A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2020. In Estrella, David
has grown to be a tall ten-year-old who is a natural at soccer,
and loves kicking a ball around with his friends. One day Julio
Fabricante, the director of a nearby orphanage, invites David
and his friends to form a proper soccer team but before long he
succumbs to a mysterious illness. In The Death of Jesus, J. M.
Coetzee continues to explore the meaning of a world empty of
memory but brimming with questions.
BOOK COMPANION Editor Gerry Andeen Discusses The Death of Jesus
J. M. Coetzee is a well regarded author, awarded the Nobel Prize
for Literature in 2003. The Death of Jesus is the last in
the Jesus trilogy. Coetzee’s writing is naked, everything
is clear and straightforward although in establishing the
setting for this novel, several Spanish words are used.
The reader knows that there is something deeper going on than
the story being told, especially since Jesus is not a character
in the trilogy.
We are told that David is an exceptional boy. He dances,
he plays football, he is well liked. He tells
stories to other children based on Don Quixote, the book
from which he learned to read.Yet there is something unusual
about him, even the sickness that overtakes him is not
diagnosed. He supposedly has messages for some people.
Presumably David is an analog of Jesus. Extending the
analogy to the other characters and uncovering hidden meanings
should keep discussion going into the small hours.
