I got this book a week or so ago from my new favorite (used!) bookstore, BookThugNation.  I had gotten this along with several others…how can you not buy a lot of books when they are so good and used and cheap?

This is the first book that I’ve read by Coetzee, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2003, and I am smitten.  The book is thoroughly engaging on so many levels so I never felt as if I was settling for less than an incredibly good book.  First, the premise…the main part of the book is told by a narrator who happens to be an author.  This author has been asked to contribute to a book that will be called Strong Opinions. This gives the narrator the freedom to talk about anything he chooses, from torture to political systems to photography to birds.   The observations are astute and direct without ever seeming to be dogmatic.  The ‘Strong Opinions’ take up the top 1/3 to 1/2 of each page.

Below the section of strong opinions is the section that is the author’s personal voice.  This is more of his day-to-day interactions, although most of this section is made up of his thoughts and conversations with a woman from his building complex that he has hired to be the typist for his Strong Opinions.

The third and bottom section is reserved for Anya, the typist.  This section is made up of her observations, either of what she is typing or of the author.  This section is often filled with her conversations and disagreements with her boyfriend.

It’s a fascinating structure for a book and the sections have their own speed to them.  There is the high-minded section at the top of the page that requires more concentration which plays off of the quicker reads of the lower sections.  The tension that forms by constantly trying to decide which way to read to read the book (by finishing a page or a section first) is a unique and welcome feeling in reading.  So often, I’ve found that books completely neglect conceptual aspects of the reading experience and settle for a linear narrative.  This may sound like an annoying feature in a book but it seemed to me to mirror real life in the way that it is sometimes easier to focus on such weighty topics of morals and ethics, but one still has the daily life to lead.  The two lower sections of the pages were like brief escapes from seriousness, but because those sections were often discussing the top section, I could also see the interplay between personal/private, individual/society, and so on. It was fascinating without being overly stylized or flashy.

I loved the book and this apparently isn’t even one of Coetzee’s best books.  I highly recommend it and look forward to reading his others.