Why might one be drawn to read a collection of the book reviews from a writer who himself is an accomplished fiction writer? In Inner Workings, J.M.Coetzee analyzes and penetrates few of the literary work by others and through his own voice, gives detailed reviews, explain nuances of work from his, sometimes, detached lens of understanding. In an essay on V.S.Naipaul he explains:
One of the more consistent strains in the story Naipaul tells of his own life is that it was by a pure effort of will that he became a writer. He was not gifted with fantasy; he had only his childhood in paltry Port of Spain to call on, no larger historical memory (this was where Trinidad failed him, and, behind Trinidad, India); he seemed to have no subject. Only after a decades-long labour of writing did he finally come to the Proustian realization that he had known his true subject all along, and his subject was himself- himself and his efforts, as a colonial raised in a culture that did not (he was told) belong to him and without (he was told) a history, to find a way in the world.
4 comments:
I remember the Naipaul review because it covered Half a Life and it was one of the few books that I had read. Inner Workings has introduced me to quite a few authors, and I recently picked a copy of Musil's The Man Without Qualities because I remembered it from Inner Workings. Fun to read the reviews again after you read the book - to have Coetzee's perspective which is more detailed and profound than one's own. At the very least, its a great primer on how reviews ought to be written.
Niranjan: I picked up Inner Workings from your reading list, and I am thankful for that. Been drawn to Coetzee's work, his sense to remain calm and profound at the same time in his reviews is remarkable. Sandor Marai, Arthur Miller, Robert Musil and many more. Book is something I will treasure, to go back to it again and again.
I have a feeling I should not delay reading "Diary of a bad year".
Glad you did :). Diary of a Bad Year is good. So are Disgrace and Elizabeth Costello. Life and Times of Michael K is a bit slow I thought. And there's a copy of Waiting for the Barbarians waiting to be read.
I am through 100 pages of Musil's long book, and I am told he died before finishing it. I hope I don't share that fate.
Have read Disgrace a while back. Good book.
Time to do mid-read review for Musil then, just in case, you know! Please don't die..:)
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