The life of the young David continues with his so-called parents Simon and Inès in the city of Estrella, in a fictional Latin American country in a distant future. It's not science fiction, because there is clearly no technological difference with our world of today, yet society is different. A little out of kilter, with generous and friendly people surrounding the young family.
Young David continues to be stubborn, intelligent and unpredictable in the questions he asks and in the irrational requests he makes. He wants to create his own life, and goes to a dance school. Again, the school is not entirely normal and is run by a bizarre and friendly couple. I will not tell the rest of the story but it is more than worth reading.
Coetzee manages to create a strange universe which is entirely plausible but at the same time eery and ominous. Nothing appears to be real yet he never goes into areas that you could describe as "fantasy" or "extra-ordinary".
At the same time he forces us to reflect on our world, and to challenge our way of thinking and our perspective on things. Simon's rational 'common sense' has to constantly fight the irrational approach of young David, even if Simon often has to concede that he does not have the answer himself to David's unrelentless questioning. Instead of Simon's more scientific approach to understanding truth and reality, David's approach is one of experience, where knowledge is not acquired but revealed, as by a flash of insight, of art and of physical effort.
In this trilogy, Coetzee also writes a very captivating story, well written, deep and sensitive.
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