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3.34 AVERAGE
3.34 AVERAGE
The Childhood of Jesus operates on many levels and leaves several questions unanswered, making it a fascinating book.
At the most basic a man and boy are trying to find the boy's mother. The mother has issues with motherhood, raising the boy and fitting the man into her life. This imperfect trinity is challenged by the authorities and has to flee, with mixed feelings.
At the allegorical level the boy is Jesus, the man is Joseph, the woman is Mary. They form their family way from their birthplace and later have to flee as the state pursues them. The boy is remarkable, he speaks of brotherhood and invites everyone with him on his journey. The boy wants to be the third brother, the third brother saves his mother, but gives up his life in the process. There were three crosses on Calvary.
There is also a philosophical level - the men debate philosophy on the docks were they work as stevedores - what is real, what is the purpose of work, what is history. The men quote philosophers from Heraclitus - "we never set our foot in the same river twice" to Heidegger - "what is the thing itself".
There is a fantasy level too - all the people in the book have immigrated to this new world and no one remembers there past and everyone must speak Spanish. Labor, housing, schooling has socialist bent without being Marxist - history is not real they claim. Its neither a utopia or a dystopia. People just are. Most are happy to labor hard on the docks and understand that the older man can not do the work of a younger man.
There is a literary level - the man reads Don Quixote to the boy. What is a windmill to Sancho is a giant to Don. The man teachers the boy that it is all about perception. This whole story - the childhood of Jesus could be Don's reading. It could be taking place now or 2000 years ago any place where people are trying to start a new life. And some people move from place to place looking for that new start. The man tells the boy that Benegetti wrote Don Quixote, this was Cervantes' fictitious Moor, a narrative device, but it tells us that we should take the author on his or her terms as we read. Taking Coetzee on his terms here is important to understanding the novel.
Some of the most intriguing parts are the unanswered questions. First, the character of Dagu steals, tries to upset the order of the society, and tempts the boy to come live with him. The woman, says that she has special relationship with him that is personal. Coetzee doesn't have a religious reverence for the Jesus story, so Dagu could be the Devil or God or something else like a jester. Not every character has a biblical counterpart. Alveres, the foreman at the docks, gives the man a job, smooths over his relationship with the woman and saves the man's life - he's an angel figure.
Second, the boy has is own personal story that is kept hidden from his parents - that's more support for the Jesus allegory but what is that story, the reader wants to now.
Third, man spends much of the novel looking for a sexual partner, he may find it at last but has to go. What could have become of that love? In the begging the man feels frustration with the lack of sex and passion people have in the new world - the people care more about goodwill than love. Love pits the personal over the universal (goodwill).
Coetzee uses dialogue to build rich character. Each character has their own conflicts and short comings, which distance themselves from their allegorical counter parts.
The Man – now named Simon, the allegorical Joseph cares deeply for the boy, but does not want to be his father. He is conflicted about fatherhood and what that entails. He belives it to be a metaphysical state determined by destiny. He thinks the the mother is more important and that should control. He’s conflicted about handing him over to the mother. That’s softened when she lets him see the boy – she starts to let him see the boy the because He also wants sex, wants prostitutes, undertakes a physical relationship where the other person could care less.
The Boy – now named David, linked to Jesus, is clearly exceptional but also a brat at times. He refuses to read and count the way Simon teaches him. He acts out in class which causes the family hardship. He may lie to Ines and Simon at a critical juncture. He at times seems disown them, telling people they are not his mother and father. At other times he is an angel. He cares deeply for the man and the woman.
The Woman – now named Ines, linked to Mary. seems too preoccupied with herself to be a mom. She doesn’t let David play with best friend, either because of her own jealousy or pride. She doesn’t want him to go to school and spoils him. However she does want what is best for him. She doesn’ loves him and can’t bear to be separated from him.
The ideas explored and allegories used would be useless without strong story around these round characters. The story is about this family trying to do what is best for the boy. Coeteze does this in sparse stripped down prose and narrative. I can see why Coetzee won the Nobel Prize and this is worth the read.
