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Foe - J.M. Coetzee
Foe
by: (author)
In an act of breathtaking imagination, J.M.Coetzee radically reinvents the story of Robinson Crusoe. In the early eighteenth century, Susan Barton finds herself set adrift from a mutinous ship and cast ashore on a remote desert island. There she finds shelter with its only other inhabitants: a... show more
In an act of breathtaking imagination, J.M.Coetzee radically reinvents the story of Robinson Crusoe. In the early eighteenth century, Susan Barton finds herself set adrift from a mutinous ship and cast ashore on a remote desert island. There she finds shelter with its only other inhabitants: a man named Cruso and his tongueless slave, Friday. In time, she builds a life for herself as Cruso's companion and, eventually, his lover. At last they are rescued by a passing ship, but only she and Friday survive the journey back to London. Determined to have her story told, she pursues the eminent man of letters Daniel Foe in the hope that he will relate truthfully her memories to the world. But with Cruso dead, Friday incapable of speech and Foe himself intent on reshaping her narrative, Barton struggles to maintain her grip on the past, only to fall victim to the seduction and tyranny of storytelling itself. Treacherous, elegant and unexpectedly moving, Foe remains one of...
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Format: paperback
ISBN: 9780241950111 (0241950112)
Publisher: Penguin
Pages no: 157
Edition language: English
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Community Reviews
Julian Meynell's Books
Julian Meynell's Books rated it
3.0 Coetzee's Foe
In this very slim book, probably really a novella, Coetzee tells the story of Susan Barton who becomes shipwrecked on Robinson Crusoe's island with Cruso and Friday. She is then rescued and tells the story to Daniel Foe (a stand in for Defoe).The book is written in the first person from Susan Barto...
Reader! Reader!
Reader! Reader! rated it
4.0 Foe
Foe is a fascinating look at storytelling, biography, memoir, and author's control. Coetzee looks at all of this through the eyes of Susan Barton—the woman who was cast away and landed on Robinson Crusoe's island. "Huh? There's no woman in Robinson Crusoe!" you say. No, there's not. But Coetzee ...
TrevorPTweedleD
TrevorPTweedleD rated it
4.0 Foe
"I ask you to remember, not every man that bears the mark of the castaway, is a castaway at heart."To me J.M. Coetzee's story Foe is a function of three distinct points of view that takes the reader from a manageable settled feeling, to a further state of evaluation, and finally to an interpretative...
SJane
SJane rated it
Coetzee is a superior writer but the first 2/3s of this were surprisingly dull. As always, interesting concept and promise. Recommended for true Coetzee fans.
JulieM
JulieM rated it
In general, I enjoy reading books which tell a well-known story from a different perspective. The Wide Sargasso Sea showed how using today's standards, Mr. Rochester from Jane Eyre is a sexist, overbearing boor. And Gregory Maguire's Wicked is a brilliant and complex retelling of the children's cl...
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