Slow Man by J. M. Coetzee
Sep. 15th, 2007 12:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Paul Rayment is on the threshold of a comfortable old age when a calamitous cycling accident results in the amputation of a leg. Humiliated, his body truncated, his life circumscribed, he turns away from his friends.
He hires a nurse named Marijana, with whom he has a European childhood in common: hers in Croatia, his in France. Tactfully and efficiently she ministers to his needs. But his feelings for her, and for her handsome teenage son, are complicated by the sudden arrival on his doorstep of the celebrated Australian novelist Elizabeth Costello, who threatens to take over the direction of his life and the affairs of his heart.
The first 80 pages of this book are riveting. Coetzee's prose is almost flawless as we follow Paul literally from the moment he's hit by young Wayne Bright or Blight, through his experiences with rehabilitation nurses and social services, unsuitable carers and finally the arrival of Marijana. It's a very human experience - the reader understands Paul's feelings that his life is over, even as you are frustrated by his willingness to just give up. With Marijana, Paul sees a chance at a fresh life and again, you sympathise with his dreams of becoming her lover and thereby gaining the family he never had.
All this just seems to stop when Elizabeth Costello comes on the page. She seems to represent Coetzee himself and instead of a story about a man's rehabilitation from amputation, the rest of the book is essentially Coetzee's musings on the writing process and specifically, the relationship between author and character. This robs the story of all its life as you become aware of its artificial nature. Costello's discussions with Rayment are just an excuse to swap speeches, a sickness that spreads to Marijana and her family. If you're a writer, then there is some intellectual interest in this but as a reader I felt disengaged from the story and all sympathy I felt for Paul disappeared.
Like I said, Coetzee's prose is excellent. I liked the way he set out Marijana's use of English, I enjoyed Paul's inner thoughts and I thought the imagery was great. It's just a shame that the introduction of Costello robs the story of any direction and sets up something of a flat ending.
The Verdict:
This starts out as a character study with an interesting premise and mid-way turns into a rumination on the relationship between authors and their characters (and specifically whether authors direct their characters or whether characters dictate to their authors). If you're a writer, you'll get more out of this than if you're a reader.
Paul Rayment is on the threshold of a comfortable old age when a calamitous cycling accident results in the amputation of a leg. Humiliated, his body truncated, his life circumscribed, he turns away from his friends.
He hires a nurse named Marijana, with whom he has a European childhood in common: hers in Croatia, his in France. Tactfully and efficiently she ministers to his needs. But his feelings for her, and for her handsome teenage son, are complicated by the sudden arrival on his doorstep of the celebrated Australian novelist Elizabeth Costello, who threatens to take over the direction of his life and the affairs of his heart.
The first 80 pages of this book are riveting. Coetzee's prose is almost flawless as we follow Paul literally from the moment he's hit by young Wayne Bright or Blight, through his experiences with rehabilitation nurses and social services, unsuitable carers and finally the arrival of Marijana. It's a very human experience - the reader understands Paul's feelings that his life is over, even as you are frustrated by his willingness to just give up. With Marijana, Paul sees a chance at a fresh life and again, you sympathise with his dreams of becoming her lover and thereby gaining the family he never had.
All this just seems to stop when Elizabeth Costello comes on the page. She seems to represent Coetzee himself and instead of a story about a man's rehabilitation from amputation, the rest of the book is essentially Coetzee's musings on the writing process and specifically, the relationship between author and character. This robs the story of all its life as you become aware of its artificial nature. Costello's discussions with Rayment are just an excuse to swap speeches, a sickness that spreads to Marijana and her family. If you're a writer, then there is some intellectual interest in this but as a reader I felt disengaged from the story and all sympathy I felt for Paul disappeared.
Like I said, Coetzee's prose is excellent. I liked the way he set out Marijana's use of English, I enjoyed Paul's inner thoughts and I thought the imagery was great. It's just a shame that the introduction of Costello robs the story of any direction and sets up something of a flat ending.
The Verdict:
This starts out as a character study with an interesting premise and mid-way turns into a rumination on the relationship between authors and their characters (and specifically whether authors direct their characters or whether characters dictate to their authors). If you're a writer, you'll get more out of this than if you're a reader.
