Saturday, December 17, 2005

Slow Man - J.M. Coetzee

This is the first book I've read from Coetzee and I'm sure that I'm going to read a lot more of him. Slow Man tells the story of a 60 year old man who's life is irreversibly changed when a car knocks down his bicycle and crushes one of his legs. Refusing to replace his hacked off leg with a prosthetic the old man hobbles through life with the help of various nurses until he falls in love with one of them - Marijana who's much younger than him and is married with three children. Then begins the struggle between morality and passion. It's amazing how Coetzee can look into each of his characters and bring them to life with so few words. The book asks the questions which we ask of ourselves most often - what is the meaning of life, has my life been meaningful, what does it mean to live a meaningful life - but does not provide any answers. The protagonist is one most of us would relate with since he suppresses his passions, thinks everything twice and ends up taking the path which would ruffle the least feathers. But has his life been just full of regrets for all the things that he could but did not do? A very thought provoking and extremely readable novel.