Master of Petersburg

[David Morris]

I recently finished Coetzee's latest "trifle" called "Diary of a Bad
Year," a short book in which the format is the most innovative part.
Semi-autobiographical, about a elder author who's been commissioned to
write a series of "strong opinions" (short essays) about the world at
large.  Many of these are commentary about the legacy of disgrace that
the W years have wrought (a disgrace that we all share).  Running
parallel to these essays is the author's diary in which he describes
his encounter and subsequent interactions with a hot babe he meets in
the laundry room of his building.  And further parallel is her diary
about meeting him.  These parallel texts are stacked 1, 2, 3 on each
page, leaving the order of reading a matter of choice.  It's a fun
read and quite short.

I'd planned on reading The Master of St. Petersburg for my next
Coetzee, so if that happens on this list I'll join in.

Then again, of not read any Dostoevsky, so that's also an attractive option...

David Morris

On Fri, Aug 15, 2008 at 8:23 PM, Bekah <Bekah0176 at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> I've read The Master of St. Petersburg and many others by Coetzee -  (Life
> and Times of Michael K, Disgrace,  Elizabeth Costello, Slow Man).   The
> Master of St. Petersburg is a great novel but I'd suggest a quick reread of
> The Possessed by Dostoevsky along with his biography.  Or maybe read TMoSP
> first and then get to The Possessed (part 3) and a bio.
>
> Coetzee is a Dostoevsky scholar but The Master of St. Petersburg is a
> fictionalized (!) version of a chunk of D's life which has a parallel in
> Coetzee's life.   Coetzee is a terrific stylist and very imaginative -
> especially with his more recent metafiction.
>
> Just thought I'd share this
>
> Bekah
> a preterite in the Quartet
>
>
> On Aug 15, 2008, at 1:46 PM, Lawrence Bryan wrote:
>
>>
>> Sounds good to me, but I'm intimidated by the erudition shown by so many
>> list members; a bit like an amateur violinist invited to play with the
>> Julliard Quartet. So I'd prefer to listen/read.
>>
>> I'm not sure why I like Coetzee so much. On the other hand I'm not sure
>> that it is important to me to answer that why. But if pressed, I suppose his
>> approach to the human condition strikes an empathetic nerve within me on a
>> very personal level. TRP is external, national, global, universal. Coetzee
>> deeply inward. I like looking both ways, and the view is very satisfying
>> either direction.
>>
>> Lawrence
>>
>> On Aug 15, 2008, at 12:27 PM, Richard Ryan wrote:
>>
>>> There were several list members who expressed enthusiasm for Coetzee's
>>> Master of Petersburg as a quick "NP" read before we start off with "V" or
>>> "Vineland."  I've begun reading it - and can report that it's beautifully
>>> written (as one would expect of JMC), and a vivid re-imagining of a great
>>> figure in the history of world literature.  Fun for the entire list, in
>>> other words....
>>>
>>> If there is still sufficient interest - and no widespread objections - I
>>> can start off a MoP reading in a week or two - whenever the AtD readers feel
>>> that they've had ample time to wrap things up.  Conveniently, MoP is divided
>>> into twenty chapters - so if we had, say, four other hosts we could each
>>> take four chapters and get through the book in about four weeks (give or
>>> take a week or so depending on how interested and involved the audience
>>> was.)
>>>
>>> Thoughts?
>>> RR
>>
>
>