Publisher: Viking Books
Publication Date: January 2008 (Published in Australia in 2007)
ISBN: 9780670018758
Coetzee Deftly Juggles Multiple Story Lines
In Diary of a Bad Year, J.M. Coetzee, Australian by way of his native South Africa, has written a sparkling novel that leaves behind much of the stuffiness and despair of his 2005 novel Slow Man. Though the primary narrator, referred to as simply "C," has his share of problems due to advancing age, his needs seem much less desperate than Slow Man's Paul Rayment's.
The book begins with two story lines presented on each page. At the top are C's analyses of philosophical and political subjects like vegetarianism, democracy, and the war in Iraq. At the bottom is a sort of running footnote of C's mundane activities and feelings, which are heavily dominated by thoughts of the young typist he hires to type his manuscripts.
By page 25, a third story line appears at the bottom of each page. This narrative is told in the voice of Anya, the young, half-Filipino typist C hires. C's narrative continues in the middle of each page. Though this fictional set-up may sound confusing or even daunting, rest assured that Coetzee delivers just enough information in each story line on each page that the reader is able to assimilate the information fairly easily.
Scathing Political Analysis is Softened by Real Life Affection
The political exegesis running along the top of each page is often scathing, particularly in regard to the American invasion of Iraq, and Australia's participation therein. It is safe to say that anyone loyal to George W. Bush or John Howard will dislike this novel intensely. But the Iraq war is only one of several provocative subjects C takes on. Particularly moving is C's description of standard practices in Egyptian beef slaughterhouses.
Anya's Narrative
Anya's narrative, by contrast, is sweet, a little mischievious, and bubbly. It is hard to believe that even a writer with Coetzee's chops could so deftly write in the voice of a 30-year-old woman whose cares barely go beyond dressing well so that her live-in boyfriend can show her off. And yet, her voice is every bit as authentic as C's.
C's Narrative
Between these two run C's own narrative as writer of deadly serious analysis who is nonetheless smitten with his fluffy young typist. There is a hint of bewilderment in C's attachment to Anya, and a certain degree of self-condemnation, worry that he's simply an old fool entertaining idiotic, impure thoughts that have no chance of becoming real.
Alan's Narrative
The third character in this novel is Anya's boyfriend Alan, described by C as pasty, freckly, and unappealing. Alan is a successful investor who devises a way to siphon off some of C's minor fortune without his knowledge. Perhaps one key to Coetzee's ability to weave together three storylines so well is that he keeps his roster of characters very short, and plot actions fairly simple and easy to understand.
If one is new to Coetzee, this may not be the best novel to start with, but anyone who has read Coetzee before will easily take to this rather tricky fictional structure.
Coetzee won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2003. Born in South Africa, Coetzee now lives in Adelaide, Australia.
 |
