Benedict Cumberbatch to voice Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis

'One morning, as Gregor Samsa was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that in his bed he had been changed into a monstrous bug.'

Christopher Hooton
Wednesday 13 May 2015 04:07 EDT
Comments
(Getty)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Fans of 20th century German literature and Benedict Cumberbatch's sonorous tones will be delighted to hear that actor is to read aloud Franz Kafka's seminal Metamorphosis in its entirety.

His narration will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra today (11 May), but you can catch it on iPlayer thereafter.

The Metamorphosis, translated from Kafka's original Die Verwandlung, is one of the 20th centuries most treasured works of fiction, telling the story of travelling salesman Gregor Samsa, who wakes one day to find himself transformed into a large insect.

More and more actors have been offering up their services for narrations, with Stephen Fry famously narrating the Harry Potter series and Bryan Cranston more recently voicing the children's audiobook Go The F*** To Sleep.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in