In Boyhood, J. M. Coetzee revisits the South Africa of half a century ago, to write about his childhood and interior life. Boyhood's young narrator grew up in a small country town. With a father he imitated but could not respect, and a mother he both adored and resented, he picked his way through a world that refused to explain its rules, but whose rules he knew he must obey. Steering between these contradictions, Boyhood evokes the tensions, delights and terrors of childhood with startling, haunting immediacy. Coetzee examines his young self with the dispassionate curiosity of an explorer rediscovering his own early footprints, and the account of his progress is bright, hard and simply compelling. (19980512)
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This life is described with such skill, such exactitude and such relentlessness that I found myself gasping for air... Coetzee has achieved something universal in his work...a fine book, probably the best description of a childhood I have ever read (The Times )
As funny, cruel and terrifying as life itself. It is also intense and elegant, clearly the product of the complex, subtle imagination which shapes Coetzee's outstanding fiction... As austerely beautiful as would be expected of Coetzee the artist...its aloof, edgy grace and seething passion ensure the narrative is both truthful and mysterious (Irish Times )
Boyhood is a deeply-felt and utterly compelling account of a South African childhood: the narrative style is as spare and lean as the Karoo flatlands which form its backdrop (Daily Telegraph )
The economy with which Coetzee makes sense of his past is evidence, once again, of his outstanding talent (Independent on Sunday )
An uncannily accurate picture of the way things were in South Africa (Literary Review )
As funny, cruel and terrifying as life itself. It is also intense and elegant, clearly the product of the complex, subtle imagination which shapes Coetzee's outstanding fiction... As austerely beautiful as would be expected of Coetzee the artist...its aloof, edgy grace and seething passion ensure the narrative is both truthful and mysterious (Irish Times )
Boyhood is a deeply-felt and utterly compelling account of a South African childhood: the narrative style is as spare and lean as the Karoo flatlands which form its backdrop (Daily Telegraph )
The economy with which Coetzee makes sense of his past is evidence, once again, of his outstanding talent (Independent on Sunday )
An uncannily accurate picture of the way things were in South Africa (Literary Review )
Book Description
The first volume of memoir from one of the world's greatest living writers: Coetzee examines his young self with dispassionate curiosity and an unflinching eye. (20020218)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By Luc REYNAERT
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
In this youth memories, J.M. Coetzee defines himself as `twice-born: `born from woman and born from the farm'. He is, first of all, a mother's son (`he clings to her as his only protector'), but `the farm is his secret fate'.
Growing up in a rude and unsocialized family with eccentric characters, with a father who becomes an alcoholic and a mother, for whom `studying is just nonsense' and `children should be sent to trade school', he nevertheless continues to study `normally'.
Through school, he discovers the real world around him: the different social classes, the opposition (and ostracism) between black / colored and white (race), English and Afrikaans (language), and Catholic / Protestant and Anglican (religion).
This clear, sublime, impeccable prose is a far cry from J.M. Coetzee's struggling `Beckettian' beginnings.
Its undercooled, accurate and still dramatic style makes this book a marvelous and moving read.
Growing up in a rude and unsocialized family with eccentric characters, with a father who becomes an alcoholic and a mother, for whom `studying is just nonsense' and `children should be sent to trade school', he nevertheless continues to study `normally'.
Through school, he discovers the real world around him: the different social classes, the opposition (and ostracism) between black / colored and white (race), English and Afrikaans (language), and Catholic / Protestant and Anglican (religion).
This clear, sublime, impeccable prose is a far cry from J.M. Coetzee's struggling `Beckettian' beginnings.
Its undercooled, accurate and still dramatic style makes this book a marvelous and moving read.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Initially it is rather unsettling to read an autobiography of sorts written in the 3rd person and it takes a while to settle into the pace of the book. But after a while it spins it's magic and pulls you in as do most of Coetzee's works. It's a fabulous evocation of childhood, made more moving by the bizarre backdrop of South Africa at the time - segregation and ostracization was rife across all of SA, including it's children. JMC's spare, clinical, unemotional writing style somehow manages to stir powerful emotions in the reader and reading the book is, perhaps surprisingly, a genuinely moving experience.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
This is one of the best books I have read on the subject of childhood. The narration of the young S. African boy is so compelling and emotional. Describing his fears, worries, his questions on life that no one gives an answer to. Coetzee has managed to sum up the (sometimes) terrifying process of growing up in one book.
Very real, very true and very touching. This book has melted my heart...
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