J.M. Coetzee, página 2 de 12

Por primera vez Infancia, Juventud y Verano, la magnífica trilogía de memorias noveladas del Premio Nobel de Literatura sudafricano, en un solo volumen. En Escena s de una vida de provincias, J. M. Coetzee evoca su infancia a comienzos de los años cincuenta (Infancia), traza un severo autorretrato del joven escritor aterrorizado ante la imposibilidad de encontrar su propia voz narrativa y el arduo peregrinaje que comienza en busca de si mismo (Juventud) y recuerda e imagina su propia vida con una mirada critica e implacable, revelando sus dolorosos debates morales y sus esfuerzos por entender que significa apreciar a otro ser humano (Verano).

O protagonista de Verán é John Coetzee, un escritor que comparte co autor deste libro procedencia, profesión, obras e Premio Nobel. Só que na ficción xa está morto. A través das conversas que mantén un biografo ingles, o relato reconstrue a vida do personaxe entre os anos 1972 e 1977. A sua curma, unha bailarina brasileira e outras persoas que o coñeceron pintan un Coetzee zoupon con escasas habilidades sociais, nun fresco que se move entre o emotivo e o comico.

After crossing oceans, a man and a boy arrive in a new land. Here they are each assigned a name and an age, and held in a camp in the desert while they learn Spanish, the language of their new country. As Simon and David they make their way to the relocation centre in the city of Novilla, where officialdom treats them politely but not necessarily helpfully. Simon finds a job in a grain wharf. The work is unfamiliar and backbreaking, but he soon warms to his stevedore comrades, who during breaks conduct philosophical dialogues on the dignity of labour, and generally take him to their hearts. Now he must set about his task of locating the boy's mother. Though like everyone else who arrives in this new country he seems to be washed clean of all traces of memory, he is convinced he will know her when he sees her. And indeed, while walking with the boy in the countryside Simon catches sight of a woman he is certain is the mother, and persuades her to assume the role. David's new mother comes to realise that he is an exceptional child, a bright, dreamy boy with highly unusual ideas about the world. But the school authorities detect a rebellious streak in him and insist he be sent to a special school far away. His mother refuses to yield him up, and it is Simon who must drive the car as the trio flees across the mountains. The Childhood of Jesus is a profound, beautiful and continually surprising novel from a very great writer.

"Esta antología es personal en dos sentidos. Primero, está formada por poemas que significan y significaron mucho para mí. Segundo, está formada por poemas que responden a mi estándar personal de excelencia poetica.Si hay un tema en la antologia, este aparece de manera tenue: la nostalgia de una epoca en que habia muchos dioses.De la Introduccion de J. M. Coetzee (Premio Nobel de Literatura)"

A los cincuenta y dos años, David Lurie tiene poco de lo que enorgullecerse. Con dos divorcios a sus espaldas, apaciguar el deseo es su única aspiración; sus clases en la universidad son un mero trámite para el y para los estudiantes. Cuando se destapa su relacion con una alumna, David, en un acto de soberbia, preferira renunciar a su puesto antes que disculparse en publico. Rechazado por todos, abandona Ciudad del Cabo y va a visitar la granja de su hija Lucy. Alli, en una sociedad donde los codigos de comportamiento, sean de blancos o de negros, han cambiado; donde el idioma es una herramienta viciada que no sirve a este mundo naciente, David vera hacerse añicos todas sus creencias en una tarde de violencia implacable. Una historia profunda, extraordinaria, que por momentos atenaza el corazon, y siempre, hasta el final, subyuga. Desgracia, la ultima novela de J. M. Coetzee, no dejara indiferente al lector.

Elizabeth Costello is an Australian writer of international renown. Famous principally for an early novel that established her reputation, she has reached the stage where her remaining function is to be venerated and applauded. Her life has become a series of engagements in sterile conference rooms throughout the world - a private consciousness obliged to reveal itself to a curious public: the presentation of a major award at an American college where she is required to deliver a lecture a sojourn as the writer in residence on a cruise liner a visit to her sister, a missionary in Africa, who is receiving an honorary degree, an occasion which both recognise as the final opportunity for effecting some form of reconciliation and a disquieting appearance at a writers'' conference in Amsterdam where she finds the subject of her talk unexpectedly amongst the audience. She has made her life''s work the study of other people yet now it is she who is the object of scrutiny. But, for her, what matters is the continuing search for a means of articulating her vision and the verdict of future generations.

In an act of breathtaking imagination, J.M. Coetzee readically reinvents the story of Robinson Crusoe. In the early eighteenth century, a woman finds herself set adrift from a mutinous ship and cast ashore on a remote desert island. There she finds shelter with its only other inhabitants: a man named Cruso and his tongueless slave Friday. In time, she builds a life for herself as Cruso's companion and, eventually, his lover. At last, they are rescued by a passing ship, but only she and Friday survive the journey back to London. Determined to have her story told, she pursues the eminent man of letters Daniel Foe in the hope that he will truthfully relate her memories to the world. But with Cruso dead, Friday incapable of speech and Foe himself intent on reshaping her narrative, Barton struggles to maintain her grip on the past, only to fall victim to the seduction and tyranny of storytelling itself. Treacherous, elegant and unexpectedly moving, Foe remains one of the most exquisitely composed of this pre-eminent author's works.

La signora Curren, un'insegnante in pensione, diviene suo malgrado testimonedi eventi storici violenti, di cui radio e televisione non dicono nulla, ma dicui sono protagonisti i figli della domestica: l'anziana signora si ritrova adover medicare e identificare i corpi dei ragazzi. Questa lunga e lentaagonia, individuale e privata, ma anche collettiva e pubblica, e racchiusanelle pagine di una lettera che la donna lascera in eredita alla figlialontana, che da tempo ha voltato le spalle al paese. Latore di questa missivasara forse il signor Vercueil, il misterioso compagno dei suoi ultimi giornidi vita: angelo maledetto, messaggero, parassita?

"Susan Barton naufraga in un''isola abitata solo da un uomo enigmatico, Cruso, e dal suo servitore, Venerdi. Del loro passato, Susan riesce a sapere poco o nulla. Cruso le rivela solo che Venerdi e incapace di parlare: qualcuno gli ha mozzato la lingua quand''era ancora bambino, condannandolo a un eterno silenzio. Dopo la morte di Cruso, Susan, salvata e riportata in Inghilterra insieme a Venerdi ha un unico desiderio: che uno scrittore, Foe, racconti dell''isola, di lei, di Cruso e, soprattutto, dia voce al silenzio di Venerdi che, giorno dopo giorno, si fa insopportabile. Coetzee reinventa la vicenda di Robinson Crusoe, puntando lo sguardo sulla narrazione, arte tirannica, mistificatoria, e pero necessaria, l''unica salvezza nell''oscuro disegno della vita. "

Although Paul Auster and J.M. Coetzee had been reading each other's books for years, the two writers did not meet until February 2008. Not long after, Auster received a letter from Coetzee, suggesting they begin exchanging letters on a regular basis and, "God willing, strike sparks off each other". "Here and Now" is the result of that proposal: an epistolary dialogue between two great writers who became great friends. Over three years their letters touched on nearly every subject, from sports to fatherhood, film festivals to incest, philosophy to politics, from the financial crisis to art, family, marriage, friendship, and love. Their correspondence offers an intimate and often amusing portrait of these two men as they explore the complexities of the here and now and is a reflection of two sharp intellects whose pleasure in each other's friendship is apparent on every page.