Slow Man
Ratings1
Average rating4
15
Ratings1
Average rating4
A masterful new novel from one of the greatest writers alive.
Paul Rayment is on the threshold of a comfortable old age when a calamitous cycling accident results in the amputation of a leg. Humiliated, his body truncated, his life circumscribed, he turns away from his friends.
He hires a nurse named Marijana, with whom he has a European childhood in common: hers in Croatia, his in France. Tactfully and efficiently she ministers to his needs. But his feelings for her, and for her handsome teenage son, are complicated by the sudden arrival on his doorstep of the celebrated Australian novelist Elizabeth Costello, who threatens to take over the direction of his life and the affairs of his heart.
Unflinching in its vision of suffering and generous in its portrayal of the spirit of care, Slow Man is a masterful work of fiction by one of the world’s greatest writers.
Reviews with the most likes.
Hmm. Hmmm. I feel weird about giving this book three stars; it seems like it should have more, but according to GR three stars means “I liked it.” And I didn't “really like” or “love” this book. So three it is. But it was good. I loved Elizabeth Costello, and Elizabeth turned up as a minor-ish character in this novel, which I was excited about. But the protagonist viewed her as kind of a joke. Which I did not like. But she treated the protagonist as a joke, too. I don't know. I did like the exploration of disability and immigration and “home.” And I do like the way Coetzee writes, the artistry of the individual sentences. And this was a pretty quick-paced read.
