: Biography & autobiography: general; Novels, other prose & writers; Literary studies: from c 1900 -
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9780099268277
Description
A first volume of memoirs, revisiting the South Africa of half a century ago, of a boy growing up in a small country town with a father he could not respect and a mother he adored. Coetzee evokes the tensions, delights and terrors of childhood, in a world of unexplained rules he knew he must obey.
Awards
Shortlisted for South African Booksellers' Choice Award 1998.
Reviews
"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" "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"