At the most basic a man and boy are trying to find the boy's mother. The mother has issues with motherhood, raising the boy and fitting the man into her life. This imperfect trinity is challenged by the authorities and has to flee, with mixed feelings.
At the allegorical level the boy is Jesus, the man is Joseph, the woman is Mary. They form their family way from their birthplace and later have to flee as the state pursues them. The boy is remarkable, he speaks of brotherhood and invites everyone with him on his journey. The boy wants to be the third brother, the third brother saves his mother, but gives up his life in the process. There were three crosses on Calvary.
There is also a philosophical level - the men debate philosophy on the docks were they work as stevedores - what is real, what is the purpose of work, what is history. The men quote philosophers from Heraclitus - "we never set our foot in the same river twice" to Heidegger - "what is the thing itself".
There is a fantasy level too - all the people in the book have immigrated to this new world and no one remembers there past and everyone must speak Spanish. Labor, housing, schooling has socialist bent without being Marxist - history is not real they claim. Its neither a utopia or a dystopia. People just are. Most are happy to labor hard on the docks and understand that the older man can not do the work of a younger man.
There is a literary level - the man reads Don Quixote to the boy. What is a windmill to Sancho is a giant to Don. The man teachers the boy that it is all about perception. This whole story - the childhood of Jesus could be Don's reading. It could be taking place now or 2000 years ago any place where people are trying to start a new life. And some people move from place to place looking for that new start. The man tells the boy that Benegetti wrote Don Quixote, this was Cervantes' fictitious Moor, a narrative device, but it tells us that we should take the author on his or her terms as we read. Taking Coetzee on his terms here is important to understanding the novel.
Some of the most intriguing parts are the unanswered questions. First, the character of Dagu steals, tries to upset the order of the society, and tempts the boy to come live with him. The woman, says that she has special relationship with him that is personal. Coetzee doesn't have a religious reverence for the Jesus story, so Dagu could be the Devil or God or something else like a jester. Not every character has a biblical counterpart. Alveres, the foreman at the docks, gives the man a job, smooths over his relationship with the woman and saves the man's life - he's an angel figure.
Second, the boy has is own personal story that is kept hidden from his parents - that's more support for the Jesus allegory but what is that story, the reader wants to now.
Third, man spends much of the novel looking for a sexual partner, he may find it at last but has to go. What could have become of that love? In the begging the man feels frustration with the lack of sex and passion people have in the new world - the people care more about goodwill than love. Love pits the personal over the universal (goodwill).
Coetzee uses dialogue to build rich character. Each character has their own conflicts and short comings, which distance themselves from their allegorical counter parts.
The Man – now named Simon, the allegorical Joseph cares deeply for the boy, but does not want to be his father. He is conflicted about fatherhood and what that entails. He belives it to be a metaphysical state determined by destiny. He thinks the the mother is more important and that should control. He’s conflicted about handing him over to the mother. That’s softened when she lets him see the boy – she starts to let him see the boy the because He also wants sex, wants prostitutes, undertakes a physical relationship where the other person could care less.
The Boy – now named David, linked to Jesus, is clearly exceptional but also a brat at times. He refuses to read and count the way Simon teaches him. He acts out in class which causes the family hardship. He may lie to Ines and Simon at a critical juncture. He at times seems disown them, telling people they are not his mother and father. At other times he is an angel. He cares deeply for the man and the woman.
The Woman – now named Ines, linked to Mary. seems too preoccupied with herself to be a mom. She doesn’t let David play with best friend, either because of her own jealousy or pride. She doesn’t want him to go to school and spoils him. However she does want what is best for him. She doesn’ loves him and can’t bear to be separated from him.
The ideas explored and allegories used would be useless without strong story around these round characters. The story is about this family trying to do what is best for the boy. Coeteze does this in sparse stripped down prose and narrative. I can see why Coetzee won the Nobel Prize and this is worth the read.
