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A review by daniel_b_martin
The Death of Jesus by J.M. Coetzee
5.0
Fantastic ending to a thought provoking trilogy. This third work wraps together some of the bits and pieces left open in the first two books, it goes beyond being a simple fictional narrative and instead makes a sophisticated utilization of the narrative to make philosophical statements about values, institutions and the ever waging war between real and ideal worlds. It does not lack mystery, heartache and all the themes of being human. I believe that part of Coetzee's mission with this trilogy is to evoke the passions, and or, at least to make us aware of what potentials both living a passionate or a stoic existence has to offer, or leaves empty within, our lives.
The explicit entrails of the project of re-philosophicalization of fiction and re-fictionalization of philosophy are finally made evident in this work in which Coetzee explicitly announces that he was not trying to argue that any approach is more useful or correct than any other, that the message that is most important isn't the one administered but the one that is received. I found this aspect which occurs near the end of the book to be very eloquent and an ode to both the genre and goals of this project. I find this series to be inspiring as my own works struggle to contribute to this same project of philosophical fiction as well.
Overall, throughout the series I also find the plights of Simon, David, Innes, Arroyo, etc. and even Dimitri, dance together to create a realistic context of life through which the many subjective perspectives and vantage points of the characters perform an exceptional existential survey and do well to mirror the subjective variance of real life human beings in community. One could even perchance say that when they dance together they bring the numbers 'down from the stars', rehumanizing the ideal and showing how both ideal and institutional arrangements can hardly encompass or determine all aspects and forms of being human- particularly within a real context. Without this variance, diversity and inescapability of the vastness of humanity we cannot properly reflect the vastness of the cosmos which we inhabit and contain within the courageous and bright lights of our very own souls.
Lastly, regardless of David's lack of assignation of a number, I think that David was right when he stated to Simon that he is "number 100", because he did give 100% bravery and never gave up on being himself no matter who had what opinions and why. His spirit throughout the three books proves that David gave himself to the world until the world, complicated, complex and unmistakably mysterious in the origins and future of life, came at last to sweep over him in a fit of its own failures.
The explicit entrails of the project of re-philosophicalization of fiction and re-fictionalization of philosophy are finally made evident in this work in which Coetzee explicitly announces that he was not trying to argue that any approach is more useful or correct than any other, that the message that is most important isn't the one administered but the one that is received. I found this aspect which occurs near the end of the book to be very eloquent and an ode to both the genre and goals of this project. I find this series to be inspiring as my own works struggle to contribute to this same project of philosophical fiction as well.
Overall, throughout the series I also find the plights of Simon, David, Innes, Arroyo, etc. and even Dimitri, dance together to create a realistic context of life through which the many subjective perspectives and vantage points of the characters perform an exceptional existential survey and do well to mirror the subjective variance of real life human beings in community. One could even perchance say that when they dance together they bring the numbers 'down from the stars', rehumanizing the ideal and showing how both ideal and institutional arrangements can hardly encompass or determine all aspects and forms of being human- particularly within a real context. Without this variance, diversity and inescapability of the vastness of humanity we cannot properly reflect the vastness of the cosmos which we inhabit and contain within the courageous and bright lights of our very own souls.
Lastly, regardless of David's lack of assignation of a number, I think that David was right when he stated to Simon that he is "number 100", because he did give 100% bravery and never gave up on being himself no matter who had what opinions and why. His spirit throughout the three books proves that David gave himself to the world until the world, complicated, complex and unmistakably mysterious in the origins and future of life, came at last to sweep over him in a fit of its own failures.