Asciutto e penetrante, Coetzee racconta stralci della propria infanzia sudafricana. Lo fa scrivendo in terza persona, usando il tempo presente, ovvero il tempo antinarrativo per eccellenza (è una scelta frequente di Coetzee). Eppure il racconto c'è, l'ambiente fisico e umano pure. Ma l'autore non vi indulge, non è necessario.
Quel che conta è l'interiorità: i pensieri, le emozioni sempre trattenute, introiettate, l'esplorazione dei limiti, le considerazioni su se stesso e sul mondo, i legami familiari e le accese idiosincrasie. Esperienze radicali, che diventeranno fondamentali per la formazione successiva (ne vedremo gli esiti nel secondo libro autobiografico: Gioventù).
Una battaglia di resistenza, così appare la cruda esperienza della fanciullezza. Una cosa estremamente seria, in qualche modo definitiva, proprio perché definisce un carattere, descrive le linee di un destino.
Questo bambino taciturno, solitario, in competizione estrema col mondo che lo circonda e tende a plasmarlo secondo le proprie linee direttrici, questo bambino scontroso e determinato, intimamente refrattario alla compiacenza è l'immagine precisa dell'adulto, dello scrittore Coetzee, come (non) lo conosciamo: schivo e appartato. E infatti, lo scopriamo qui, "scrivere per lui non è come dispiegare le ali; al contrario, è come raggomitolarsi, farsi più piccolo e inoffensivo possibile".
Un libro intenso e vero, dove lo stile sorvegliatissimo sa raggiungere il perfetto equilibrio tra il sentimento di sé, l'interiorità assoluta, e il modo di darne conto a chi sta fuori.

Aunque me ha costado tiempo terminármelo, me ha dejado muy impresionada. Me regaló este libro mi profesor de primero de carrera, y tal vez no lo he leído en el momento oportuno, pero le agradezco muchísimo la recomendación. Los que hemos tenido una familia complicada creo que olvidamos partes de nuestra infancia que son muy bellas detrás del derrumbe. Lo que Coetzee consigue es que, aunque haya décadas de diferencia, todo el mundo se puede identificar con ese niño curioso que piensa demasiado todo y que le toca asumir cosas duras muy pronto. Todas las infancias son traumáticas.

En Infancia, JM Coetzee nos abre la puerta de su vida y relata sus vivencias de niño en Ciudad del Cabo.
Su casa, la granja, su colegio y la relación con sus familiares pasan en esta novela autobiográfica muy bien escrita que nos permite conocer al Coetzee persona. (lo que él permite que conozcamos)
Muy recomendado.

it was ok

i am left deeply moved by this work, left to consider the fragments of coetzee himself, sprawled across the pages of his book. what a difficult remembrance of the self this book appears to be; i feel as though i have witnessed a man aiming to understand himself, the self that observes, and vicariously recalls the origins of his being. coetzee has spun a beautifully fragile web around the floating parts of his childhood- a web that seems to remain undone.

My knowledge about South Africa, Apartheid and Afrikaans are consisted of a little bit of Nelson Mandela, District 9 movie and Charlize Theron speaking Afrikaans on youtube, respectively. Reading Coetzee is a news to me and my ignorance has been weakened a bit more.

I have read somewhere that Coetzee is quite a silent person. During a meeting he didn’t talk a word, he's way too disciplined, he cycles to be healthy, barely smiles, he hasn't even gone to get a prize he won and he never eats meat, neither smokes nor drinks. Along with the Nobel Prize he won in 2003, These features about his personality make him more interesting to get to know his literature.

Perhaps this book reflects his silence in its own way: Lack of dialogues, cutting the long story short, memories from a 10 year old boy directly yet not that directly told, addressing the very same boy without giving any names. Even though this 10 year old boy is Coetzee himself, it’s obvious that he also puts a third person’s view of how his childhood could be when seen from different eyes. Therefore the reality and fiction mingle together, where we get a glimpse of South Africa’s social issues from a 10 year old boy's point of view whilst he experiences contradictory feelings for his family, grows feelings for beauty and sexuality etc.

As a first experience of Coetzee’s literature, I didn’t find it extraordinary but I liked the storytelling: no forced dramas nor actions, just a plain chain of happenings which lets the reader shape in her/his own imaginary.

I definitely have to read the other two books Youth and Summertime from this “autobiography” sometime soon.

A spare, perceptive, if dysthymic memoir about growing in post-war South Africa.

3.5 estrellas.

Coetzee is a man of few words - he once said that he never describes a sofa in a room unless someone is actually going to sit on it - but he does more with those few words than almost any of his more verbose contemporaries. For this he's won two Booker Prizes and the Nobel Prize as well. This novel is the first part of a very thinly-disguised autobiography, a fascinating portrait of growing up relatively poor in rural South Africa while also not identifying with the Afrikaans majority despite his surname. (His mother was English if I recall.) This doesn't prevent him from being classified as Afrikaans despite not speaking the language and despite feeling the distance with Afrikaans, even those who are relatives. I look forward to reading the other parts!

"Nothing he experiences in Worcester, at home or at school, leads him to think that childhood is anything but a time of gritting the teeth and enduring."

This is a memoir about Coetzee's youth but it reads like a novel. Coetzee has taken an unique approach with writing about himself in third person and present tense. This kind of writing approach makes the narrator's extreme personal views feel like they are those of the invented characters. It's an unusual way of writing a memoir but it works.

Coetzee has a way of writing sincerely and clearly. His childhood was not an unhappy one. The sadness and tragedies were mainly of ordinary kind but Coetzee's masterful way of presenting them is what makes it so moving, atmospheric and leaving an impact on you.

Jag kämpade tappert och rätt länge men... Nä, den är inte för mig, bara seg och tråkig. Välskriven förstås. Onåd fick mig att hoppas alldeles för mycket. Synd.

Traté un montón de veces de hacer una reseña de este libro que no sonara demasiado cursi. La verdad es que me encanta leer sobre África, el suelo rojo, los mosquitos, la noche en la veranda, el calor, los hormigueros gigantes de termitas, la amenaza de (animales) salvajes, las relaciones entre blancos y negros, entre nativos y europeos. Debe ser por la cantidad de cuentos y novelitas situadas en las colonias que nos hacían leer en la escuela (que algunas veces pasaban en India, varias en Australia, casi siempre en África) o porque me toque alguna sensibilidad especial por algún otro motivo que desconozco. Cuestión que 5 estrellitas y carita feliz :)