The 3 best books by the colossal Coetzee

I have always thought that the genius writer has something of bipolar. To be able to open up to all kinds of characters, to be able to transmit profiles of such different people, the range of perception must be wide and capable of assuming a truth and its opposite. A point of madness must be required.

This old idea occurs to me to introduce to John Maxwell Coetzee, mathematician and writer. Graduated in the purest sciences and in the deepest humanistics, literature. "Ecce hommo" here is the writer in essence, capable of moving between stormy waters of science and its numbers but also between the voracious fires of narrative. In both cases with the same chance of survival.

If we add to this the performance of a computer geek during his first working years, the circle of the genius writer ends up closing.

And now, without so much joke, we cannot forget his 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature, confirming his outstanding good work in his part of the world dedicated to fictional narrative, but of faithful social commitment.

Knowing that I face a monster that Auster himself ask for advice, I have to choose his essential novels. I'm going there.

3 Recommended Novels by JM Coetzee

Misfortune

A novel of contrasts. The ideology of Coetzee's homeland, South Africa, called into question through the remarkable variation between urban and rural mentalities.

Summary: At fifty-two, David Lurie has little to be proud of. With two divorces behind him, appeasing desire is his only aspiration; his classes at the university are a mere formality for him and for the students. When his relationship with a student is revealed, David, in an act of pride, will prefer to resign his position than to apologize in public.

Rejected by everyone, he leaves Cape Town and goes to visit his daughter Lucy's farm. There, in a society where the codes of behavior, whether for blacks or whites, have changed; where language is a flawed tool that does not serve this nascent world, David will see all his beliefs shattered in an afternoon of relentless violence.

A deep, extraordinary story that at times grips the heart, and is always, until the end, captivating: Misfortune, which won the prestigious Booker Prize, will not leave the reader indifferent.

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Slow man

Coetzee conveys one thing above all else. And the truth is that it is not correct to discover if it is something premeditated or not. Every Coetzee book exudes humanity, a human soul in the essence of literary alchemy. This novel is a good example.

Summary: Paul Rayment, professional photographer, loses a leg in a bicycle accident. As a result of this mishap, his solitary life will change radically. Paul rejects the possibility of doctors inserting a prosthesis and, after leaving the hospital, he returns to his bachelor pad in Adelaide.

Uncomfortable with the new dependency situation that his disability entails, Paul goes through periods of hopelessness as he reflects on his sixty years of life. However, his spirits recover when he falls in love with Marijana, his pragmatic and hearty Croatian nurse.

As Paul searches for a way to win the affection of his assistant, he receives a visit from the mysterious writer Elizabeth Costello, who challenges him to take back control of his life. Slow Man conducts a meditation on what makes us human, while reflecting on old age.

Paul Rayment's struggle with his supposed weakness is translated through the clear and open voice of JM Coetzee; the result is a deeply moving story about love and mortality that dazzles the reader on every page.

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Waiting for the barbarians

Due to its lighter character, it is a highly recommended novel to launch your knowledge of Coetzee. The metaphor for why everything bad happens. The reasons why evil triumphs again and again in History. Fear to subdue masses.

Summary: One day the Empire decided that the barbarians were a threat to its integrity. First, the police arrived at the border town, who arrested especially those who were not barbarians but who were different. They tortured and murdered.

Then the military arrived. A lots of. Ready to carry out heroic military campaigns. The old magistrate of the place tried to make them see sensibly that the barbarians had always been there and had never been a danger, that they were nomads and could not be defeated in pitched battles, that the opinions they had about them were absurd ...

In vain attempt. The magistrate only achieved the prison and the people, who had acclaimed the military when they arrived, their ruin.

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5/5 - (7 votes)

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