Slow Man
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| Slow Man | |
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| Author | J. M. Coetzee |
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| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | Secker & Warburg |
| Publication date | 1 September 2005 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 272pp (UK hardback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-436-20611-0 |
Slow Man is a 2005 novel by South African/Australian author J. M. Coetzee, and concerns a man who must learn to adapt after losing a leg in a road accident. The novel has many varied themes, including the nature of care, the relationship between an author and his characters, and man's drive to leave a legacy. It is Coetzee's first novel since winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2003.
[edit] Plot summary
Paul Rayment, a man of late middle-age, loses part of a leg after his bicycle collides with a young man. He becomes reclusive, and must retreat to his flat and submit to a succession of nurses. None suit him until Marijana, with whom he shares a European childhood (hers in Croatia, his in France), comes along. Paul's feelings for Marijana, and her teenage son, become more complex. When Paul offers to finance her son's education, Marijana's husband is not so happy, and the interactions between carer and submissive become awkward.
It is not until the famed author Elizabeth Costello – a character with some overlap with the eponymous heroine of Coetzee's 2003 novel Elizabeth Costello – finds her way into Paul's life that he is able to become a stronger and fuller person.
The book can be read as a discourse on the inter-relationship between the literary author and the characters, and with reality.
[edit] Theatrical adaptation
An operatic adaption of Slow Man by the composer Nicholas Lens, in close co-operation with J. M. Coetzee who is writing the libretto, has been announced.
The opera will be written for baritone (Paul Rayment), mezzo-soprano (Elizabeth Costello), soprano coloratura (Marijana), two dancers, orchestra and female choir. The world premiere would most likely take place at the opera house La Monnaie in Brussels in September 2010.
[edit] Reviews
- Defending South African Realism by Ruben Copoosamy
- Review from MysteryInk
- Photoshop Love in J.M. Coetzee’s Book About Captive Goldfish, Slow Man
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