT EDITIONS I am selling including special editions of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings books. If you buy any combination of 3 (multiple unit sets as this count as ONE), I will ship them all free of postage via media mail, anywhere in the USA!
To see all the gift editions that qualify, CLICK HERE or go to the ADVANCED SEARCH in eBay and copy and paste the word ALANSGIFTEDITIONS into the eBay search box, and then check the SEARCH TITLE AND DESCRIPTIONS box.
For any of the literally hundreds of other items, there are links above and below and if you have any requests, by all means let me know and if I have it, I'll list if for you right away~ (No off-eBay Sales)
About Me & This Item...I am a private collector of art, books, music (10,000 records alone!) and "stuff" and am very picky about what I buy. I don't like surprises when I buy things from auctions any more than you do. I promise everything there is to know about this item is in this description. I also do not subscribe to "grading" as frankly, grading is totally inconsistent and most of the "graders" TRULY have no clue, so I will use plain English if it is OK with you...
*This is a set of 3, brand new and still sealed hardcover books with original slipcase. Bound in full cloth Fabulous! Enjoy
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GUARANTEED DELIVERY OR YOUR MONEY BACK!I really DO CARE about when and how your product gets to you. Because the post office is so incredibly inept, I ONLY SHIP domestic packages INSURED, which is AUTOMATICALLY INCLUDED in the shipping cost, and that is not free as the post office charges for it. If your parcel gets lost OR damaged in freight, your item will be replaced if one is available OR you will be completely refunded!
IMPORTANT MONEY SAVING TIP! 
If you are buying more than one of my items and would like to SAVE MONEY by COMBINING SHIPPING costs, I will be happy to do so, but eBay has now made it more difficult to get discounts by confusing people with "Buy it Now" and "Add to Cart" options on non-auction style pages. If you are buying one item from a seller use the Buy it Now. BUT IF YOU WANT COMBINED or FREE SHIPPING, DO NOT USE THE BUY IT NOW button! Instead, select ADD TO CART. Then use your BACK button on your browser and select the other items you want that qualify using ADD TO CART each time. When you are finished, look for the shopping cart icon at the top right corner of your eBay page and click on it. Find the blue button which reads COMMIT TO BUY & SEND REQUEST. Once done, the items will be held and I will create a single invoice with either combined or free shipping. NOTE: I cannot retroactively go back and combine items that are not purchased in this manner so PLEASE PAY ATTENTION.
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REALLY, REALLY IMPORTANT INFO ABOUT SHIPPING TIMES:Media Mail (once known as 4th class mail) is a special class of postage for books, music, videos and other printed media available within the US and territories. It is far less expensive than Priority Mail, but - it ..... is ........... slooowwwww!!!! Despite USPS claims of 3-9 day delivery times, MEDIA MAIL CAN actually TAKE UP TO 3 WEEKS to arrive, and their tracking info is frequently not updated until it actually arrives, making that feature pretty useless! PLEASE remember this when you leave feedback scores as the choice is yours and not my fault if it takes a long time to get there! If you want it in a week or less, you are going to have to bite the bullet and pay for Priority Mail which will get it there in 2-3 working days, 99% of the time, but it is more expensive. Basically, the choice is yours, but if you choose media mail, please don't write to me in 5 days asking where your package is, because the post office will have it and most of the time, they don't have a clue!
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