Pages

Thursday, September 19, 2024

970. Youth

Youth
J.M. Coetzee
2002
Around 180 pages




















I can see why the List is addicted to this guy, he writes short and digestible works on periods of major upheaval, which is no easy feat. 

In the wake of the Sharpesville massacre, our narrator moves from Cape Town to London, in hopes of becoming a poet and meeting a wonderful woman. In reality, he ends up in a string of meaningless affairs and a dull programming job.

I enjoy reading novels with protagonists who are explicitly and often desperately searching for meaning. Coetzee's prose is always easy to read and flies by. Yes, the main character was judgmental and a snob, but it's autobiographical, and, as we have observed, authors have the biggest egos on the planet.

A pleasant way to spend the afternoon; Coetzee is always good company.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

The second installment in Coetzee's fictionalized memoir.

UP NEXT: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

No comments: