July 2013: J.M. Coetzee

I know Coetzee's name, his work is fairly prominent here, and I know my husband has read some, I think in Dutch though? but I've not read any myself. I'm definitely curious to read his stuff! Have you guys read much of him already? Any favorites?

Read a far bit, I hated Disgrace and really enjoyed Elizabeth Costello and Waiting for the Barbarians, and wasn't all that fussed by Youth. Reading Foe at the moment and Dusklands next week as these two are key texts for my next essay. I should be an expert by time we get to him.

The library seems to have several so I'll just see what's in towards the end of June.

I loved Disgrace (and still need to write a review) which I read earlier this year... Not sure which one I will pick up in July...

After katrinasreads pointed out that Auster's works were on the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list, I thought I'd check and see if any of Coetzee's were. Turns out there were several! For reference, here they are:

Slow Man
Elizabeth Costello
Youth
Disgrace
The Master of Petersburg
Foe
The Life and Times of Michael K
Waiting for the Barbarians
In the Heart of the Country
Dusklands

Again not sure what I'll get to all the way off in July -- just trying to make it through this month for now!

haha no worries, I'm never sure of what I'll be reading even later today! ;P

I never got around to reading Dusklands so I'll probably pick that up. I'm still reading Atwood and have the Auster book waiting for me too. I'm not very good at keeping up with this!

> 7 Me neither! My Auster book hasn't been touched at all since I brought it home from the library.

I have read a few of Coetzee's books, but Disgrace is my favorite. I highly recommend it- particularly with the life of Nelson Mandela in the news so much these days. Having been to South Africa on a couple of occasions a few years after the end of apartheid, I found that Disgrace vividly captured the mood of many of the white South Africans who chose to stay in the country at that time (many left or were trying to find a way out.) I am not sure that readers without my experience will be as impressed as I was with the book, but it is emotionally wrenching although extremely concise.

>9 vwinsloe: I might just have to read Disgrace this month too. I've read a few of his books before and I think emotionally wrenching and concise is a good way to describe them.

I ordered Foe from Better World Books and am a little annoyed it isn't due to arrive until the 10th. Isn't three weeks super slow, even for media mail?

>10 aliciamay: Yes, that is super slow. Media mail says it can take up to two weeks, but it's usually much quicker. My guess is the extra week is to find it in their warehouse(s) and prepare it to ship. I'm also guessing that they padded the shipping time so that you'll be pleased that it arrives sooner rather than become upset if it ends up taking longer than anticipated. I always gave people a much longer estimate that I really thought when I used to ship things.

>11 sweetiegherkin: You were right on about padding the shipping time - guess how excited I was to find the books in my mailbox when I got home yesterday! And just in time to take them on my camping trip tomorrow.

Great to hear a happy ending :) Enjoy your trip!

I've just read Life & Times of Michael K. My review is on the work page and my Club Read thread, so I won't repost it here. I enjoyed the novel, though it didn't capture my interest quite as much as some of the other works I've read by Coetzee. Disgrace remains my favorite, followed by Waiting for the Barbarians.

There is an obvious link in Michael K to Kafka's work, especially The Castle, and I think you would be at a disadvantage if you haven't read anything by Kafka first. There is a possible reference to The Metamorphosis as well in the way Michael K at one point cocoons himself and emerges somewhat mentally transformed.

The novel is set in South Africa, but not the South Africa of reality. This somewhat abstracted setting reminded me again of Kafka's depiction of Prague as well Coetzee's own even more abstract Waiting for the Barbarians. So while this is a novel set in apartheid South Africa, it isn't necessarily a novel about apartheid or South Africa, but rather something more general about individual identity in an absurd world.

I'm reading Master of Petersburg now (finally), and really enjoying it so far!

> 14: I've read Life & Times of Michael K (in French) approximately 5 years ago. I translated my review in English and put it on the work page.
I didn't like it much, and my main feeling was that the main meaning of the book had eluded me. Your comments make it clear that I completely missed the connection with The Castle (which I haven't read).
I was also unsure whether the regime that is described in the novel was real or fictional. I thought it was fictional and was too lazy to look it up. I think I might have enjoyed the book more if I had known that for sure.

> 14 Good points about the similarities to Kafka. I'll have to keep that in mind for future reading.

For all my whining about the slow delivery of Foe I'll guiltily admit I haven't started it yet. I'm hoping to start Sunday when RL slows down a bit and I can have time for some actual reading.

I finally finished (not that it took me so long of actual reading time, just getting around to it!) my Coetzee title, Master of Petersburg. I really really enjoyed it. I felt like he did a great job of capturing the man, based on my "feel" of him from reading a few of his novels, and of writing a really intriguing story. Not too much really happens, it's more what's going on in his head, but I just really enjoyed pretty much everything about it. I will definitely be looking into more of his books!

Here’s a literary criticism of two of Coetzee’s works The childhood of Jesus and the schooldays of Jesus. Interesting but contain spoilers if that’s of concern for anyone.

https://www.thenation.com/article/j-m-coetzees-essential-protestantism/

Interesting. I love Coetzee but will admit, these weren't my favourites. But the article does shed some light on his thought process while writing them.

This excerpt has Coetzee in the title but is really just about animals in literature: https://www.berfrois.com/2017/09/coetzee-anthology-animal-fictions-marie-houser/

Kind of a neat read anyway.

If anyone in this group happens to do Book Riot's annual "Read Harder" challenge, one of the prompts this year is to read a book with an animal (or inanimate object) point of view. https://bookriot.com/?p=254351