Age of Iron - Softcover

Coetzee, J M

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140275657 ISBN 13: 9780140275650

Publisher: Penguin, 1998

Synopsis

An old woman is dying of cancer in Cape Town. A classics professor, Mrs Curren has always been opposed to the brutality of apartheid, but has lived insulated from its true horrors. Now she is suddenly forced to come to terms with the iron-hearted rage that the system has wrought.

In an extended letter addressed to her daughter, who has long since fled to America, Mrs Curren recounts the strange events of her dying days. She witnesses the burning of a nearby black township; discovers the bullet-riddled body of her servant's son, and a teenage black activist hiding in her house is killed by security forces. And through it all, her only companion is a homeless man, an alcoholic who appears on her doorstep.

J M Coetzee was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2003.

About this title

Review:

"It is, quite simply, a magnificent and unforgettable work." --The Daily Telegraph "Coetzee is one of the greatest writers of our time.... Age of Iron is taut, ironic, grieving and, finally, astonishing." --Los Angeles Times "A remarkable work by a brilliant writer." --The Wall Street Journal

From the Back Cover:

'Quite simply a magnificent and unforgettable work' Daily Telegraph

In Cape Town, South Africa, an elderly classics professor writes a letter to her distant daughter, recounting the strange and disturbing events of her dying days. She has been opposed to the lies and brutality of apartheid all her life, but now she finds herself coming face-to-face with its true horrors: the hounding by the police of her servant's son, the burning of a nearby black township, the murder by security forces of a teenage activist who seeks refuge in her house. Through it all, her only companion, the only person to whom she can confess her mounting anger and despair, is a homeless man who one day appears on her doorstep.

In Age of Iron, J. M. Coetzee brings his searing insight and masterful control of language to bear on one of the darkest episodes of our times.

'A superbly realised novel whose truth cuts to the bone' The New York Times

'A remarkable work by a brilliant writer' Wall Street Journal

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0140275657
• ISBN 13: 9780140275650
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208