It is easy to fall in love with the new novel by the South African author JM Coetzee. “The Pole”, which is perhaps rather an overgrown short story, is immediately appealing. It’s love at first sight here! The seventy-year-old Polish pianist Witold, with a surname with so many w’s and z’s that no one in the host can keep track of them, sits in a concert hall in Barri Gòtic in Barcelona and plays the preludes of Frédéric Chopin. In the audience sits fifty-year-old Beatriz from the local concert association. She has taken over responsibility for the Polish guest, as the friend who was supposed to do it has called in sick. Beatriz doesn’t like what she hears. She simply does not like the strict, unromantic interpretation of Chopin that Witold plays. But original reluctance has, as is known, never been an obstacle for sweet music to arise. “The Pole” is a romance novel. John Maxwell Coetzee Photo: TIZIANA FABI / AFP South African writer, born 9 February 1940 in Cape Town. Debuted with the book “Dusklands” in 1974. The book was first translated into Norwegian by Aud Greiff in 1985 (“In the darkest land”) and by Mona Lange in 2007 (“Twilightland”). Was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2003. He has also received the Booker Prize twice. Has a PhD in literature from the University of Texas, Austin. Became professor of literature at the University of Cape Town. He has also been a guest lecturer at a number of other universities, including at Harvard and Stanford University. He has been an Australian citizen since 2006. “The Pole” is his 15th novel. In addition, he has written several essays and autobiographical novels. Aftermath The Polish pianist has fallen head over heels in love with his Spanish hostess. He cures her, as it was said before. He puts her on a pedestal just as the Italian medieval poet Dante did with his Beatrice. But there is a very important difference from “The Divine Comedy”. Coetzee tells the story from the perspective of Beatriz. It is in her world of thought that we find ourselves. What is it about her that makes this man decide in one night that she is meant for him? That is perhaps a reason to accept the offer to join him on a concert tour in Brazil? There are a number of arguments against it, including that she has a wealthy and charming husband of her own age, with whom she lives in a perfectly good marriage (even if he sometimes cheats on her). THE NOBEL PRIZE: JM Coetzee (left) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2003 by Swedish King Carl Gustaf (right) at the Concert Hall in Stockholm. The Swedish Academy then highlighted his analytical brilliance and he was praised by critics for his literary and political commitment. Photo: Michael Dalder / REUTERS Lost in Translation The humor in the novel arises from the contrast between Witold’s unconditional love and Beatriz’s sober-practical considerations. Coetzee patiently places various weights in the balance. She weighs the pros and cons. Should she stay or should she go? On the minus side, she notes: the teeth! And that they have language problems. She doesn’t understand his English. She must constantly interpret what he says. On the plus side, Coetzee notes the following: Tight is also the tone in which Coetzee has written his narrative, but also clear. Beatriz stays in her marriage, but so do the unresolved questions within her that this overwhelming declaration of love from the Pole gives rise to. Love, what really is it? Is it the feeling of being chosen? Is it only in the other’s unreserved, loving gaze that we can understand ourselves and come to terms with who we really are? A literary master The search for the answer to these questions does not end, even if Witold dies. He has written poems for her, in Polish, which she manages to translate after much effort. She continues to chat with him, and as with Dante, a reunion in the afterlife is opened up. About there, this little narrative fades out with some unresolved, unanswered questions that feel eternal. Love and lust were also the subject of the novel “Vanære” (2000), which was Coetzee’s major international breakthrough, and the reason why he received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2003. That novel opened up a larger canvas with its combustible depictions of racial antagonisms in modern South Africa. “The Pole” is smaller in format than Coetzee’s central work, but still of a high class. If we were to see the authorship as a piece of music, “The Pole” is perhaps more like an afterplay, a postlude, from the 84-year-old master. news reviewer Photo: Cappelen Damm Title: “The Pole” Author: JM Coetzee Number of pages: 114 Genre: Novel Date: 1 February 2024 Publisher: Cappelen Damm ISBN: 9788202770778 Hi! I read and review literature in news. Please also read my review of “Kairos” by Jenny Erpenbeck, “Details” by Ia Genberg, or Franz Kafka’s “The Process” translated by Jon Fosse.
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“The Pole” by JM Coetzee – news Culture and entertainment
