A new work of fiction by the Nobel Prizewinning author of Disgrace
In this brilliant new work of fiction, J. M. Coetzee onc... read full description
In this brilliant new work of fiction, J. M. Coetzee onc... read full description
reviews
Jun 08, 2010
Greg
rated it: 
The novel is written in three continuous strands. First, a series of short essays. What some people call Occasional Pieces. Second, the story of the writer and the lady. Or what could be called the general plot of the book. And third the perspective of the lady, her observations and narration of the events of strand two and sometimes opinions of strand one, of which she has been hired to type up for the aging author.
Almost every page is split into three sections. Each section c More...
Almost every page is split into three sections. Each section c More...
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Jan 13, 2009
Audrey
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I was slightly dismayed to find that this is one of those books which manipulates the reader with strange page arrangements and multiple points of view, but I was soon drawn into the story. In fact, it is suspenseful, thought-provoking, and quite interesting. Maybe it is a story about relationships; between men and women, between youth and age, between ideas and emotions, between prose and essay, between reader and author. Well, I'm not the first person to say that Coetzee is a great original
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Sep 14, 2007
brian
rated it: 
coetzee, one of the great living writers, has lost his faith in narrative... in the power of fictional characters and situations to illuminate some kind of truth as it pertains to real life. Elizabeth Costello was fascinating if only to watch coetzee wrestle with his objections to conventional narrative. Slow Man, on the other hand, was just horrible. his first horrible novel. and Diary of a Bad Year is somewhere in between. its worst crime, perhaps, is a blandness and breeziness just not accep
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Feb 05, 2009
J. M. Coetzee, who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 2003 and is one of only two writers to win the Booker Prize twice, is clearly not content to rest on his laurels. In fact, most critics consider Diary of a Bad Year to be his most ambitious work yet. While the plot itself isn't particularly innovative, the novel's complex narrative structure masterfully weaves multiple voices and viewpoints into a beautifully textured literary counterpoint. There are plenty of layers here: C's biography is
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Apr 14, 2011
Troy
rated it: 
“So that was what I was, a book editor, she said. I didn’t know. I thought I was just a humble typist.
On the contrary, I said, on the contrary.”
The second speaker is JC, ostensible and aged protagonist of the novel; the first is Anya, the beautiful young woman with whom JC is enamoured and who he hires to type what could well be his final literary offering – a number of “strong opinions” touching on a variety of controversial topics. The passage quoted, to which I’ll retu More...
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Dec 10, 2007
Philip
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Whose diary of "serious opinions" is this? Coetzee's? The protagonist JC's? The book is ostensibly a collection of so-called "serious opinions", written by an apparently fictional character, who could in fact be the author. Each page is divided horizontally into 3 blocks, the first containing the opinions, the 2nd and 3rd containing dialogues between the characters, as well as their thoughts. A sometimes difficult book to read structurally-speaking (left to right? top to bott
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Mar 29, 2009
Rosemary
rated it: 
J. M. Coetzee's pseudo-novel, "Diary of a Bad Year,"
is almost, but not really, once you accept his
concretismo terms of writing, irritating to read.
He sections off each page into three vantage
points of view by the three main characters.
The first section on the pages is the typed
manuscript of the author's, (thinly disguised
as Coetzee, himself), "Strong Opinions," comprising
all subjects from "01. -On the Origins More...
is almost, but not really, once you accept his
concretismo terms of writing, irritating to read.
He sections off each page into three vantage
points of view by the three main characters.
The first section on the pages is the typed
manuscript of the author's, (thinly disguised
as Coetzee, himself), "Strong Opinions," comprising
all subjects from "01. -On the Origins More...
