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3.28 AVERAGE
3.28 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
J.M. Coetzee's 1986 novel FOE is a retelling of ROBINSON CRUSOE that uses Daniel Defoe's well-known story as a basis for a bitter commentary on colonialism. To really get anything out of Coetzee's novel, you'll need to read ROBINSON CRUSOE first. The Penguin Popular Classics edition is an inexpensive way to read that important work.
As FOE opens, we are introduced to Susan Barton, an Englishwoman returning from Brazil who is set adrift on the seas by mutineers. She washes up on an island populated by Robinson Crusoe and his servant Friday. Yet, these are not the same characters we've encountered before. Unlike the clever protagonist of Defoe's novel, "Cruso" is a dull old man, complacent with his miserable existence on the island, not wanting rescue and making no effort to better his living condition. Friday is not a the Brazilian cannibal that Defoe portrayed, but a horribly mutilated African slave. When the trio is finally rescued, Cruso soon dies, but Barton and Friday return to England. There Barton encounters Mr. Foe and narrates her story to him, only to find that he is not interested in the remarkable truth of her experiences, but instead bends the story to his own preconceptions.
Coetzee's main message seems to be that Europeans have robbed colonized peoples of their own history. By supressing any report they might make of their past, and forbidding them from speaking now for themselves, the colonizers have reduced the natives to the very savages Europeans claimed they were from the beginning. Towards the end of the novel, Coetzee turns things even more postmodernism, showing how difficult it is to create a "true" narrative.
If I had to compare Coetzee's writing here to anyone else, I'd say that the dialogue reminds me of Harold Pinter, and the enigmatic dream or dream-like sequences towards the end are reminiscent of Gene Wolfe. The novel is only around 150 pages long and can be tranquilly read over the span of a few hours. I found the narrative style somewhat grating, thus my review of four stars, but nonetheless I found this a remarkable and extremely thought-provoking book, and I recommend it.
As FOE opens, we are introduced to Susan Barton, an Englishwoman returning from Brazil who is set adrift on the seas by mutineers. She washes up on an island populated by Robinson Crusoe and his servant Friday. Yet, these are not the same characters we've encountered before. Unlike the clever protagonist of Defoe's novel, "Cruso" is a dull old man, complacent with his miserable existence on the island, not wanting rescue and making no effort to better his living condition. Friday is not a the Brazilian cannibal that Defoe portrayed, but a horribly mutilated African slave. When the trio is finally rescued, Cruso soon dies, but Barton and Friday return to England. There Barton encounters Mr. Foe and narrates her story to him, only to find that he is not interested in the remarkable truth of her experiences, but instead bends the story to his own preconceptions.
Coetzee's main message seems to be that Europeans have robbed colonized peoples of their own history. By supressing any report they might make of their past, and forbidding them from speaking now for themselves, the colonizers have reduced the natives to the very savages Europeans claimed they were from the beginning. Towards the end of the novel, Coetzee turns things even more postmodernism, showing how difficult it is to create a "true" narrative.
If I had to compare Coetzee's writing here to anyone else, I'd say that the dialogue reminds me of Harold Pinter, and the enigmatic dream or dream-like sequences towards the end are reminiscent of Gene Wolfe. The novel is only around 150 pages long and can be tranquilly read over the span of a few hours. I found the narrative style somewhat grating, thus my review of four stars, but nonetheless I found this a remarkable and extremely thought-provoking book, and I recommend it.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ok this was brilliant. I really really HATE Robinson Crusoe. But that's by the by because this is brilliant. When it started I wasn't convinced but as it developed it just got better and better and more intricate.
It's about language, and telling stories and power. And memory and gender and race. It's a short little piece that's perfectly put together. There's so much to unpack here. I'll be keeping this one to mull over again.
It's about language, and telling stories and power. And memory and gender and race. It's a short little piece that's perfectly put together. There's so much to unpack here. I'll be keeping this one to mull over again.
What an interesting book. A mixture of Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe" and "Roxana" told as an allegorical critique on whitewashed and male-centric history. I would love to see more of Coetzee's writings, I heard he's just as entertaining with his original books as with this one.
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
2.5
My second least favorite Coetzee novel (surprisingly, my least favorite continues to be Waiting for the Barbarians). I love the thematic territory here. His ruminations on the Canon, silence, voicelessness vs. silence, writing, fiction vs. the truth, readership in direct opposition to truth, and this is a novel in which Robinson Crusoe (here referred to as Cruso) is consumed by sloth and an impotent desire to graze "his" isle and cover it with terraces that will never actually grow or develop into anything but crumbling stones rather than the hyper-industrious imperialist/capitalist of Defoe's imagination. 1) It feels more realistic to me, and 2) it is a great symbol for the colonial project in the 20th century. The protagonist, Susan Barton, cannot face the reality of Friday's tonguelessness to the point that she won't even look into his mouth to see if his tongue has been split, cut out entirely, or if it is there while he chooses to remain silent. He doesn't speak her language, so who knows? There's so much to think about, but the first two chapters are great while the latter two, for the most part, suck. Totally worth reading, if you have read Robinson Crusoe. The intertextuality sings.
My second least favorite Coetzee novel (surprisingly, my least favorite continues to be Waiting for the Barbarians). I love the thematic territory here. His ruminations on the Canon, silence, voicelessness vs. silence, writing, fiction vs. the truth, readership in direct opposition to truth, and this is a novel in which Robinson Crusoe (here referred to as Cruso) is consumed by sloth and an impotent desire to graze "his" isle and cover it with terraces that will never actually grow or develop into anything but crumbling stones rather than the hyper-industrious imperialist/capitalist of Defoe's imagination. 1) It feels more realistic to me, and 2) it is a great symbol for the colonial project in the 20th century. The protagonist, Susan Barton, cannot face the reality of Friday's tonguelessness to the point that she won't even look into his mouth to see if his tongue has been split, cut out entirely, or if it is there while he chooses to remain silent. He doesn't speak her language, so who knows? There's so much to think about, but the first two chapters are great while the latter two, for the most part, suck. Totally worth reading, if you have read Robinson Crusoe. The intertextuality sings.
David warned me that I wouldn't like this book and I should have listened, but I wanted a short book for a train ride. Coetzee has an interesting premise, imagining if a lone woman had washed up on Robinson Crusoe's island, and then hired Daniel Defoe to write her story. But he sacrifices character and narrative to his ideas, making the book (for me at least) boring and overly intellectual.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No
Wtf? I am not entirely sure what happened.
I have received this book as a gift from a friend and that is the sole reason why I have finished this book. I did not enjoy this experience and would prefer living on a deserted island than reading this Robinson Crusoe fanfiction. Maybe I simple did not understand this book...
I have received this book as a gift from a friend and that is the sole reason why I have finished this book. I did not enjoy this experience and would prefer living on a deserted island than reading this Robinson Crusoe fanfiction. Maybe I simple did not understand this book...
Meh. I don't want to read anymore Coetzee. At least a woman is the protagonist in this one.