diary of a bad year by j.m. coetzee
this book kicked my ass. seriously. i wanted to stop writing because there is no point in my silly ramblings when someone as articulate and honest and beautiful and innovative as Coetzee is walking the earth.
the plot and the layout of the book are intertwined. it's the story of Senor C, an aging novelist who's writing his thoughts on the state of the world in English for a German publisher. he get his attractive neighbor anya to type them out for him. but here's the hook - Senor C's political/social commentaries are at the top third of each page, his personal thoughts (like a journal or diary) are in the second third, and when anya comes into the story, her thoughts take up the bottom third. admittedly, this might overwhelm someone when they first pick it up and question how to read it, but i think that's the genius. each person is going to tackle is differently and therefore get a slightly different read from it depending on how you jump back and forth between the texts. i just followed the flow depending on how each story was progressing - sometimes, i read a few pages ahead in one of the diaries, sometimes i read each page top to bottom. the hardest part was the end - i wanted to read the diaries straight through, but somehow i thought that would be wrong, like reading the end of the book before the beginning, so i paced myself and read everything together.
and besides that, senor c's rants about the state of the world are really sharp and entertaining. all three narratives are beautifully written and true to the characters. overall, an amazing read and something everyone should check out. don't be intimidated by the layout - just follow along and it will reveal itself to you.
current mood: stircrazy...must go for walk now
current noise: "west coast time" by the gregory brothers
this book kicked my ass. seriously. i wanted to stop writing because there is no point in my silly ramblings when someone as articulate and honest and beautiful and innovative as Coetzee is walking the earth.
the plot and the layout of the book are intertwined. it's the story of Senor C, an aging novelist who's writing his thoughts on the state of the world in English for a German publisher. he get his attractive neighbor anya to type them out for him. but here's the hook - Senor C's political/social commentaries are at the top third of each page, his personal thoughts (like a journal or diary) are in the second third, and when anya comes into the story, her thoughts take up the bottom third. admittedly, this might overwhelm someone when they first pick it up and question how to read it, but i think that's the genius. each person is going to tackle is differently and therefore get a slightly different read from it depending on how you jump back and forth between the texts. i just followed the flow depending on how each story was progressing - sometimes, i read a few pages ahead in one of the diaries, sometimes i read each page top to bottom. the hardest part was the end - i wanted to read the diaries straight through, but somehow i thought that would be wrong, like reading the end of the book before the beginning, so i paced myself and read everything together.
and besides that, senor c's rants about the state of the world are really sharp and entertaining. all three narratives are beautifully written and true to the characters. overall, an amazing read and something everyone should check out. don't be intimidated by the layout - just follow along and it will reveal itself to you.
current mood: stircrazy...must go for walk now
current noise: "west coast time" by the gregory brothers
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