Book description
From the Nobel Prize-winning author of Waiting for the Barbarians, The Life & Times of Michael K and Disgrace.
Nobel laureate and two-time Booker Prize winner J. M. Coetzee returns with a haunting and surprising novel about childhood and destiny that is sure to rank with his classic novels.
Separated…
Why read it?
1 author picked The Childhood of Jesus as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
In conjuring a nation's refugees and writing in his typically austere style, the South African Nobelist JM Coetzee asks us to reflect on our current world with all of its harsh and maddening disparities. In three novels, Coetzee tells a fable-like story of one charismatic boy who can never be understood, never followed, never appreciated fully for his wisdom. Coetzee’s distillation of everyday suffering is haunting, yet ultimately cathartic.
From Peter's list on invented places that haunt us into thinking about the world.
If you love The Childhood of Jesus...
Memory's Eyes: A New York Oedipus Novel
Memory's Eyes is a contemporary New York Oedipus novel. It is written for readers who enjoy playing with concepts and storylines, here namely the classical Oedipus myth, Sophocles' three Theban plays, the psychoanalytic concept of the Oedipus complex, and its pop-cultural adaptations in movies, cartoons, and jokes.
Tragic and funny,…
Want books like The Childhood of Jesus?
Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Childhood of Jesus.
Share your top 3 reads of 2025!
And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.
1,277
readers submitted
so far, will you?
