The Metamorphosis

I just finished re-reading The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka for the first time after kids, and man, what a gut punch of a book.

The thing I found most singular about it is how viscerally it portrays the anxieties and fears of being an adult, specifically being responsible for your family as an adult.

My wife and I both have full time jobs. They are cushy, tech jobs, but full time jobs that we rely on to provide for our family. The idea of being so sick that it prevents me from being there for the family is modern horror. Compound that with the anxiety that you are blamed - maligned - for your illness? It reaches to a real part of my psyche - I'm pretty sure I would blame myself for something like that too.

Anyway, great book. Highly recommend.