Een interessant maar vooral ambitieus debuut. Alle thema's en onderwerpen die hier naar boven borrelen zal hij later zo veel beter behandelen.

Jeg ved ikke hvad jeg skal sige om den her bog så her kommer første vers af sangen "Til Julebal i Nisseland":

Sikke mange klokken slår, tretten slag, tiden går
Gæt engeng min lille ven, hvor vi nu skal hen
Til julebal, til julebal i Nisseland
På med vanten, så suser vi afsted
Nej vent nu lidt, du sjove, lille nissemand
elefanten, den må vi da ha' med
På alle veje strømmer den glade nisseflok
Jeg tror at jeg drømmer, nej det er rigtig nok
I nat vi skal til jule-jule-jule-jule-julebal
Der er gilde i nissekongens hal

Dusklands is a far more ambitious project than its size would indicate. A friend gave it to me with little description or explanation apart from assurances that I would enjoy it, and I certainly did. It's a book worth reading, and reading it can be accomplished over the course of two or three evenings for a fast reader, or perhaps a week or two for a slower reader.

The book itself is made up of two stories—one, about a psychotic propagandist who loses his mind attempting to resolve ethical contradictions in the Vietnam War while his family life implodes, the other, about a megalomaniacal Dutch explorer in South Africa. Both stories are told as confessionals, and both explore colonization and imperialism from the perspective of white male protagonists operating explicitly within the framework of "history."

The book wasn't quite as good as I'd hoped—I was expecting Knockemstiff or similar—but it was very, very good in its own right. It will make you think about war, and about exploration, and the way in which individuals move within (and outside of) national frameworks.

One of the most disturbing books I've ever read but definitely a brilliant read.

Two linked novellas and an afterword, connect the Dutch settler ideology in South Africa to the ultimately self-loathing war psychology of the US in Vietnam. This reads like Nabokov wrote Tree of Smoke, which is high praise.

Intet har ændret sig haha, stadig 3 stjerner.

La primera historia, la he podido aguantar, con más fuerza de voluntad que otra cosa, más que nada porque quería leer a Coetzee, ya que ha sido galardonado con los más importantes premios, incluido el Nobel en el 2003, pero la segunda parte es tan indigesta y aburrida, con el tema de la colonización, que no la he acabado.

#1001books #650left

35% done with this book. Too bad I didn't care for it more.

This was made up of two short stories about the ills of colonialism in Asia and Africa respectively. I am no fan of the concept, and always made sure to teach students the disastrous consequences of colonialism in the world which we are still reeling from over a century later (and longer, depending on where we're talking about). Therefore, he didn't really turn over any new stones for me. I did find his second story a bit more interesting because I am not as familiar with South Africa as I am with Vietnam, but the dude was such a jerk (like most colonialists I suspect) that I never developed a connection.

"Dusklands" consists of two novellas, each concerning men who are pretty sure they know what's what. The first man, Eugene Dawn, is an expert on psychological warfare, and the story, "The Vietnam Project," concerns his struggles with both his professional and his private lives. His considering himself an intellectual realist does not keep him from doing some irrational things that get him into trouble.

The second man, one Jacobus Coetzee, an 18th Century Dutch inhabitant of South Africa, goes on an elephant hunt and meets a group of Hottentots, the outcome being, perhaps predictably, violent.

J.M. Coetzee is not afraid to depict humans at their worst. This is not a book for readers who look for likable or sympathetic characters.

Det er anden gang, at jeg læser Dusklands, og jeg må indrømme, at jeg har følt mig nødsaget til at revurdere min ellers lunkne anmeldelse fra 2014. Ikke fordi bogen har forandret sig, det er endda den samme udgave jeg har købt, men fordi jeg sidenhen har fået en bedre forståelse for, hvad det egentlig er bogen gerne vil sige og hvor vigtig dette er i litteraturhistorisk kontekst.
Jeg har læst bogen i et fag omkring postkolonial litteratur, hvor vi har anvendt den som et eksempel på fysisk og epistemisk vold. Ved at smelte to lige dele fantastiske og forfærdelige narrativer sammen til et, giver Coetzees roman et fantastisk minutiøst og medmenneskeligt indblik i (post)kolonialismens rædsler og de ellers usynlige, bagvedliggende magtstrukturer.
Et klart must-read, hvis man interesserer sig for postkolonial litteratur, og åbenbart også en genlæsning værd.

This novella is in two parts, one following a man who works with Mr. Coetzee in some way, though his exact relationship with Mr. Coetzee was a bit vague. This guy is clearly insane, and his insanity becomes more clear by the end of his narrative. Then the book shifts to an account of Mr. Coetzee, apparently the author's ancestor who took part in the ugly, brutal violence involved in opening new areas of South Africa's interior to colonial exploitation. The book does not shy away from this violence of that time and seems geared towards showing the reader the ugly underbelly of history that might not have been mentioned in school history books. I did like that at least for a while the local native people in this story, a tribe of Bushmen so far resistant to colonial dominance, hold the upper hand with Coetzee and his group. But, of course, Coetzee does his best to exterminate the tribe as soon as he is able in retribution for his bruised pride.
I did not particularly enjoy this book, but I appreciated the depiction of pre-colonial or early-colonial Africa. The first part was weird, and I didn't get as much out of it.

Este prima carte a lui Coetzee pe care o citesc. Scrie roman pe copertă, dar practic sunt două nuvele. Care nu m-au prea încântat. Mai încerc. Mai citesc ceva scris de către laureatul premiului Nobel, poate înțeleg de ce a primit acest premiu.