Nobel laureate Coetzee's brillant account of a reclusive man in his sixties, forced to confront his resentment for what his life has become after the unexpected arrival of a famed writer.
J.M. Coetzee's work includes Waiting for the Barbarians, Life & Times of Michael K, Boyhood, Youth, Disgrace, Summertime and The Childhood of Jesus. He was the first author to win the Booker Prize twice and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2003.
Sensational... Another exemplary tale of suffering from one of the
best writers of our time, who dares to articulate our
incomprehensible existence, and manages it with extraordinary and
sensitive eloquence
*The Times*
[Slow Man] finds the Nobel laureate on top form... A consummate
writer of fiction
*Observer*
Coetzee is a unique voice; no novelist explores the ideas and the
power of literature and the sense of displacement so boldly. Slow
Man will add to his immense reputation
*Independent on Sunday*
Remorselessly human, it is also funny and touching: Coetzee the
artist remains the complete novelist
*Irish Times*
A tremendous and startling novel... Coetzee is a novelist who cares
about every word. Slow Man confirms him as among our greatest
living authors
*The Times*
Sensational... Another exemplary tale of suffering from one of the
best writers of our time, who dares to articulate our
incomprehensible existence, and manages it with extraordinary and
sensitive eloquence * The Times *
[Slow Man] finds the Nobel laureate on top form... A
consummate writer of fiction * Observer *
Coetzee is a unique voice; no novelist explores the ideas and the
power of literature and the sense of displacement so boldly.
Slow Man will add to his immense reputation * Independent on
Sunday *
Remorselessly human, it is also funny and touching: Coetzee the
artist remains the complete novelist * Irish Times *
A tremendous and startling novel... Coetzee is a novelist who cares
about every word. Slow Man confirms him as among our
greatest living authors * The Times *
The physical and spiritual ramifications of a life-changing event are at the heart of Nobel prize winner Coetzee's latest novel. While riding his bicycle one day, Paul Rayment, a sixtysomething French-born photographer living in Australia, is involved in an auto accident and loses a leg. A solitary and stubborn individual by nature, he is sent spiraling deeper into depression and social isolation. Only Marijana, his levelheaded Croatian nurse, whose family he will become involved with as he falls in love with her, begins to lift his gloom. Also entering his life is aging novelist Elizabeth Costello (who first appeared in Coetzee's eponymously titled 2003 work), a mysterious presence who seems to know a great deal about his situation even before meeting him and pushes him toward uncharacteristic risks in order to shake him from his malaise. This is a finely wrought portrait of a not entirely sympathetic protagonist crippled in ways that go well beyond the loss of a limb. Highly recommended.-Lawrence Rungren, Merrimack Valley Lib. Consortium, Andover, MA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Nobel-winner Coetzee (Disgrace) ponders life, love and the mind/ body connection in his latest heavy-hitter; he also plays a little trick. When retired photographer Paul Rayment loses his leg in a bicycle accident, his lengthy, lonely recuperation forces him to reflect on a life he deems wasted. The gloom lifts with the arrival of brisk, efficient Marijana Jokic, his Croatian day nurse, with whom Paul becomes infatuated. (He also takes a special interest in Marijana's teenage boy-the son he never had.) It's here, while Paul frets over how to express his feelings, that Coetzee (perhaps unsure if his dithering protagonist can sustain the book) gets weird: the distinguished writer Elizabeth Costello, eponymous heroine of Coetzee's 2003 novel, comes for a visit. To Paul's bewilderment, Costello (Coetzee's alter ego?) exhorts him to become more of a main character in the narrative, even orchestrating events to force his reactions. Some readers will object to this cleverness and the abstract forays into the mysteriousness of the writing process. It is to Coetzee's credit, however, a testament to his flawless prose and appealing voice, that while challenging the reader with postmodern shenanigans, the story of how Paul will take charge of his life and love continues to engage, while Elizabeth Costello the device softens into a real character, one facing frailties of her own. She pushes Paul, or Paul pushes Elizabeth-both push Coetzee-on to the bittersweet conclusion. Agent, Peter Lampack. (On sale Sept. 26) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
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