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kiramke's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting interlinked essays (more or less) exploring Being and mortality, the role of art and the inadequacies of language. Very sort of turn-of-the-century German; it's worth reading Hofmannsthal first.
seahorsemojinow's review against another edition
1.0
I read this book for class and I have to write an Actual review for it, but in the meantime - I really did not enjoy this book. I tried to give it the benefit of the doubt for the longest time, but it really didn't deserve it. It was boring and entirely too metatextual in clichéd and uninteresting ways. The characters were less than unsympathetic, but just watery, like bad oatmeal. It was made entirely too clear by the End that the author's Point was that writing cannot be about communicating beliefs, but it wasn't a point well made, and if that's your position, then the least you could do is make reading that position be an enjoyable experience.
jemmanicho's review against another edition
reflective
slow-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
3.5
serrasa's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.0
cronosmu's review against another edition
3.0
Como obra metaliteraria, esta es una novela brillante. Y luego está la prédica ideológica de Coetzee, que muchos odiaron por pedante (será que su idea de novela abarca solo el esquema limitado de incio, nudo y desenlace) pero que yo repudio porque estoy en el extremo opuesto y me parece que no es más que un compendio glorificado de lugares comunes bienintencionados. Entonces solo queda valorar los méritos literarios del libro, que son bastantes.
audreypuech's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
apawney97's review against another edition
4.0
I have only one question when it comes to this book: What does it NOT tackle? In the brevity of approximately 200 pages, Coetzee is able to refer to the following:
-- ethical treatment of animals and humans with reference to the Holocaust
-- war and post-war trauma
-- the issue of ethnicity, blackness, and black literature
-- the author's battle with his text in order to remain 'alive', not letting it sublimate him
-- questions regarding canonicity
-- the anxiety of influence
-- a plethora of intertextual relations from Woolf to Kafka to Joyce
-- family relationships, love, sexuality
-- the effect of time on the individual, both on the mortal and the psychological planes
and many others...
And all of these factors are seamlessly integrated within the text without forgetting the main narrative. Instead, these factors serve the narrative in order to supplement it further. My first Coetzee and it will surely not be the last!
-- ethical treatment of animals and humans with reference to the Holocaust
-- war and post-war trauma
-- the issue of ethnicity, blackness, and black literature
-- the author's battle with his text in order to remain 'alive', not letting it sublimate him
-- questions regarding canonicity
-- the anxiety of influence
-- a plethora of intertextual relations from Woolf to Kafka to Joyce
-- family relationships, love, sexuality
-- the effect of time on the individual, both on the mortal and the psychological planes
and many others...
And all of these factors are seamlessly integrated within the text without forgetting the main narrative. Instead, these factors serve the narrative in order to supplement it further. My first Coetzee and it will surely not be the last!
lauramotta's review against another edition
3.0
Well written, tedious novel about an an aging writer and her late-life identity crisis, culminating in her arrival at the gates of heaven (or hell). There is much philosophical yammering in this book, and much of it is interesting. But ultimately, Coetzee's university-lecture-as-novel premise doesn't quite hold together. Elizabeth is a formidable character, but we know only small, unsatisfying bits of her history.
This is ultimately a novel about writing and writers, about the responsibilities inherent in storyteling. If only there were more story here to speak of.
This is ultimately a novel about writing and writers, about the responsibilities inherent in storyteling. If only there were more story here to speak of.
book_lvr's review against another edition
1.0
The writing style is difficult to read and too boring to follow.