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Nobel laureate and two-time Booker Prize winner J. M. Coetzee returns with a haunting and surprising novel about childhood and destiny that is sure to rank with his classic novels.
Separated from his mother as a passenger on a boat bound for a new land, David is a boy who is quite literally adrift. The piece of paper explaining his situation is lost, but a fellow passenger, Simón, vows to look after the boy. When the boat docks, David and Simón are issued new names, new birthdays, and virtually a whole new life.
Strangers in a strange land, knowing nothing of their surroundings, nor the language or customs, they are determined to find David's mother. Though the boy has no memory of her, Simón is certain he will recognize her at first sight. "But after we find her," David asks, "what are we here for?"
An eerie allegorical tale told largely through dialogue, The Childhood of Jesus is a literary feat - a novel of ideas that is also a tender, compelling narrative. Coetzee's many fans will celebrate his return while new readers will find The Childhood of Jesus an intriguing introduction to the work of a true master.
"Starred Review. [Coetzee's] precise prose is at once rich and austere, lean and textured, deceptively straightforward and yet expansive, as he considers what is required, not just of the body, but by the heart." - Publishers Weekly
"Starred Review. Readers new to Coetzee may find this to be somewhat more accessible than some of his other novels, but with its curious tapestry of biblical themes, modern social commentary and ambivalent humanism, TheChildhoodofJesus may actually be one of his most enigmatic. It will surely be discussed for years to come." - Booklist
"Published in the UK in March to mixed reviews, Nobel Prize laureate and Booker Prize winner Coetzee's latest novel will be highly anticipated in the States. The dystopian themes may attract new readers, and students will have much to discuss, but fans of his more potent novels (e.g., Disgrace) may find this effort disappointingly flat." - Library Journal
"This is an unconventional novel indeed, with inscrutable characters wandering through a bleak and tenebrous world." - Kirkus
"At once lucid and elusive….The prose is clear and flat in the special way that Coetzee has perfected." - London Evening Standard (UK)
"Pure, simple prose….Vividly real." - Sunday Express (UK)
"Beautifully put together," - The Spectator (UK)
"Coetzee fashions prose of a lapidary clarity and grace….rich, Riddling fiction, as in the mystery-laden life it plumbs." - The Independent (UK)
This information about The Childhood of Jesus was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
J.M. Coetzee's work includes Waiting for the Barbarians, Life & Times of Michael K, Boyhood, Youth, Disgrace, Summertime, The Childhood of Jesus and, most recently, The Schooldays of Jesus. He was the first author to win the Booker Prize twice and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2003.
Name Pronunciation
J. M. Coetzee: kuut-SEE (different pronunciations can be found, but this is how Coetzee himself pronounces it)
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