Franz Kafka
Susan Bernofsky · 2014
Susan Bernofsky's 2014 translation is the one I'd start with — fluid, contemporary, and careful with Kafka's precise, deadpan German (she renders the creature as 'some sort of monstrous insect,' keeping the ambiguity Kafka intended). This is where I'd start.
Stanley Corngold · 1972
Stanley Corngold's translation — 'a monstrous vermin' — is the scholar's standard, prized for fidelity to Kafka's cadence, and his Norton/Bantam editions are rich in commentary. The one for study, and very cheap.
Michael Hofmann · 2007
Michael Hofmann's Penguin translation is the most aggressive and unsettling — he goes as far as 'a monstrous cockroach,' which some find too interpretive, since Kafka deliberately never names the creature. Vivid; not the most neutral.
David Wyllie · 2002
David Wyllie's translation is free to read via Project Gutenberg and Standard Ebooks. A serviceable no-cost option, though the modern print translations above are sharper. Free.
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