A review by blearywitch
Boyhood: Scenes from Provincial Life by J.M. Coetzee
3.0
Birthday book 11/13 for 2019; boyhood theme (because we were having a baby boy that June).
I wanted to like this book more but it sort of dwindled after the halfway point. At no point did he do anything outstanding in his childhood. He disliked his father but he never stood up to him even when he saw his mother mistreated and the father plunged the family into debt and despair. He never stood up to the children who bullied him in school. He came across as a boy who felt that his mother spoilt him and so he was a rude little shit to his mother alone. He was timid and a coward elsewhere. He wants to be a man but he can't forge relationships with any other male member of the extended family because he feels misunderstood all the damn time. I was hoping to learn about his life as a South African but it was a bit disappointing because he focused mainly on how crappy people are and how badly he behaved. There was no redemption. It's a good thing he can write - that kept me going. I wonder what he thinks of himself now and if his relationships - with his mother, and extended family - has improved.
I wanted to like this book more but it sort of dwindled after the halfway point. At no point did he do anything outstanding in his childhood. He disliked his father but he never stood up to him even when he saw his mother mistreated and the father plunged the family into debt and despair. He never stood up to the children who bullied him in school. He came across as a boy who felt that his mother spoilt him and so he was a rude little shit to his mother alone. He was timid and a coward elsewhere. He wants to be a man but he can't forge relationships with any other male member of the extended family because he feels misunderstood all the damn time. I was hoping to learn about his life as a South African but it was a bit disappointing because he focused mainly on how crappy people are and how badly he behaved. There was no redemption. It's a good thing he can write - that kept me going. I wonder what he thinks of himself now and if his relationships - with his mother, and extended family - has improved.