youth

first published in 2002 but only now in my sights
by way of one of those '1001 books you must read...' lists
picked at random on a google search to assist in book selection
when spoilt for choice at the local library and needing extra input
j m cootzee would be a current favourite author by way of turnover
having read 2 other novels by him in the last 6 months or so
this book is relatively short at a total of just over 168 pages
so able to be consumed in a few hours during today
mostly while sitting on an intercity bus so some quality reading time
john is living in his home country of south africa in the early 60's
is studying mathematics at university but secretly wants to be a poet
he lives alone, and leads a frugal and solitary life for a late teenager
much time is spent dedicated to the pursuit of his dream
mostly searching out and devouring the works of his literary idols
and often questioning their motives, intent and disparate writing styles

but in time he lost his taste for hopkins
just as he is in the process of losing his taste for shakespeare
hopkins lines are packed too tight with consonants
shakespeares too tight with metaphores
hopkins and shakespeare also set too much store on uncommon words
particularly old english words - maw, reck, pelf
he does not see why verse always has to be rising to a declamatory pitch
why it cannot be content to follow the flexations of the ordinary speaking voice
in fact, why it has to be so different from prose

as a backdrop to all this things have turned ugly in south africa
he senses only a matter of time until he is drafted into the white's security forces
so makes a break for it and heads to london - he would rather paris or vienna
but is aware of the likely problem of the language barrier in those cities
his work permit dictates he must secure income quite quickly
his university training enables application for a position at IBM
computer programming is an unheard of skill but he has some merit
and is appointed based on his mathematical studies at university
his time is then neatly split between life as a commuter/worker
and in his spare time continuing to prepare for life as a poet
searching out underground art, cinema and music in 1960's london
along the way he has several disastrous attempts at romance
but he remains resolute that to be a genuine and recognised poet
one has to first taste failure, sparseness and difficulty
eventually he wakes up to the irony of his dual life
and throws in the job at IBM to dedicate himself to bohemia
spends and bludges his way to a point at which reality again kicks in
he's then taken in by ICL to work on a secret cold war program
and thus as far removed from his ideal life as he could be
the conversion from idealism to pragmatism complete by the end of the book
i sense the book itself is quite auto-biographical (a coetzee trait)
or at least well-researched particularly in regards to early computing
most endearing about it is the way it describes so well the idealism of youth
then in turn the way that time and circumstances erode such ideals
all very philospohical really - could really have been called life
and a pleasant way to spend 4 hours on a bus