South African literature is a literature in bondage. It is a less-than-fully-human literature. It is exactly the kind of literature you would expect people to write from prison. J. M. Coetzee africanbondageexpect Change image and share on social
If it is indeed impossible - or at least very difficult - to inhabit the consciousness of an animal, then in writing about animals there is a temptation to project upon them feelings and thoughts that may belong only to our own human mind and heart. J. M. Coetzee animalbelongconsciousness share on social
The most important of all rights is the right to life, and I cannot foresee a day when domesticated animals will be granted that right in law. J. M. Coetzee animaldaydomesticate Change image and share on social
In order to be cruel we have to close our hearts to the suffering of the other. J. M. Coetzee closecruelheart Change image and share on social
I see no marks of Wordsworths style of writing or style of thinking in my own work, yet Wordsworth is a constant presence when I write about human beings and their relations to the natural world. J. M. Coetzee beingconstanthuman Change image and share on social
Everyone seems to see bleakness and despair in my books. I don't read them that way. I see myself as writing comic books, books about ordinary people trying to live ordinary, dull, happy lives while the world is falling to pieces around them. J. M. Coetzee bleaknessbookcomic share on social
My response, a dubious and hesitant one, is that it has been and may continue to be, in the time that is left to me, more productive to live out the question than to try to answer it in abstract terms. J. M. Coetzee abstractanswercontinue share on social
I read a great deal as a child. A lot of children go through a phase of reading in a literally voracious way. It is their primary imaginative activity. Maybe that's an experience which is not so common any more with the presence of television in every home. J. M. Coetzee activitychildcommon share on social
The idea of writer as sage is pretty much dead today. I would certainly feel very uncomfortable in the role. J. M. Coetzee deadfeelidea Change image and share on social
