Scan barcode
charlottegrace's review against another edition
3.0
two of the worst and grossest men I’ve ever encountered in fiction - but strangely compelling and, of course, written so viscerally. I didn’t think I’d want to read anything ‘exploring cruelty’ given the state of the world. The internet provides plenty of material. But I can see that there is value to be drawn out of this, even simply as an exercise in stretching the boundaries of the novel form and what is allowed to be written about. 50 years on, people are just as fucked up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Death, Misogyny, Violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Colonisation, Murder, Racial slurs, Sexual content, and Excrement
anyajulchen's review
3.0
Es increíble la contradicción entre ambos relatos, la dicotomía entre la víctima y el victimario, entre la guerra organizada y el conflicto local. Las letras de ambos son increíbles, así como el desenlace brutal, real y sin timos de los problemas individuales.
m4thy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Had to read this for class otherwise I wouldn’t have finished it. The only value I can see in this book is as an exploration of cruelty in which case it is very effective. Anyway, sadism/10
ichirofakename's review against another edition
5.0
Essential. J.M's first, his prose is heavily poetic, which he later toned down. Two long stories, the first an author writing propaganda to discourage the North Vietnamese during the war, but then drifting off into possible insanity. The second, an 18thC Dutch explorer's recount of an elephant hunt in South Africa.
Recaps basically never make me want to read him, but whenever I do, I tend to be blown away by the technique. I have to read the rest (half or so) of his novels.
Recaps basically never make me want to read him, but whenever I do, I tend to be blown away by the technique. I have to read the rest (half or so) of his novels.
jonathanvdh's review against another edition
3.0
Wat een wild, naargeestig en buitensporig boek. Een klein wonder dat hier een uitgever voor te porren was. Het hele Coetzee-universum zit hier al ergens verborgen, alleen nog overladen door een enorme lading jeugdige overmoed en ressentiment. Een zeer diamant, maar toch altijd fascinerend om een schrijver van zo'n statuur zijn eerste zetten te zien maken.