Reviews

Only got interesting towards the end then tapered off into obscurity. Some memorable quotes in here but not really worth reading the whole book for. Liked where the story was going but the themes Coetzee spent time trying to convey left me bored. And what’s with all the weird perversions on women and young girls?

verchovenskij's review against another edition

Go to review page

1.0

With all due respect, what a disappointing novel.

kitness's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Why even use Dostoevsky's name when all you want to write about is yourself?

I'm very lucky that my first Coetzee was "Waiting for the Barbarians." This book has a lot of the same character themes, but much less well done, and completely missing the clear plot muddied surrealistically and grand statements about humanity and societies. Like "Foe," this one is just a lukewarm stream-of-consciousness flappycake.

I thought when I read "Waiting for the Barbarians," I had happened upon a living brilliant writer, each of whose books would be masterful and deep. But now I've read these three, and it's just the one. I don't know if I will ever try another Coetzee. He needs to get his head out of his ass.

Similar, far better things to read:
Crime & Punishment
The 13th House by Zameenzad
Chekhov's short stories
Moravagine
Lolita
To The Lighthouse
Invisible Man by Ellison

lauraportalupi's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

Maybe I needed to have read Dostoevsky to fully appreciate this book.

iammandyellen's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

this one's a fictionalized account of Dostoevsky's return to russia upon the death of his stepson. i love coetzee most for his exquisite rendering of painfully awkward everyday injustices. i read them wincing. and to imagine fyodor! what a mind to assume, of all minds!

quitenerdyblog's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

Another case of me reading to a deadline, getting in the way of my actual enjoyment. I did definitely enjoy parts of this though. If you asked me about characters or plot events, I would struggle, but I left with a myriad of emotional responses to the text that other similarly perplexing novels haven't given me. Perhaps it's mainly because I was listening to the soundtrack while reading but I did get serious Disco Elysium vibes from this. Sad soviets, at the edge of their own personal apocalypse, searching for answers that may not exist.

More...