The biography of a fictional writer/academic portrayed by her lectures throughout her life. An interesting technique, but I found it too gimmicky and made me feel too removed from the character, which seemed to really be Coetzee himself. ( )

While some of the stories are compelling, others just kind of lie there. I like his exploration of the nature of reality in fiction. ( )

A wonderful book about life and the end of life in essay-style chunks. I loved the way the book critiqued literature by manifesting the criticism in the text. ( )

this book completely knocked me on my ass and shocked me, frankly. i wasn't coming to it expecting anything--never read coetzee, this book "just happened to be there" used, etc etc...i guess it was too weird and therefore "self-indulgent" for critics and readers, but i love stuff like this. and the ending treatment was great. ( )

This was a quirky novel, but a really enjoyable read. Rather than “Chapters,” the book is divided into “Lessons.” It is the story of last years of an Australian author, living off the reputation of an early, award winning novel, The House on Eccles Street. This work is a retelling of the story of Molly Bloom (of Joyce’s Ulysses).
Coetzee writes, “Isn’t that what is most important about fiction: that it takes us out of ourselves, into other lives?” (23). Coetzee more than practices what he preaches here. I felt her aches and pains, her emotions, anguished moments, and struggles with sons and a daughter-in-law. All were vivid and drew me into the life of this interesting woman. Elizabeth Costello brims with discussions about literature, reading, writing, but as her life progresses, it spirals down to some rather confusing discussions about animal rights. The last “Lesson” is really worth working your way towards. I haven’t read much Coetzee, and, I admit, I only bought this because he won the Nobel Prize, but that is my custom. In this case, I am glad I did! I will be searching for more of his work.
By the way, he is listed as a South African writer, but he lives in Australia now. Elizabeth Costello was born in Africa, but moved to Australia. Hmmm. Definitely five stars –- despite the PETA stuff!
--Jim, 6/14/2007 ( )