S01 E03: The Metamorphosis

<p>We realise that Kafka's transformation tale may not be familiar to everyone. It definitely wasn't to us. So here's a very brief synopsis: in an unspecified town at an unspecified time, Gregor Samsa awakes on page one to find himself transformed into a 'monstrous vermin'. The remaining 70-odd pages of the novel jump between horror and humor, as Gregor becomes increasingly outcast from his family and struggles to come to terms with his new verminous existence. It would nice to say we picked this relatively intellectual texts because it's the 'greatest short story of the 21st Century'* or some other vaguely highbrow reason. But in truth, Oli probably nailed it when he said 'I sort of quite like the idea of Josh being kept up at night worrying about what the beetle meant.' So as the guys get stuck in this week, they're in a pensive mood. The show kicks off with a series of riddles, before Oli tears into biographical reading and we all try and work out what the hell this big bug is all about. On the way, there's A Bug's Life and some earnest discussion about whether a hippo can wrap a present, before Josh meets David Attenborough and discovers a newfound love of the Novella.</p> <p> </p> <p>*Citation needed (/not written down at the time)</p>