The Pole

1st US edition

Author| J. M. Coetzee
Country| United States
Language| English
Publisher| Liveright

Publication date

| September 19, 2023
Media type| Print (Hardcover)
Pages| 176
ISBN| 9781324093862
OCLC| 1398511342
Preceded by| The Death of Jesus

The Pole is a 2023 novel by J.M. Coetzee. In the United States it was published as a stand-alone novel. In the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada it was published as The Pole and Other Stories,[1][2] which included five short stories in addition to The Pole.

## Plot[edit]

The novel (or novella)[1] The Pole centres around a Polish pianist, Witold, in Catalonia who falls in love with a woman named Beatriz.[3][4]

All but one of the additional five stories collected along side “The Pole” (in some published editions), centre around the character of Elizabeth Costello,[5] a character who has appeared before in Coetzee’s work and is sometimes described as Coetzee’s own alter ego.[1]

## Publication history[edit]

The novel was first published in a Spanish translation by Mariana Dimópoulos under the title El Polaco by the Argentinian publisher El Hilo de Ariadna.[6][3] This was Coetzee's third book whose initial publication was in the Southern Hemisphere. Coetzee explains that this is deliberate on his part because "the symbolism of publishing in the South before the North is important to me".[6]

The Pole was also his second book to originally appear in Spanish translation. Coetzee says the Spanish translation of the novel provides a more accurate portrayal of his objectives than the English.[4] An English edition was published in July, 2023.[7][8]

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c Banville, John (13 October 2023). "The Pole and Other Stories by JM Coetzee review – a late love affair | JM Coetzee | The Guardian". amp.theguardian.com.
2. ^ The Pole and Other Stories. October 28, 2023. Archived from the original on 2023-10-28.
3. ^ a b "'The Pole': J.M. Coetzee sets his latest novel in Barcelona". Al Día News. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
4. ^ a b Marshall, Colin (2022-12-08). "J. M. Coetzee's War Against Global English". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
5. ^ Liu, Max (26 October 2023). "The Pole and Other Stories shows J M Coetzee is one of the world's greatest writers".
6. ^ a b Harbour, Berna González (2022-09-13). "J. M. Coetzee: 'After many years of practice, I write good English sentences'". EL PAÍS English. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
7. ^ Kossew, Sue (2023-07-17). "In J.M. Coetzee's latest story collection, questions of the soul become urgent as the body becomes frail". The Conversation. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
8. ^ Harmon, Steph; Cain, Sian; Wyndham, Susan; Fry, Declan; Touma, Rafqa; Lam, Yvonne C. (2023-07-05). "'Exciting', 'bold', 'laugh out loud': the best Australian books out in July". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-07-24.

* v
* t
* e

Works by J. M. Coetzee

Novels|

* Dusklands (1974)
* In the Heart of the Country (1977)
* Waiting for the Barbarians (1980)
* Life & Times of Michael K (1983)
* Foe (1986)
* Age of Iron (1990)
* The Master of Petersburg (1994)
* The Lives of Animals (1999)
* Disgrace (1999)
* Elizabeth Costello (2003)
* Slow Man (2005)
* Diary of a Bad Year (2007)
* The Childhood of Jesus (2013)
* The Schooldays of Jesus (2016)
* The Death of Jesus (2019)
* The Pole (2023)

"Autrebiography"|

* Boyhood: Scenes from Provincial Life (1997)
* Youth: Scenes from Provincial Life II (2002)
* Summertime (2009)

Criticism and letters|

* White Writing (1988)
* Inner Workings (2007)
* Here and Now (2013)

Adaptations|

* Dust (film, 1985)
* The Lives of Animals (TV film, 2002)
* Waiting for the Barbarians (opera, 2006)
* Disgrace (film, 2008)
* Slow Man (opera, 2014)
* Waiting for the Barbarians (film, 2019)

*[OCLC]: Online Computer Library Center number
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template