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Man Booker Challenge #4. This is a weird one--I didn't realize until a few dozen pages in that this wasn't set in our world, in the present refugee crisis, though it alludes to it (and Simón makes a few pointedly political comments). I'm really conflicted here, and feel that I should probably reread it later before passing judgment on the soundness of its philosophical arguments. As one of the stevedores says in a debate with Simón, "That is like saying, What if the mad are really sane and the sane are really mad? It is, if you don't mind my saying so, Simón, schoolboy philosophizing." (The rest of his speech undermines the truth of this verdict; for all that Eugenio attends philosophy classes he is very bad at constructing an argument.) Simón's--and Coetzee's?--argument here seems to be, What if laws are just laws because we call them laws? Isn't the matter of our upbringing and our wealth and our occupation largely a matter of chance? If that's all that's here, I want to take away Coetzee's Nobel Prize. But my doubts linger because I still have faith in these things (hence this entire Man Booker endeavor), despite the fact that genius scientists can also believe that megadoses of vitamins cure all ills.
What I am saying, really, is that the arguments were too facile. The apparent analogies too close to the surface. I was reminded of Death With Interruptions, only inferior in every way.
What I am saying, really, is that the arguments were too facile. The apparent analogies too close to the surface. I was reminded of Death With Interruptions, only inferior in every way.
reflective
I didn't know what to make of this really. It's a strange novel, more of a parable or a fable, but not told that way. I get the feeling that the events that happen in the story happen for a symbolic reason, rather than for the sake of the narrative.
In a nutshell, a boy and a man, not his father, arrive as immigrants in a new, Spanish speaking country. The country is modern, it has television, but no phones, and we never really know where it is, who the people are or why they have left their original country. The man, Simon, is obsessed by reuniting the boy with his mother who he became separated from on the journey over. At least that's what we assume, but no-one in the new, nameless country can really remember their past and they are supposed to forget it, so we're never really sure what happened to the parents, or indeed any of the events that happened before their arrival. I guess it's a book about identity, immigration and starting a new life, but it seems to go deeper than that on a philosophical level that I am missing.
It's probably a book I need time to mull over and think about because Coetzee is obviously saying something here, but I just can't work out exactly what it is...
In a nutshell, a boy and a man, not his father, arrive as immigrants in a new, Spanish speaking country. The country is modern, it has television, but no phones, and we never really know where it is, who the people are or why they have left their original country. The man, Simon, is obsessed by reuniting the boy with his mother who he became separated from on the journey over. At least that's what we assume, but no-one in the new, nameless country can really remember their past and they are supposed to forget it, so we're never really sure what happened to the parents, or indeed any of the events that happened before their arrival. I guess it's a book about identity, immigration and starting a new life, but it seems to go deeper than that on a philosophical level that I am missing.
It's probably a book I need time to mull over and think about because Coetzee is obviously saying something here, but I just can't work out exactly what it is...
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Don’t read the other two.
DNF at 36% meaning I tried for 100 pages and just couldn't continue.
The 100 pages didn't drag per say I just felt no motivation to ever pick up the book and when I did I only ever made it a chapter or so. For me, I felt as if this book tried too hard to be symbolic and because of that it felt forced. It certainly didn't help either that the writing felt extremely impersonal and mechanical as well.
The 100 pages didn't drag per say I just felt no motivation to ever pick up the book and when I did I only ever made it a chapter or so. For me, I felt as if this book tried too hard to be symbolic and because of that it felt forced. It certainly didn't help either that the writing felt extremely impersonal and mechanical as well.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
it's hard not to get lost in the allegory! kafkaesque and meandering
A beautifully written narrative that is in some parts poetic and many others philosophical. This is the novel of a journey but also highlights the plights of mass immigration tied to questions about our own reality and how perception is a subjective state of the individual. At its simplest it is the story of a child who does not fit into the archetype of a child.
This is a bizarre story from beginning to end but beautifully told. It is a allegory with no exact time or location yet it resonated with me to the point where I want to pick it up and read from start to finish once more.
This is a bizarre story from beginning to end but beautifully told. It is a allegory with no exact time or location yet it resonated with me to the point where I want to pick it up and read from start to finish once more.