Indeed, in one or two cases, he cannot wait for them to leave or is not happy when they phone him. These are all odd as it generally seems that, while he does want a woman, he is not particularly attracted to any of the women he sleeps with. Meanwhile, he goes through a series of desultory love affairs. He works there for a year but is not happy. Finally, he applies for and gets a position as a programmer with IBM, though, despite his maths ability, he only manages to scrape through. He tries to be a substitute school teacher but is asked to teach social studies, about which he knows nothing, so declines.

He has a romantic image of London which the weather and the fact that he is a foreigner gradually dispel. He has come as an immigrant but must find a job, so he can stay and become a poet. This spurs him to go to England, which he does. Other South Africans, such as his parents, feel that the problem is exaggerated. As well as his love life and his literary career – Ezra Pound is his model – he watches the ever deteriorating situation in South Africa post- Sharpeville. One woman becomes pregnant but, at her own expense, has an abortion. Other relationships are equally unsuccessful. She later moves out, expressing her contempt for him but continues to visit, often unexpectedly. She very soon moves in with him (to his disgust, though he does nothing to stop her).

She has a reputation for being unbalanced. His first romantic encounter is with the twin sister of the girlfriend of a close friend. While still in South Africa, we learn that his lack of success in poetry is matched by his lack of success with women. His studies are in maths but he is only interested in pure mathematics and this makes his course difficult, as he is expected to do applied mathematics and physics as well, which he does not want to do, so he fits awkwardly into English studies. He actually starts with his studies in South Africa, financed by various odd jobs, but the aim is to graduate and go to England. The second in Coetzee’s fictionalised autobiography trilogy sees him in England. Home » South Africa » J M Coetzee » Youth J M Coetzee: Youth

Youth coetzee