Life & Times of Michael K

infobox Book |
name = Life & Times of Michael K
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = First South African edition cover
author = J. M. Coetzee
cover_artist = Marcus Wilson-Smith
country = South Africa
language = English
series =
genre = Novel
publisher = Ravan Press (Johannesburg)
release_date = 1983
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages =
isbn = ISBN 0-86975-159-X
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Life & Times of Michael K" is a 1983 novel by South African-born author J. M. Coetzee, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature for the year 2003. The book itself won the Booker Prize for 1983. The novel is a story of hare lipped, simple gardener Michael K, who makes an arduous journey from civil war-ridden urban South Africa to his mother's rural birthplace, during an imagined near-future within the apartheid era.

Plot summary

The novel starts in the devastated city of Cape Town, where Michael K works as a gardener. The first few pages recount his life's story: he was only in school for a very short period and then was put under care at Huis Norenius. His mother falls ill, suffering from edema and severe weakness. She loses some of her responsibilities at her job, which is caring for a family named the Buhrmanns, but is allowed to keep the room that they gave her where she lives with Michael K. When Michael K learns that there may be layoffs at his work, his mother decides they should travel to her hometown of Prince Albert. Michael K constructs a rudimentary cart and begins to transport his ailing mother to the rural Prince Albert. On the way there, she dies in a hospital, leaving him alone. After her death, she is cremated and the ashes given to him; he vows to return them to her birthplace. He begins a long, arduous journey across the country to her childhood farm, sleeping rough and enduring many hardships along the way. The country is in war, and he sees many convoys going past. One of the soldiers ransacks his belongings and takes his money.

Eventually he reaches the place of his destination and finds the place deserted, the owners long gone. He scatters the ashes on the ground and takes up residence there. He kills goats and birds for food and drinks from the nearby dam. A member from the old family comes wanting to escape the war, and hides in the farmhouse. He survives on mealies and pumpkins, however, he is soon caught by the police who suspects him of aiding arsonists hiding in the mountains, and he is taken to a rehab center, where the doctor motivates him to tell his story, deeply moved by the man, K. However, Michael K manages to escape back to Cape Town, where he settles down from where he started, realising his life, and his connection to the earth.

Some commentators notice a connection between the character Michael K and the protagonist Josef K. in "The Trial" by Franz Kafka. The book also bears many references to Kafka, and it is believed, "K" is a tribute to Kafka.

References

* J.M. Coetzee. "Life & Times of Michael K". Ravan Press 1983. ISBN 0-86975-159-X.