Scenes from Provincial Life: Boyhood, Youth, Summertime

Coetzee's later writings are characterised by an extraordinary economy: all textual wastage is abolished and there is no padding, nothing you would want to skip over. Every paragraph contains something compelling.There is also a total refusal to lapse into stereotypes. In the first volume where the narrator's childhood is described, there is no compromise with the reader's expectation that his damaged relations with his parents will be resolved. Coetzee refuses to bow to conventional narrative expectations. But it is the truthfulness of the story that is so compelling; the child's black soul is bared and explored. There is no sweet icing on the cake.There are felicities all three volumes but they are so dampened by counter-tendencies and brutally honest self-analysis that the reader cannot rest easy.

Those of us who have started out as children of Africa and have stood by to see life as we knew it obliterated from our Horizons, I believe, will find a lot that resonates within our Psyche. From the red dust of a small country town in the Western Cape John Coetzee managed to become one of the Literary Giants of our time. To do this he exercises a dry wit and takes command of the English Language in a way that, these days is rare indeed.Shimmering through the dry dusty halls of Academia, is that little confused boy from Worcester.Exposed warts and all. When I started reading this book I was thinking, probably dry as a bone. However, it was definitely a trip worth taking.

My first time reading this author,lived in London at the same time as the author so can relate somewhat although our lives were poles apart.Picked this as it is in the 1000 books to read etc ,also I was curious about his boyhood inSouth Africa.Will need to read one of his novels to see how much I like him as compared to what I assume is more or less an autobiography.That said he is a brilliant writer.

I am embarrassed to write anything about this book other than to say that it meant a great deal to me and you should read it if you are interested in the relationship of John Coetzee to his writing. Although I forget much these days, I doubt very much that I will forget this book or my experience of reading it.

It is not always an easy read but after completing it I realized that I had just been treated to a remarkable insight into a human being in some very creative ways.

These books published in one volume provide a fine autobiography of Coetzee's early life as well as a portrait of South Africa during Apartheid. Also, his early adulthood in England and his friendships with other writers who were just beginning to make names for themselves provided connections that I've followed up on in my own reading life.

I am happy to have a copy of this book and happy to have the summer to read it. So good.

Enjoyable memior

Excellent

Das passiert, wenn man gezwungen wird, ein Buch zu lesen, mit dessen Charakter man nicht klar kommt. Tut mir leid, aber dieser Autor/Erzähler machen mich fertig. Ich werde depressiv vom Lesen. Absolut nichts für mich.

BoringPrinting poorOverpriced