A review by lauramotta
Elizabeth Costello by J.M. Coetzee

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.