Scenes From Provincial Life - Softcover
In a small town in the South Africa of the 1940s, a young boy is ill at ease with his father and stifled by his mother's unconditional love. At school he passes every test that is set for him, but he remains wary of his fellow pupils, especially the rough Afrikaners. Later, as a student in Cape Town he readies himself to escape to Europe but once in London, the reality is dispiriting: he toils as a computer programmer, inhabits a series of damp, dreary flats and is haunted by loneliness and boredom. Decades later, an English biographer researches a book about the late John Coetzee, interviewees describe an awkward man still living with his father. His family regard him with suspicion and he is dogged by rumours.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author:
J. M. COETZEE's work includes Waiting For the Barbarians, Life & Times of Michael K, Boyhood, Youth, Disgrace and Diary of a Bad Year. He was the first author to win the Booker Prize twice and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2003.
Review:
Summertime
"This is the third instalment of a life so reserved, so repressed, so seething with polite rage and restrained despair that it could only be approached through a third-person voice... it is wonderful stuff. But then, Coetzee is wonderful: edgy, black, remoreselessly human, witty, and often outright funny...
— Irish Times
Boyhood
"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
Youth
"Only a writer as great as J. M. Coetzee is capable of infusing meditation on the spoilt hope of youth with such clarity, flency and poise... The quality of the writing and its unflinching truthfulness make it exhilarating."
—Daily Mail
"This is the third instalment of a life so reserved, so repressed, so seething with polite rage and restrained despair that it could only be approached through a third-person voice... it is wonderful stuff. But then, Coetzee is wonderful: edgy, black, remoreselessly human, witty, and often outright funny...
— Irish Times
Boyhood
"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
Youth
"Only a writer as great as J. M. Coetzee is capable of infusing meditation on the spoilt hope of youth with such clarity, flency and poise... The quality of the writing and its unflinching truthfulness make it exhilarating."
—Daily Mail
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherVintage Books
- Publication date2018
- ISBN 10 0099555670
- ISBN 13 9780099555674
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages512
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. Scenes from Provincial Life brings together, in one volume, J.M. Coetzees majestic trilogy of fictionalised memoir, Boyhood, Youth and SummertimeIt opens in a small town in the South Africa of the 1940s. We meet a young boy who, at home, is ill at ease with his father and stifled by his mothers unconditional love. At school he passes every test that is set for him, but he remains wary of his fellow pupils. Later, as a student of mathematics in Cape Town he prepares to escape to Europe and turn himself into an artist. Once in London, however, the reality is dispiriting. Decades on, an English biographer researches a book about the late writer, John Coetzee. As he interviews important figures in Coetzees life, a portrait emerges of an awkward outsider who even after death remains dogged by rumours. Coetzees majestic trilogy of fictionalised memoir, Boyhood, Youth and SummertimeIt opens in a small town in the South Africa of the 1940s. As he interviews important figures in Coetzees life, a portrait emerges of an awkward outsider who even after death remains dogged by rumours. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780099555674
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Book Description Paperback / softback. Condition: New. New copy - Usually dispatched within 4 working days. Coetzee's majestic trilogy of fictionalised memoir, Boyhood, Youth and SummertimeIt opens in a small town in the South Africa of the 1940s. As he interviews important figures in Coetzee's life, a portrait emerges of an awkward outsider who - even after death - remains dogged by rumours. Seller Inventory # B9780099555674
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Brand New. 0 edition. 496 pages. 8.98x5.87x1.38 inches. In Stock. Seller Inventory # __0099555670
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