Mar 15, 2009
Ryan
rated it:
Even if this book were a collection of essays, I would've found it an enjoyable read. Coetzee can penetrate to the core of an issue, and though the opinion's are meant to be those of a character, he still manages to say something important on a variety of topics (some citations would've been appreciated in a couple of examples). As a novel, the work proves engaging, but I feel falls a little short of its ambitions. To his credit, Coetzee intertwines the essays so that they are part of the narrat
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Jan 23, 2009
Read the STOP SMILING review of Diary of a Bad Year:
J. M. Coetzee is a bit of a recluse — he persistently denies interviews and was not present at either of the Booker Prize award ceremonies held in his honor. For a man whose written word is so eloquent, he is famously tight-lipped in person. “A colleague who has worked with him for more than a decade claims to have seen him laugh just once,” said fellow South African Rian Malan in a New Statesmen article. “An acquaintance has attend More...
J. M. Coetzee is a bit of a recluse — he persistently denies interviews and was not present at either of the Booker Prize award ceremonies held in his honor. For a man whose written word is so eloquent, he is famously tight-lipped in person. “A colleague who has worked with him for more than a decade claims to have seen him laugh just once,” said fellow South African Rian Malan in a New Statesmen article. “An acquaintance has attend More...
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Jan 08, 2009
Angel
rated it:
"Disgrace" and "The Life and Times of Michael K," and "Elizabeth Costello," for that matter, are way up there on my list. This might be my least favorite Coetzee novel but that doesn't mean I didn't like it a lot.
This novel has three sections on each page. The top is the text of a book the protagonist is writing on his opinions of current events and political philosophy. The middle is the elderly narrator's narration about his relationship with his secreta More...
This novel has three sections on each page. The top is the text of a book the protagonist is writing on his opinions of current events and political philosophy. The middle is the elderly narrator's narration about his relationship with his secreta More...
Dec 17, 2008
Tony
rated it:
Coetzee, J. M. DIARY OF A BAD YEAR. (2008). *****. I know. I read and reviewed this about six months ago, but I decided to read it again. It is a marvelous book by the Nobel Prize winner for Literature in 2003. In it, he takes the opportunity to reflect on certain aspects of life: “a response to the present in which I find myself.” The narrator is Senor C, an author who has been selected as one of six from around the world to contribute a chapter to a book by his German publisher entitl
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Jan 27, 2012
Roger
rated it:
J.M. Coetzee’s new work of “fiction” has little to offer admirers of his past work. Flat, trite, and self-aggrandizing, Diary of a Bad Year feigns to include a story within the ramblings and rants of the main character, Señor C, a seventy-year old recluse writer who has been asked to submit “strong opinions” to his German publisher for an upcoming book of essays. The pages of Diary of a Bad Year are divided into thirds. The top of each page starts with one of the opinions/essays, where Señor C,
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Nov 05, 2011
Harry
rated it:
(more of a 3.5, but I can't click half a star. and who cares about star ratings, anyway? stars are for jerks! this is a book I'm glad I read)
There's a definite arc to the path of a famous author. Once you write a real smash hit it's hard to peak twice. You either a) write a string of novels that rarely come out and never match your previous acclaim, b) stop writing altogether, or c) grow disillusioned with the idea of straightforward narrative and begin to write anti-narratives and b More...
There's a definite arc to the path of a famous author. Once you write a real smash hit it's hard to peak twice. You either a) write a string of novels that rarely come out and never match your previous acclaim, b) stop writing altogether, or c) grow disillusioned with the idea of straightforward narrative and begin to write anti-narratives and b More...
Aug 05, 2011
Extraño.
Casi voy a la mitad y estoy igual que al principio, a esta altura lo estoy leyendo por curiosidad de ver si llega a algún lado.
Este libro inicialmente cuenta dos historias paralelas que luego se convierten en tres “literalmente” porque incluso están divididas en la página por una línea. No guarda un orden progresivo: podría tener una secuencia inversa sin cambiar el resultado. En el primer tema comencé a leerlo en orden igual que cualquier otro pero el salto de una historia a otra se hac More...
Casi voy a la mitad y estoy igual que al principio, a esta altura lo estoy leyendo por curiosidad de ver si llega a algún lado.
