Age of Iron

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Elderly woman's decline mirrors apartheid's end.

"Age of Iron" resonates deeply with its unforgettable parallel between personal and political decay. Coetzee doesn't just tell you a story; he immerses you in the protagonist's tough confrontation with mortality, juxtaposed with the disintegration of apartheid. It's introspective and commanding, a poignant reflection on humanity for those who appreciate literature that challenges both the heart and mind.

  • Los Angeles Times Book Prize Nominee for Fiction (1991)
  • Sunday Express Book of the Year (1990)
  • Premi Llibreter de narrativa (2003)
Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.

Age of Iron

Regular price $11.90
Unit price
per
ISBN: 9780140275650
Authors: J.M. Coetzee
Publisher: Penguin Books
Date of Publication: 1998-09-01
Format: Paperback
Related Collections: Literary Fiction, Historical Fiction
Related Topics: Literature, Race, Classics
Goodreads rating: 3.85
(rated by 5243 readers)

Description

In Cape Town, South Africa, an old woman is dying of cancer. A classics professor, Mrs. Curren has been opposed to the lies and brutality of apartheid all her life, but has lived insulated from its true horrors. Now she is suddenly forced to come to terms with the iron-hearted rage that the system has wrought. In an extended letter addressed to her daughter, who has long since fled to America, Mrs. Curren recounts the strange events of her dying days. She witnesses the burning of a nearby black township and discovers the bullet-riddled body of her servant's son. A teenage black activist hiding in her house is killed by security forces. And through it all, her only companion, the only person to whom she can confess her mounting anger and despair, is a homeless man, an alcoholic, who one day appears on her doorstep. Brilliantly crafted and resonant with metaphor, Age of Iron is "a superbly realized novel whose truths cut to the bone." (The New York Times Book Review)
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Similar Reads

Elderly woman's decline mirrors apartheid's end.

"Age of Iron" resonates deeply with its unforgettable parallel between personal and political decay. Coetzee doesn't just tell you a story; he immerses you in the protagonist's tough confrontation with mortality, juxtaposed with the disintegration of apartheid. It's introspective and commanding, a poignant reflection on humanity for those who appreciate literature that challenges both the heart and mind.

  • Los Angeles Times Book Prize Nominee for Fiction (1991)
  • Sunday Express Book of the Year (1990)
  • Premi Llibreter de narrativa (2003)
Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.