Cockroach. Rawi Hage. Norton. 320 pages. $23.95.

Misanthropes rarely make sympathetic protagonists. Like a boomerang, their loathing of humanity inevitably veers around and smacks them in the face. Reading a novel whose main character would probably detest you -- as he detests almost everyone else -- will certainly tempt you to reciprocate in kind.

Yet there is something unaccountably beguiling about the vituperative narrator of Rawi Hage's frustratingly episodic yet frequently gripping Cockroach. Perhaps it's his seething wit; hate has never been so uproarious. Alternatively, it could be his infatuation with a tormented Iranian-Canadian woman named Shohreh, an the expression of an uncharacteristic affinity for tortured souls: ``I only loved those who suffer.''

Or maybe it's just his tendency to visualize a human-sized talking albino cockroach in his decrepit apartment. Of course, the cockroach is also a metaphor for how lowly immigrants are viewed; Hage sets his story in that delicate space between the shattered dreams and the ubiquitous squalor of Middle Easterners recently arrived in Canada.

The narrator of Cockroach remains unnamed, as does the Arab country from which he hails, though clues abound that it is Hage's native Lebanon. De Niro's Game, Hage's award-winning debut, took place in the civil war-era rubble of Beirut, while Cockroach features flashbacks to that picturesque but perennially troubled city by the sea.

Nonetheless, most of the action occurs in Montreal -- where Hage now lives -- with the occasional un-translated exchanges in French to prove it. Life is never as burdensome as when it is empty, though the narrator's reason for his recent suicide attempt gives the meaninglessness of existence a novel twist: ``It was not that I was looking for a purpose and had been deceived, it was more that I had never started looking for one.'' No longer suicidal, he imagines himself as -- what else? -- a cockroach, and actually has something to look forward to; in the not-so-distant future, his famously resilient kind will rule the Earth.

In the meantime, the narrator attends obligatory sessions with a pretty psychologist about whom he fantasizes, harasses a pompous Algerian asylum seeker, bums dope, works as a busboy at an Iranian restaurant and steals from everyone in sight. Lacing his account of these encounters with acerbic humor, the narrator offsets some of his distastefulness, as well as the novel's hopelessly loose structure.

Perhaps the most haunting aspect of Cockroach is Hage's demonstration of the continued emotional toll violence exacts on Middle Easterners who flee their troubled homelands. Still plagued by his unintentional role in the death of his sister, the narrator learns that Shohreh grapples with an equally traumatizing personal history embodied by a sinister man who suddenly appears in Montreal. Unsurprisingly, redemption is not possible in this funny but thematically grim tale. Revenge, however, is another matter.

Rayyan Al-Shawaf is a writer in Beirut.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@