As I mentioned on Goodreads, Age of Iron is not a book for everyone, as far as I’m concerned. It is quite heavy on emotions as well as in intellect. The way Coetzee weaved his words is like swimming into the endless ends of the ocean. It is teeming, and I mean teeming, with metaphors…but in a good way.
Age of Iron is a letter written by a mother to her daughter. Mrs. Curren is a South African who is staring at the death’s door because of cancer. Her daughter has fled the atrocities of South Africa and married in America.
Alone, Mrs. Curren, a former teacher, interacts with her servant and a hostile stranger who took refuge in her house. The mother in Mrs. Curren was not lost as she even looks after the people who chose to stay in her home even without invitation. She detests how her country turned out to be but strongly disagrees with any violence in dealing with it.
Some of the scenes are graphic that they pierce through the heart.
The book is very visual and unapologetic. I can easily get past the scenes with dialogues but when Mrs. Curren starts talking to her daughter, I sometimes get lost finding my mind wandering somewhere.
The “supporting characters” each received their own time to shine. They are very well explored and one can actually feel what they are feeling. However, Mr. Vercueil is my favourite because even if he seems not to care, he is he only person left who truly care for Mrs. Curren’s feelings even if they are not related by blood or even by friendship.
Age of Iron by J.M. Coetzee may be a sad, complicated, and filled with emotions book but it’s one of those stories that I’d like to revisit in the future.
