Late Essays
2016-2017

Coetzee is among my favorite Nobel Prize winners. There is a deep vein of humor in his work—so deep we may never break into overt laughter—but a vein that is fast and cold and refreshing. These essays are criticism for the work of others, and choosing the order from among the selections is a rare de......more

Wonderful short book reviews / essays (some, the longer ones, from nyrb) of murnane, beckett, walser, Tolstoy, di benedetto and many more. Not sure how he chose who to write about, but leans towards German and French, and English. But also literature I. Spanish and cape Dutch.......more

"This modest but beautifully composed little ten-page episode does indeed provide a good education, and not just for older persons: how to dig a grave, how to write, how to face death, all in one." Late Essays 2006 - 2017 is the 22nd book by J.M. Coetzee that I am reviewing here and the fourth collec......more

J.M. Coetzee is a masterful writer and a masterful critic, and this collection of essays on other writers gives you a fantastic scope of insight. The only criticism I have of it really is that 1) not all writers seemed to be worth the level of critique he gave to them and 2) it is predominantly whit......more

J.M. Coetzee, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature, has also published literary essays for a large part of his career. This collection is his most recent. It offers Coetzee’s interpretations of the works of such writers as Nathanial Hawthorne, Leo Tolstoy, Gustave Flaubert and Philip Roth. Addition......more