Minutes February Book: Diary of a Bad Year by J.M Coetzee

Minutes February Book: Diary of a Bad Year by J.M Coetzee


(chosen by Fairlie)








I have to confess to choosing this book somewhat hastily. A colleague recommended it. After flicking through a few pages and with no further research, I signed it up as my choice for this year. What appealed to me was the challenge of reading a book with an obvious degree of difficulty – the split stories running across the pages would, I thought, challenge our assumptions about how to read a book.

J. M. Coetzee was the first author to win the Booker Prize twice and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2003. His work includes Waiting for the Barbarians, Life and Times of Michael K, The Master of Petersburg, Disgrace and Inner Workings. He lives in Adelaide.
(biographical details sourced from Text Publishing’s website)

What the publisher says about the book:

A famous writer is commissioned to contribute to a book of essays called Strong opinions when he meets a young woman who lives in his apartment tower. He asks
her to become his...
... ... ... ... ...
In the laundry room of her apartment block a young woman makes the acquaintance of an ageing writer. She agrees to type up his opinions, although she is aware that what he really desires...
... ... ... ... ...
The young woman's boyfriend starts to spy on his neighbour and hatches a jealous plot to...

J. M. Coetzee's Diary of a Bad Year is about loneliness, friendship and the possibility of love. It takes the reader from Australian democracy to Guantanamo Bay, from the meaning of dishonour to the creative truth of dreams. Enthralling, unexpected and deeply moving, this may be the most original work of fiction to appear this year.**

What we discussed about the book:

• How did we read the book? Some read each story until the dot, then read the next story until the same dot etc. Others read down each page. Some read each story in its entirety before starting the next one. Some needed three bookmarks to keep up with where they were up to.
• Is this book fact? Is it fiction? To what degree are the opinions expressed in the essays the opinions of JM Coeztee? How much can we trust these opinions? Does it matter?
• Was there a hierarchy to the stories on each page?
• In what ways was it a ‘bad year’?
• Could we hear the voice of the character ‘Senor C’ in the academic writing?
• What was the point of the second diary?
• To what degree does the writer mock his own opinions?
• Is this a book about dying? Is it the book of a man saying goodbye?
• To what degree was the JS Bach essay intended to make us reflect on this writing being like a piece of music – each of the storylines the part of a different instrument.
• Could the book only be completely appreciated once all the parts had intertwined and played out to their end?

And then we were sidetracked into:

• The political situation in South Africa. To what degree has that history influenced JM Coetzee’s writing?
• Do we enjoy books that challenge to look at writing in a new way? Were we able to accept the non-linear narrative style of this book?

And in other news:

• We reflected on the tragic events of recent days in Victoria with the bushfires.
• We acknowledged that this meeting marked the 10 year anniversary of the No.1 Melbourne Ladies’ Bookclub and we agreed to plan some events to celebrate this during the year.
• We discussed the Twilight series of books...and how addictive they are for mothers of tweenage girls...

Ratings:

Ratings range: 6 to 9
Ratings average: 7.55
(one DNF was a midrange score)

Next book: The People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks