MLK Library Literary Book Club

The Pole

We meet the second Tuesday of every month to discuss a work of literature.

Are you interested in literary fiction and nonfiction? Are you looking for a book club that meets in downtown DC? Join the longest-running book club hosted by DCPL!

For January's meeting, we will be discussing The Pole by J.M. Coetzee. About the book:

Exacting yet maddeningly unpredictable, J. M. Coetzee’s The Pole tells the story of Wittold Walccyzkiecz, a vigorous, “extravagantly white-haired” Polish pianist who becomes infatuated with Beatriz, a stylish patron of the arts, after she helps organize his Barcelona concert. Although Beatriz, a married woman, is initially unimpressed by Wittold, she soon finds herself pursued and ineluctably swept into the world of the journeyman performer. As he sends her letters, extends countless invitations to travel, and even visits her husband’s summer home in Mallorca, their unlikely relationship blossoms, though, it seems, only on her terms.

The power struggle between them intensifies ― Is it Beatriz who limits their passion by controlling her emotions? Or is it Wittold, trying to force into life his dream of love? Evocative of Joyce’s “The Dead,” The Pole is a haunting work, evoking the “inexhaustible palette of sensations, from blind love to compassion” ( El País ) typical of Coetzee’s finest novels.

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