'The Metamorphosis'

Franz Kafka

The first line of this novella, published in 1915, says it all: "One morning, as Gregor Samsa was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that in bed he had been changed into a monstrous verminous bug." He's oddly unconcerned as he checks the messy room and the weather, and laments his traveling salesman job, but he has a tough time getting out of bed and soon realizes he can no longer speak. Initially his family cares for him, but gradually he's seen as a burden his relatives are eager to squash. This is a nightmarish, comedic masterpiece from the consummate pessimist of the twentieth century.