Summertime is a 2009 novel by South African-born Nobel laureate J. M. Coetzee. It is the third and final instalment of Scenes from Provincial Life, a series of fictionalized memoirs by Coetzee (the first two being Boyhood and Youth) and details the life of one John Coetzee from the perspective of five people who have known him.
 First edition | |
| Author | J. M. Coetzee |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Harvill Secker (UK) |
Publication date | 3 September 2009 |
| Publication place | South Africa |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 224 pp |
| ISBN | 978-1-84655-318-9 |
| OCLC | 373483224 |
| Preceded by | Youth |
The novel largely takes place in the mid to late 1970s, largely in Cape Town, although there are also important scenes in more remote South African settings. While there are obvious similarities between the actual writer of the novel, J. M. Coetzee, and the subject of the novel, John Coetzee, there are some differences - most notably that the John Coetzee of the novel is reported as having died. Within the novel, the opinions and thoughts of the five people are compiled and interpreted by a fictitious biographer, who also adds fragments from John Coetzee's notebooks.[1]
It was shortlisted for the 2009 Booker Prize. Coetzee was already a two-time winner of the award and it is for this reason that literary commentator Merritt Moseley believes he did not win it for Summertime.[2][3]
Reception
editUpon release, Summtertime was generally well-received. On The Omnivore, in an aggregation of British press reviews, the book received a score of 4.0 out of 5.[4] The book received a 81% from The Lit Review based on 37 critic reviews and the consensus of the reviews being, "The challenge and quite possibly the real fun of it is figuring out what is truly memoir and what Coetzee simply made up. It feels like reading the obituary of someone still alive".[5] Culture Critic gave it an aggregated critic score of 82 percent. [6] On Bookmarks Magazine Mar/Apr 2010 issue, a magazine that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a 
(2.5 out of 5) based on critic reviews with the critical summary saying, "Critics didn’t quite know what to make of Coetzee’s newest experimental autobiography, which uses a third-person narrative and is marketed as fiction".[7] Globally, Complete Review saying on the consensus "Fascinated and puzzled".[8]
Writing for The Guardian, Thomas Jones concluded his reviews by stating, "Summertime is both an elegant request that the sum of Coetzee's existence as a public figure should be looked for only in his writing, and ample evidence, once again, why that request should be honoured."[9]
References
edit- ^ Wyndham, Susan (30 July 2009). "Literary giants make for strong Booker longlist". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 1 August 2009.
- ^ Merritt, Moseley. "Margins of Fact and Fiction: The Booker Prize 2009." Sewanee Review 118:3. 429.
- ^ Flood, Alison (8 September 2009). "Man Booker prize shortlist pits veteran Coetzee against bookies' favourite Mantel". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
- ^ "Summertime". The Omnivore. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
- ^ ""Summertime" by J.M. Coetzee". The Lit Review. Archived from the original on 6 December 2010. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
- ^ "J.M. Coetzee - Summertime". Culture Critic. Archived from the original on 16 November 2009. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
- ^ "Summertime By J.M. Coetzee". Bookmarks Magazine. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
- ^ "Summertime". Complete Review. 4 October 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
- ^ Jones, Thomas (5 September 2009). "Summertime by JM Coetzee". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 18 September 2024.