The Pole and Other Stories is a 2023 book by J.M. Coetzee. In the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada it was published as the novella "The Pole" along with five stories that were written over the previous two decades.[1][2]
 1st US edition | |
| Author | J. M. Coetzee |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Liveright |
Publication date | September 19, 2023 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 176 |
| ISBN | 9781324093862 |
| OCLC | 1398511342 |
| Preceded by | The Death of Jesus |
In the United States it was published as a stand-alone novel, titled The Pole, and did not include the five “appended” stories.
Brief summary
editThe novel (or novella)[1] The Pole centres around a Polish pianist, 72 year-old Witold Walczykiewicz, who is invited to Barcelona, Spain to perform. There he meets middle-aged Beatriz, with whom he begins to correspond after returning to Poland. Witold eventually travels to Mallorca, where Beatriz’s husband has a summer home, to be with her.[3][4]
All but one of the additional five stories collected alongside “The Pole” (in some published editions), centre around the character of Elizabeth Costello,[5] a character who has appeared before in Coetzee’s work and is sometimes described as Coetzee’s own alter ego.[1] The four Elizabeth Costello stories are: “As a Woman Grows Older,” “The Old Woman and the Cats,” “The Glass Abattoir,” and “Hope.” The fifth story, “The Dog,” first appeared in 2018 as “El Perro” in a “Spanish-language edition of Coetzee’s stories titled Siete Cuentos Morales (Seven Moral Tales).”[6]
Reception
editUpon release, The Pole and Other Stories was generally well-received. According to Book Marks, the book received "positive" reviews based on twelve critic reviews, with five being "rave" and five being "positive" and two being "mixed".[7] Globally, the work was received generally well with Complete Review saying on the consensus "Not his best, but a solid late work".[8]
Publication history
editThe Pole was first published in a Spanish translation by Mariana Dimópoulos under the title El Polaco by the Argentinian publisher El Hilo de Ariadna.[9][3] This was Coetzee's third book whose initial publication was in the Southern Hemisphere. Coetzee explains that this is deliberate on his part because "the symbolism of publishing in the South before the North is important to me".[9]
The Pole was also his second book to originally appear in Spanish translation. Coetzee says the Spanish translation of the novel provides a more accurate portrayal of his objectives than the English.[4] An English edition was published in July, 2023.[6][10]
References
edit- ^ a b c Banville, John (13 October 2023). "The Pole and Other Stories by JM Coetzee review – a late love affair | JM Coetzee | The Guardian". amp.theguardian.com.
- ^ The Pole and Other Stories. October 28, 2023. Archived from the original on 2023-10-28.
- ^ a b "'The Pole': J.M. Coetzee sets his latest novel in Barcelona". Al Día News. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
- ^ a b Marshall, Colin (2022-12-08). "J. M. Coetzee's War Against Global English". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
- ^ Liu, Max (26 October 2023). "The Pole and Other Stories shows J M Coetzee is one of the world's greatest writers".
- ^ a b Kossew, Sue (2023-07-17). "In J.M. Coetzee's latest story collection, questions of the soul become urgent as the body becomes frail". The Conversation. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
- ^ "The Pole". Book Marks. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
- ^ "The Pole". Complete Review. 2023-10-04. Retrieved 2023-10-04.
- ^ a b Harbour, Berna González (2022-09-13). "J. M. Coetzee: 'After many years of practice, I write good English sentences'". EL PAÍS English. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
- ^ Harmon, Steph; Cain, Sian; Wyndham, Susan; Fry, Declan; Touma, Rafqa; Lam, Yvonne C. (2023-07-05). "'Exciting', 'bold', 'laugh out loud': the best Australian books out in July". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-07-24.