Diary of a bad year – JM Coetzee

Diary of a Bad Year is an utterly contemporary work of fiction from one of our greatest writers and deepest thinkers. It addresses the profound unease of countless people in democracies across the world.

An eminent, seventy-two-year-old Australian writer is invited to contribute to a book entitled Strong Opinions. It is a chance to air some urgent concerns. He writes short essays on Machiavelli, on anarchism, on Al Qaida, on intelligent design, on music. What, he asks, is the origin of the state and the nature of the relationship between citizen and state? How should the citizen of a modern democracy react to the state’s willingness to set aside moral considerations and civil liberties in its war on terror, a war that includes the use of torture? He is troubled by Australia’s complicity with America and Britain in their wars in the Middle East; an obscure sense of dishonour elings to him.

In the laundry-room of his apartment block he encounters an alluring young woman. When he discovers she is ‘between jobs’ he offers her work typing up his manuscript. Anya has no interest in polities but the job provides a distraction, as does the writer’s evident and not unwelcome attraction towards her.

Her boyfriend, Alan, an investment consultant who understands the world in harsh neo-liberal economic terms, has reservations about his trophy girlfriend spending time with this 1960s throwback. Taking a lively interest in his affairs, Alan begins to formulate a plan.