the current book looks at the 'boyhood' of the author.
distanced in time, forty years later, he brings to bear his wisdom to untangle his vivid childhood memories for our benefit and describes it in the third person.
the contradictions of childhood is one of the running themes - the child Coetzee is petrified that his beloved mother,Dinny, will die and at the same morbidly fascinated by the thought of her death.
his father has many virtues but each has an embarrassing qualification- 'an attorney but one who no longer practises, a soldier but only a lance corporal, a rugby player but only for the Gardens second team, he plays cricket but for the Worcester second team which no one bothers to watch'. he hates his father's personal habits, is unable to work out the position of his father in the household.
he is a self absorbed child who spends long hours with his Meccanno set, his stamp collection and reading books which he borrows from the library - when he is unwell enough to skip school, he forces his mother to visit the library and borrow books so that he may read it in bed.
his school is another of those contradictions. his life in school is a secret which he does not share at home just as his life at home- he is from a strange and unnatural family- is a secret not shared in school . he comes first in class, his conduct is rated 'very good' and his progress 'excellent' . he has never been caned in school and is ready to kill himself if he were to be ever flogged. but at the same time feels left out in class, since he cannot discuss with the other boys the relative merits of different canes used by the teachers, the character of the cane and the quality of pain that they inflict. for this he blames his mother since she has never beaten him.
coetzee loved visiting the farm where his father grew up and where his uncle currently lived. he confesses that he is twice-born: once born of his mother and again of his grandfather's farm. he feels he belongs to the farm. this part of the narrative in the book has echoes of 'life and times of michael k' by coetzee. in that book the narrator, hibernates under the shade of a rock and revels in the solitude. one is reminded of the same solitude, vast expanse of space in the description of the farm in 'boyhood'. he feels safe, secure during the time he spends on the farm. the boy coetzee also describes various activities associated with sheep - their sheering which is done by a team which goes from one farm to the next and creates a festive atmosphere; the casatration of sheep; and the killing and gutting of sheep. it is a very cruel description but one can again relate to it as childhood memories which tend to be devoid of judgement.
the book revolves around coetzee's relationship with his mother and how she was constantly on his mind. it made me pause and reflect on how my actions are perceived by my son, whether every mother is a touchstone forever for the childs' world view....
an extremly lucid but crisp recital of vivid childhood memories by a master.
