The incredible beat of my heart
Henali Kuit
The incredible beat of my heart is a provocative collection of short prose, varying in style from suburban-realist to surrealist. Kuit transmits the elusive strangeness of daily life in a deceptively matter-of-fact tone, spiked with bursts of rage, humour, and unmarked detours. Although most of the stories are no more than three pages long, this slim, 95-page volume is not a book I gobbled up in one sitting. Partly because I wanted to savour the choppy, discordant sentences, and their curious but satisfying endings. Partly because – in spite of the quirky humour – a feeling of bleakness, isolation and disconnection accumulates. […] I marvelled at how Kuit’s serrated gems are paradoxically stripped of and yet saturated with emotion. The musicality and rhythms of some lines stayed with me like song lyrics:
“I carried your oxygen because you loved me. I’m not stupid. These are the facts. Our hearts in our suits, loving each other in the soundless liquid black of space. Two bowls of noodles twisting and squelching in warm bowls of blood.”
– Jo-Ann Bekker, New Contrast
Date of publication: 2021
ISBN 978-1-928476-42-9 / ebook ISBN 978-1-928476-43-6
95 pages
200 x 130mm
R180.00
Henali Kuit 2024
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Henali Kuit writes short fiction in English and Afrikaans. Her work has appeared in New Contrast, Prufrock, Ons Klyntji, Botsotso and elsewhere. She was runner-up in Human & Rousseau's 2012 Nuwe Stories prize. Books published
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Additional information
| Weight | 0.5 kg |
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Interviews & Articles
Interview with Henali Kuit by Bibi Slippers LitNet, 2012
Other Links
Reading
Henali Kuit reads her short story "Look into my bullet hole" Ons Klyntji (Klyn Deuntjies), 2018
Ons Klyntji Audio Project, Soundcloud text PDF
Other reviews
Critical review by Warren Jeremy Rourke of The incredible beat of my heart by Henali Kuit Botsotso, 2022 text PDF
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