Matt McAvoy Book Review

Although a novella, this is by no means coffee-table easy reading; if you want something quick and light-hearted, I’m not sure this will be it.  What it is, rather, is a purely metaphorical reimagining of Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, a rather bizarre tale in which a man inexplicably turns into a giant bug.  In this take, Moroccan Arab student of Humanities wakes to find himself into a rather more grotesque monster altogether than Kafka’s unfortunate principal.  Thus follows the shame of his family, and the consequences they face from the wrath and disgust of society.  Whilst it is somewhat tricky to discern the moral premise of this tale – if indeed there is one – there is a lot of soul searching about the family history, and I believe some suggestion that our hero has become the unfortunate scapegoat.

The novella reimagines the classic tale for an entirely different culture, and it is a very eye-opening one for those unfamiliar with the Arab Muslim way of life.  The social expectations and summary ostracization of the family members is pretty much a similar cautionary tale the world over, but it is interesting to see such a tale being transferred into a society many of us would otherwise be unfamiliar with.  The tale itself is a little odd, and doesn’t really go in any particular direction with its narrative; rather, it is pretty clearly literary, as is its original inspiration.  The author is very good, certainly extremely learned and his book has been translated almost to perfection from Arabic; nothing is lost in translation, and we as readers of English, I believe, get to fully experience the quality of Mohammed Said Hijouij’s writing ability.  Perhaps the objective is not totally realized in this unashamedly pure literary fiction, which does raise more questions about the premise than it answers, but I don’t think that the author will be too displeased about that, for the very purpose of literary fiction is to provoke thought, or at the very least engage the reader on an intellectual level.  If you like ambiguous literary works which leave you deciphering their premise, or would like to dip your toe into the genre without having to invest days of your life scratching your head, indulging a Dostoevsky-esque literary odyssey, then this might be an ideal book for you to try.  Though expect to have a few questions at the end of it.