Foe [Paperback]

J. M. Coetzee (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 5, 1988

A retelling of "Robinson Crusoe", full of mysteries - of the power of society and the power of the word.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (January 5, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140110321
• ISBN-13: 978-0140110326
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 4.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #895,723 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

J.M. Coetzee's work includes Waiting for the Barbarians, Life & Times of Michael K, Foe, and Slow Man, among others. He has been awarded many prizes, including the Booker Prize (twice). In 2003, he received the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Original and Interesting, July 25, 2010

By 

Dr. Bojan Tunguz (Indiana, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Foe (Paperback)

This is a very original and unusual retelling of the story of Robinson Crusoe. The protagonist is a female character that does not appear in the original story. Her experiences and adventures greatly expand on the narrative of the shipwrecked traveler. While her presence on the island sheds new light on many already familiar incidents, it also creates a whole set of new ones. Being stranded on a deserted island, however, constitutes just a fraction of this story and the main parts of the narrative deal with events and situations that ensue after the castaways have been rescued.

This is a book where the truth is oftentimes muddied; it is never entirely clear how many of the events have been fabricated full-cloth and how many are genuine. Coetzee manages to develop a narrative style and language that is simultaneously evocative of the conventions of nineteenth century novels and yet fresh and accessible to the modern reader. Although this book is not representative of the themes and situations about which he typically writes, I found this to be perhaps his most original novel. I really enjoyed reading it and felt it was a very refreshing departure from the kinds of books that I have been reading lately. The book is truly a little gem.

4.0 out of 5 stars Friend or Foe?, July 8, 2011

By 

Sam Quixote - See all my reviews

This review is from: Foe (Paperback)

Daniel DeFoe's classic novel of shipwreck and survival is given an alternative re-telling by South African Nobel Laureate JM Coetzee in this short novel "Foe".

The story is told from the first person perspective of Susan Barton who is left adrift on a small boat with a dead captain after the crew of the ship she was sailing on to find her missing daughter on, mutinied. She washes ashore a desert island and finds that she is not alone. A man named Crusoe and his tongue-less former slave and manservant Friday are the only other two people living on the island. Their life on the island and subsequent escape to 17th England is documented here, up until she meets Daniel Foe, a budding novelist whom she wants to write her story and make her a celebrity.

Daniel Foe is of course Daniel DeFoe, who bought the faux title "De" to add before his last name to make it seem that he was nobility when he in actuality was not.

The book talks about stories and storytelling, the power of fiction, the power of words and narrative, and how we live and how we see ourselves in our heads in relation to the real world. I found the book a very fast paced read and enthralling in parts. Barton's encounters with Foe were particularly fascinating and Coetzee does a good job of recreating 17th century England well. Despite a rather obligatory literature ending - dreamlike and vague - I found it to be a good read that I enjoyed reading on the plane this summer. Coetzee's best is still for me "Disgrace" but "Foe" is an oft overlooked fine addition to this remarkable writer's canon and those looking for an accessible and interesting novel by this writer would do well to start here.