The Schooldays of Jesus

Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2016 and honored as a Book of the Year by both the Observer and the Daily Telegraph, this narrative captivates with its unique exploration of a new beginning. In this story, once you cross the ocean by boat, your previous life fades as you embark on an entirely fresh journey. There is no past; everything unfolds in the now. As the boat reaches the harbor, passengers disembark into the present, where time begins anew.

The tale centers around a curious young boy named David, who is never short of questions. In the town of Estrella, Simon and Ines take him under their wing. David is in the process of learning the local language and gradually forming friendships. Accompanying him is a loyal dog named Bolivar. As David approaches his seventh birthday, it's time for him to attend school, and thus, he joins the Academy of Dance. Here, equipped with his shining dance shoes, he learns to summon numbers from the sky. However, it is within these walls that David uncovers unsettling truths about adult behavior.

In this spellbinding allegory, Coetzee skillfully addresses profound themes related to growing up, the essence of parenting, the perennial conflict between reason and emotion, and the choices that shape our lives.