Year of Publication: 1983
Genre: Fiction
Coetzee’s 1983 Booker winning book, Life and Times of Michael K, is yet another cracker of Coetzee’s typical style of writing: sparse and straight-forward narrative. The book: though lean, and at 184 pages, provides enough in-depth picture of the civil war during the apartheid era in South Africa.
The book opens by introducing the main character: ‘The first thing the midwife noticed about Michael K when she helped him out of his mother into the world was that he had a hare lip.’ (p3) Michael K, whom the whole story revolves around, is described in great detail about his encounters and challenges during the war.
We are told from the early pages about Michael K’s deformity which eventually saw him out of school and thence committed to gardening work. ‘Because of his disfigurement and because his mind was not quick, Michael was taken out of school after a short trial and committed to the protection of Huis Norenius in Faure, where at the expense of the state he spent the rest of his childhood in the company of other variously afflicted and unfortunate children learning the elements of reading, writing, counting, weeping, scrubbing, bedmaking, dishwashing, basketweaving, woodwork and digging.’ (p4)
At the time of the war, Michael’s mother is ill and he is asked to take her to the countryside where she was born. So Michael’s mother, Anna K, outlines the plan that would eventually see her off to her birthplace. In the plan, she tells Michael to quit his job and take her by train.
As it turns out, Michael will transport his mother in a wheelbarrow because he will not be able to obtain the required permit to travel by train. Along the way, Michael’s mother dies in a hospital at Stellenbosch. She could not see her birthplace, Prince Albert, before she died. Michael will continue the journey with his mother’s ashes and will face several challenges along the way.
Life and Time of Michael K is split into three different parts. There are no chapters. Each part of the book flows easily and the narrative is easy to follow without getting lost along the way.
What kept bubbling up in mind as I kept to the pace at which the narrative was told was the question of the significance of man’s life on earth. Michael K appears to be a mere simple man who loves his work as a gardener. He falls within the lower ladder of the social class which he is aware of: ‘I have become an object of charity, he thought. Everywhere I go there are people waiting to exercise their forms of charity on me. All these years, and still I carry the look of an orphan.’ (p181)
A fine review, Geosi. It seems Michael K had a raw deal in life. I see him as a victim of the apartheid system
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You definetely need to read this.
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This one is definitely going on my to-read list.
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Hope you enjoy it when you get to reading it.
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I loved the way he caught michael he seemed just right but very long time since I read it ,but may favourite book by coetzee ,all the best stu
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I love the sound of this book, and have loved Coetzee in the past. I should really try yo look for this one when I can. It sounds really amazing and humbling. Great review today, my friend.
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When i started reading, it appeared slow..But slowly the story took pace and kept me glued to the book till it was over.
The period of civil war in SA, lifestyle of people in camps etc is described so brilliantly that anyone can get the actual feel and imagine the situations faced by Michel K.
Coetzee shows his excellence in bringing out different shades of “a modern man”. It is written so effectively that the readers will be forced to believe it to be true.
A good read..!!
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I just finished reading The Life and Times of Michael K. I found the world described to be quite dystopian; almost surreal. I am considering writing a review but feel I have to think about it a little more. You are accurate when you note that by the end of this slim volume much has been said. Bev
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