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Doskoi Panda (USA: NY) (2011/05/20):
Unlike their earlier offerings, Quirk's latest tackles a novella which already included an element of horror - the salesman, Gregor Samsa awakening to find himself an insect - with the intention turning the tables by replacing insect with kitten. While this starts well, it just doesn't carry through as easily as the notion of zombies roaming the 18th century English countryside, and it feels more like an attack on Kafka's work than an imaginative retelling. Cook also breaks from the orginal novella by including at least one other work - "The Trial" - which serves to further berate and belittle Gregor Samsa the kitten.I tried to like this, and actually was looking forward to reading it after having flipped through and seeing the illustrations (which are funny. Or at least fun). Sadly, between the feeling of Kafka bashing, the peculiarities of dropping in "kitten" for "insect", and the general lack of mirth to be found in the orginal text (that's all Kafka's doing. I agree with Cook; he was a joyless man and that comes across in his writings), this was nowhere near as enjoyable as the Austen mashups. Sent to me by the publisher, as part of the LibraryThing Early Reviewers
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