Este libro inicialmente cuenta dos historias paralelas que luego se convierten en tres “literalmente” porque incluso están divididas en la página por una línea. No guarda un orden progresivo: podría tener una secuencia inversa sin cambiar el resultado. En el primer tema comencé a leerlo en orden igual que cualquier otro pero el salto de una historia a otra se hac More...
Jul 28, 2011
Derek
rated it:
Very interesting stylistically, with 3 or 4 different narrative threads running in parallel. How these are spun out is cleverly done, and I often found myself reading in different ways. If one narrative drew me in I'd read that for a few pages then flick back to catch up on the others. Other times I'd read all 3 threads that were running at the same time. However the different stories were not, when all's said and done, in any way remarkable or particularly illuminating. The "documentary"
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Feb 20, 2011
Andrew
rated it:
This novel is divided into three sections on each page: the essays for the book "Strong Opinions" that an older novelist, Senor C, is writing, Senor C's narration, and his typist Anya's narration.
Coetzee meshes the separate sections together well, as in when Senor C takes Anya's advice and writes about something besides politics. I really liked the way the opinion essays flowed from political thought to art and music and subjective experiences.
The writer in the sto More...
Coetzee meshes the separate sections together well, as in when Senor C takes Anya's advice and writes about something besides politics. I really liked the way the opinion essays flowed from political thought to art and music and subjective experiences.
The writer in the sto More...
Jun 09, 2010
Jenneffer
rated it:
I was first introduced to Coetzee via his novel Disgrace. I acquired it during boot camp-style training in south africa. Maybe it should have put me off, but instead served to pique my curiosity even more about this strange and wonderful place.
I love that, after living here for almost a year and picking us this novel from my local public library, that i understand his point of view, i can visualize ever more clearly what makes Coetzee tick. There were passages, especially toward the end, where i More...
I love that, after living here for almost a year and picking us this novel from my local public library, that i understand his point of view, i can visualize ever more clearly what makes Coetzee tick. There were passages, especially toward the end, where i More...
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Mar 09, 2010
Justin
rated it:
Lots of things one could criticize about this novel. My knee-jerk response is to say: if you wanted to write a 'Minima Moralia,' there's no reason you can't write one. If you want to write a short story about an asshole, who happens to be the ultimate symbol of our time (Alan, I mean), do that. But don't do both and then throw them together like this. The obvious, and correct, response to that though is to say "well, Mr, Coetzee is a novelist and he can't write opinions like a philosopher c
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Jun 04, 2009
Eric
rated it:
This novel (dare I call it a novel?!) grew on me rather steadily, and I'd probably add another half-star to the rating if I could. The tripartite structure of most of the book's pages seems mostly gimmicky at first, but I did eventually find the changing nature of the text's invitations and rhythms to be interesting (sometimes I'd read each of the three sections on a single page, then move to the next page and do the same, while other times I'd read the first section of two successive pages and
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Jun 03, 2009
Carl
rated it:
It's a quick read, with a novel (read:new) narrative style. The narrative is broken into two, sometimes three voices per page. Bouncing from voice to voice on each page is somewhat disruptive, but seems to mirror the multi-tasking distracted state with which the most modern readers navigate their daily lives: checking email or receiving phone calls during the middle of a project, turning to review a favorite blog or the news, and then back to the project. The story is simultaneously told by a
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Aug 04, 2008
Joyce
rated it:
I just finished this. I've been reading and loving Coetzee for 20 years. This is, I think, his best. It goes very very deep, both intellectually and emotionally -- also spiritually and politically! The structure -- three simultaneous "story"-lines, all on the same page -- works amazingly well. So much layering and interconnection; the stylistic innovation is not a "trick" or a game; it makes sense and strengthens the realism of the text: our minds and our lives really
Feb 10, 2011
Kimi
rated it:
the first thing you notice is the unusual layout of this novel: each page is divided into two parts (later, three), separated by a line. the top section is essays, 'strong opinions' written by the protagonist, an elderly south african writer living in australia. many of the opinions concern the 'war on terror', torture at guatanamo, etc. the second part is the narrator's 'private' thoughts; he relates his meeting an interesting woman in the laundry room of his building. he hires her to be his
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Jan 20, 2012
Kerri
rated it:
Written in an unconventional format, Diary of a Bad Year chronicles the relationship between Señor C, an aging, ailing, and lonely author and his recently-hired typist, Anya. Coetzee divides each page (except for the first few) into three sections. The top section contains opinion pieces that Señor C is writing for a collection of short essays by prominent authors. The topics range from terrorism, to tourism, to Dostoevsky. The middle section of the page contains Señor C’s narration of the nove
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Jun 28, 2011
Bart
rated it:
Diary of a Bad Year is a novel in the sense that it presents something novel, a page cut in three horizontal pieces, but it is not a novel in the sense of having much of a story.
