wrul (pre‐2023) reviewed The Cockroach by Ian McEwan
tapers to tepidity
2 stars
Fun at first, but steadily soured by sexist tropes and the gradual falling away of creativity and cleverness in general.
Paperback, 112 pages
English language
Published Sept. 27, 2019 by Jonathan Cape.
Jim Sams has undergone a metamorphosis. In his previous life he was ignored or loathed, but in his new incarnation he is the most powerful man in Britain – and it is his mission to carry out the will of the people. Nothing must get in his way: not the opposition, nor the dissenters within his own party. Not even the rules of parliamentary democracy.
With trademark intelligence, insight and scabrous humour, Ian McEwan pays tribute to Franz Kafka’s most famous work to engage with a world turned on its head.
Fun at first, but steadily soured by sexist tropes and the gradual falling away of creativity and cleverness in general.