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A review by sookieskipper
Nineveh by Henrietta Rose-Innes
3.0
There is so much stuffed in this little book and it becomes so dense, so cluttered and clumsy that trudging through it all becomes a chore. Still, Innes gives us a brilliant little story about a dysfunctional family, a perpetually irritated woman and bunch of allegories.
The MC here has a pest control agency. Her deal is that she relocates her pests and at the start of the book she is called to investigate an infestation at a gated community. It is at this moment the allegory to Kafka's metamorphosis become absolutely clear but Innes goes far deeper than that. It isn't just that. We are also here for these little creatures finding their own footing in the grand scheme of things. We are here for modern South African socio-environmental impacts and development that has displaced many animals and, well, insects.
I do wish there were moments that paused a little bit more and reduce the pages where nothing much happened. For a short book, this is tedious. Also, for a short book, it took me longest to read.
The MC here has a pest control agency. Her deal is that she relocates her pests and at the start of the book she is called to investigate an infestation at a gated community. It is at this moment the allegory to Kafka's metamorphosis become absolutely clear but Innes goes far deeper than that. It isn't just that. We are also here for these little creatures finding their own footing in the grand scheme of things. We are here for modern South African socio-environmental impacts and development that has displaced many animals and, well, insects.
I do wish there were moments that paused a little bit more and reduce the pages where nothing much happened. For a short book, this is tedious. Also, for a short book, it took me longest to read.