Coetzee can be forgiven this sort of thing, of course, but perhaps this book cannot. This book comprises three parts, none of which could hold up as a book of its own, arranged in a way that allows the writer to put a bow on the whole idea as if it were a single idea, or a novel.
The essays are th More...
Coetzee can be forgiven this sort of thing, of course, but perhaps this book cannot. This book comprises three parts, none of which could hold up as a book of its own, arranged in a way that allows the writer to put a bow on the whole idea as if it were a single idea, or a novel.
The essays are th More...
Feb 05, 2011
Shane
rated it:
In his recent novels, Coetzee has tended to experiment with newer forms of presentation, some I have liked and some not. Elizabeth Costello, I did not like, because in that novel Coetzee tried to pitch the author as moralizer, got lost in the last chapters, and frankly turned me off. In Diary of a Bad Year however, he returns to the same pitch but formats his presentation differently and pulls it off. He gets to be preachy within the bounds of a story.
So here we have an aging male w More...
So here we have an aging male w More...
Mar 11, 2009
Kenneth
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Nov 07, 2011
Venelin Iliev
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Прочетох я с голямо удоволствие. Хубава е. Написана е по особен начин, едновремено на всяка страница има три истории и ми беше малко трудно в началото да намеря подходящия ритъм за четене. Но, сега мога да кажа, че беше удоволствие да чета по този начин, да се напъвам, да осмислям, да се замислям, да научавам нови неща. Горщо я препоръчвам. Мисля, че Дж. М. Кутси е личното ми откритие за тази година. Почнах другата му книга - "Живот и страдания на Майкъл К." и предполагам, че ще прочет
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Feb 08, 2011
Liz
rated it:
This book was pretty different from anything I've read in awhile. I think it would be a really good read for a book group as there is a lot in it that could be discussed. In fact, I think it is almost hard to grasp its entirety without really taking the time to analyze it. Yes you can just read it through and take it for what it is worth but I think that would be cheating it of a lot of its meaning. There is a reason that Coetzee writes this story in the way that he does.
It is also More...
It is also More...
Dec 23, 2008
L
rated it:
"Diary of a Bad Year" is told from three perspectives; a "big thoughts" novel that JM Coetzee is writing for a German audience, his thoughts while he is writing this novel, and the thoughts of a young woman, Anya, whom he hires to type the novel for him. This construct is a bit challenging at first. The "topline" story is very heavily philosophical, but the construct of having pages split into three perspectives serves to break up the philosophy and make it manage
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Jun 30, 2011
Lavanya
rated it:
The narrative takes the form of parallel threads. There is one thread that is apparently extracted from a book in progress (or finished, not clear) and collects opinion pieces on various things - competition, music, Tony Blair, Osama Bin Laden, terrorism, apology, tourism, afterlife and so on. The second thread captures voice in the head of the author (i.e. the writer of above mentioned opinion pieces.) A third thread, which commences later than the first two, captures the voice of Anya, a typis
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