Slow Man - J M Coetzee

“A leg gone : what is losing a leg, in the larger perspective? In the larger perspective, losing a leg is no more than a rehearsal for losing everything. Whom is he going to shout at when that day arrives? Whom is he going to blame?”

We keep planning for our future, I’ll do this, next year; I won’t do it next month onward; at 55 with my retirement I’ll leave everything on children and will start living my life on my own terms and so on, you can give a thought to your own plans too. But our destiny is already written and it’s done even before we took our first breath on this planet and our future now, in accordance with our destiny, is predicted and dictated to us by events, small and big, that happen in our day to day life. Some of them change our life in ways that are unrepairable and there is no turning back for us. Our life after that is just a bag of questions like, “Am I living just for the sake of living?” “I will accept whatever is there in my destiny” “Why this happened to me?? Why me?” and so on.

To some extent that’s what happens with Paul Rayment in this story of Slow Man and his destiny is changed (I’d rather say, is predicted to him) by a moment, he never considered important before the event, but that’s all what remains with him after it occurred.

Author :

Author J. M. Coetzee is a well known one. He won Nobel Prize in literature in 2003 and before that he has won many other awards like 2 booker and 3 SA’ Premier Literary award and so on but none of them was for this book. I think he fell short of his creativity and thoughts on this one and also on defining his characters well. He lives in Australia and that’s where this story is based on. The book first published in 2005 and is 262 pages long.

Story :

It begins with an accident, between a bicycle and a car; where in Paul Rayment on cycle loses his right leg. In hospital, most of the things associated to surgeries are done to him without his much consent as he stays unconscious most of the time. When he gains back full control over his mind, an active part of his life’s already gone along with his leg. Doctors do put an option of prosthesis before him with all possible attempts to convince that with new technologies it’ll be just like a real leg. But PR who thinks that doctor has already played much with his body, without much conformity to him, discards the idea inflexibly considering it will hurt his self-respect. PR returns home with his new dependency on others.

PR, a divorced person of 60 years of age with no children, has no one to take care of him so, on an advice from a friend, he takes the service of nursing. After rejecting 2 nurses due his dislike towards their attitude and working style he finally settles for Marijaana Jokic and as mostly happens with most disabled people he soon falls in love with Marijaana. And Marijaana even after knowing it carries on with her job most professionally. PR who has already begun missing his wife, his children (who never were there), makes up his mind to do everything for Marijaana and her family, taking care of her children which involves a son – Drago and two daughters Ljuba and Blanka. He agrees to sponsor Drago for studies in a good college and decides to become Godfather to him. But the key to this entire lie in the hands of Marijaana and her husband Miroslav, who must agree to accept his offer.

And then enters Elizabeth Costello with a bang, a writer of 60 years of age, who comes out of nowhere and starts living in PR’s flat, much to his displeasure. She claims to know everything that’s happening in PR’s life, including his love for Marijaana and she even knows everything about the Jokic Family, how, not revealed and from where and why she comes in the story, I guess it may be there in writer’s mind but its not in book. She starts pushing him to follow his heart, do this and that and most of all tries to convince him to bring his life back in action, take control of his life and confront Jokic family directly with his intentions towards Marijaana, which I guess were nothing unusual.

What I Feel :

What happens in between is better ignored. But, yes, the climax is bit touching and brings back some interest but I don’t think anyone will read till that chapter, though I did.

The best part of the book is the chapter where PR misses his wife and children and the way he imagine things about his son. The feelings and repentance of a childless person are put in words very well.

Characters wise there are is hardly any which touches the heart. To some extent Drago makes the story interesting and yes the conversations between PR and Elizabeth Costello are worth reading. I am putting down two of them.

Language is simple and writing style is worth reading. But I guess its better to try other books by this author, especially “DISGRACE” which has got rating from all the reviewers on MS. But yes, if you like to know about old age worries and problems and and the viewpoint of old people, you can give “Slow Man’ a look.

Thoughts from Book :

Paul “You are trying to make me do this so that you can put me in your book”

Final Words :

So in all, ‘Slow Man is the title and so is this book’. It has some pages worth reading but at the cost of putting lot of valuable energy and time to find them out. To be writer can find someting to learn here but other hard core fiction better give it a skip.

My Rating 3.5 for literary readers and 2 for hard core fiction reader. Overall Rating 2.5.

Take Care and Keep Writing and Smiling

Vikky Gural

PYAR HUMEIN PHIR MILAAEGA...

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