Simplicity

My initial reaction to Foe was not as optimistic as I hoped it would be. The title did not mean much to me, or even really make sense with the cover, and I could not understand how it related to Coetzee's work. Needless to say I was quick to judge the book by it's lack of a cover.

After continuing to read, I began to appreciate the simplicity of Coetzee's text. Simplistic may not be the correct work to describe the book as a whole but the mindset in which I was able to read Foe seemed relaxed and carefree. A similar theme reveals itself in Cat's Cradle, that of easygoing, petty reading one may read on a beach. Does this have to do with the fact that both novels relate to an island? I'm not sure. However, I have a hard time comparing Cat's Cradle to Foe at this point in the reading because of the way each book reads. Cat's Cradle reads as though we do not know what is true and what is false. We are first lead to believe everything in the book is false but are then repetitively convinced by Vonnegut, or Jonah, that his work is truthful. Foe does not read this way. From the beginning, we are to assume everything in the book is true. We know it is a work of fiction but are not once given a reason to question the author's truthfulness or integrity. I will be interested to see if this changes throughout the course of the text.