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Oct 22, 2019Cais_Tea rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Michael K, born with a cleft lip that is never corrected and deemed a "slow learner," has lived a life with few human connections. A childhood in an institution and then a city job as a gardener have not prepared him for life outside of what he knows, and he, by default, knows so little. He is surrounded by war and civil unrest. When his mother becomes unwell he makes the decision to try to go to the countryside with her. When she dies, Michael is truly alone and adrift. This book follows his journey as he tries to navigate his way through violence, various forms of imprisonment, tastes of freedom, and, most importantly, his interior and spiritual evolution. Michael K, because of his physical difference and learning disability, has many assumptions made about him, and he makes them about himself without being aware of doing so. His society deems him to be less valuable than others and for most of his life he has been sort of half-asleep. Really, he is gifted in some ways, but ways that few people recognize. Coetzee is an extraordinary writer and does a stellar job of illuminating an awakening consciousness, the formations of desire, the importance of purpose and fulfillment and the often pointless chaos of war. A sad, beautiful, deeply moving book. I will always remember the life of Michael K.