The lives of Animals By J.M. Coetzee
To some Coetzee is old hat and all that he has to say is old news. I recently ventured in to his works and I am torn between fascination, disgust and pure delight. This book was a wonderful little read. Coetzee was asked to speak at the Tanner lectures. It was expected he would speak on a literary topic (being a famous writer and all). Instead he created a fictional story where we find Elizabeth Costello, a famous writer asked to give lectures at a school, who then talks about animal rights rather then literature. During a rant against academic philosophy she proclaims “if you had wanted someone to come here and discriminate for you between mortal and immortal souls, or between rights and duties, you would have called a philosopher, not a person whose soul claim to your attention is to have written stories about made-up people.” We cannot but wonder hoe Coetzee delivered this line to his audience. When Costello does discuss poetry in her second lecture, she questions its ability to describe and know animals.
The version I read contained several essays by the likes of Peter Singer, who rather then essay format, writes a story about discussing the Costello lectures with his daughter over breakfast because he has to respond to Coetzee in a debate at the Tanner lectures. He is uncertain how to respond because the lecture was fiction. His daughter tells him to write in fiction, “Me? When have I ever written fiction?” is the last line of his essay leaving us wonder about the nature of the conversation we just read.
This book is very playful and discusses two very important questions. Firstly it prods at the nature of our relationship to animals. Secondly, is delves into the power of words, the importance of ideas and the ability of philosophy and poetry to offer us guidance into the ways of the world.
This is a book that can be read on many levels. I suggest you choose one.
