J. M. Coetzee is a strange author to me. Not unlike Cormac McCarthy, he has written books that I've loved (Disgrace) and books that I've despised (Life & Times of Michael K), and though I know he is a supremely talented writer, he's a bit up in the air in my book. So I approached Youth with caution, and while it was not a disappointment, I can't say I was overwhelmed by it either.

The story is a strange mix of fiction and nonfiction, a book that reads like a novel but seems inspired (right down to the protagonist's name, John) by the author's life. It essentially comprises the details of John's coming of age, from his early work in South Africa to his escape to and disenchantment in London, working jobs to try and support his true dream of being a poet. Along the way he has failed love affairs and laments the difficulty of the life he has chosen, meditating on literature and beauty while trying to make ends meet in a hectic, difficult city.

The problem with a narrative constructed in such a way is that it constantly feels imbalanced, as if it's trying to negotiate a middle ground between the intense personal reflection and the day-by-day grind of the plot points. It's far more interesting to hear what Coetzee's hero is thinking, but it gets bogged down in endless description of computers and offices. It never feels like the plot has any trajectory--which may be the point, since the relatively apathetic John doesn't have much of one either--but that doesn't a great story make, as it turns out.

Thematically, the novel is greater than the sum of its parts. It feels natural to take love, sex, and poetry and constantly meld them throughout the work, and for the most part the effect of these images are clear and not forced. It seems a bit of stretch late in the work when John blames his failings in life on his insufficiencies in the bedroom, but it's also consistent with the mentality of a man his age. And despite being a reflection on life in the 1960s, the vaguely emo-ish tone of the text (which was written in 2002) feels contemporary enough to work.

All told, Youth is a bleak and fairly depressing look at Coetzee's early life, but it has its share of satisfying moments. Those looking for a clear arc from start to finish will likely be irritated--and while I don't know if reading Boyhood (Scenes from Provincial Life) first makes this any more coherent, it's still an engaging and honest look at one's own trials and tribulations.

A portrait of a young man who feels anything doesn't fit for him in the real world and yearns for arts, that is, writing. If anyone is to be saved, who cannot live in the real world, there is just only one way; writing(or more broadly, representing) one's figure who is suffering.

Can't get myself to believe that "Coetzee" wrote this!I don't even remember wether I finished it,so well... ( )

Not much of a leap from Coetzee as protagonist to the embittered, unlikeable, though highly compelling protagonist of his award winning 'Disgrace.' ( )