A strong and memorable novel
Guardian
It strikes deep inside the heart...The story is clean, clear, straight, the work of a mature imagination at full power...here is a book that will be celebrated for a long time
Mail on Sunday
Beautifully written in a strong, plain, unpretentious style...distinguished by grim humour and powerful understatement
Sunday Express
The quality of Coetzee's writing lies in his inner vision: dark, passionately compassionate, concerned with the nature of man
Financial Times
Possibly my favourite book of all time, mostly because of the taut, sparse prose. It generates a stunning effect. There is simply not a word out of place – and every word resonates with meaning
- Nick Clegg, Week
In a South Africa torn by civil war, Michael K sets out to take his mother back to her rural home. On the way there she dies, leaving him alone in an anarchic world of brutal roving armies. Imprisoned, Michael is unable to bear confinement and escapes, determined to live with dignity. Life and Times of Michael K goes to the centre of human experience - the need for an interior, spiritual life, for some connections to the world in which we live, and for purity of vision.
'This is a truly astonishing novel... I finished Life & Times of Michael K in a state of elation, for all the misery and suffering it contains. I cannot recommend it highly enough' Evening Standard
In a South Africa torn by civil war, Michael K sets out to take his mother back to her rural home. On the way there she dies, leaving him alone in an anarchic world of brutal roving armies.