This book was way beyond me. Is the world devoid of meaning? What is our purpose. I realize its allegorical, and I haven’t read the first two books in the trilogy, _The Childhood of Jesus_ and _The Schooldays of Jesus_ and if I had I probably wouldn’t have tackled this one. If you read it expecting to read about Jesus, you’ll find where the allegory comes in. It focuses on a child and his guardian. In this book the child, David, dies at the ages of 10. If you’re looking for something about faith you won’t find it here.

Not at all what I was expecting. We'll get it for the library based on the author's name alone, but I won't be recommending this one.

Unfortunately, I did not realize this was the last book of the trilogy when I requested the ARC. I'm a fan of Coetzee and didn't spend time researching the book, but now I'm left wondering how I missed the earlier books of this trilogy. If Coetzee wasn't such an intense writer, I may have lost interest, especially after realizing I was missing out on crucial info about these characters. The story was so damn compelling, I stopped fretting over how these characters came about before this young boy dies.  I loved the way David, our ten-year-old Jesus, retold stories about Don Quixote to the kids at the orphanage, and the way he pondered numbers and death.  I wish I had known more about Demitri, the murderer, and I guess I will now I have to start from the beginning to see what I have missed.  But, even without knowing these details, this book is quite enjoyable.

This is the third book in the Jesus trilogy thankfully.  I read the first 2 books, so was hoping this one was going to be the payoff for enduring them.  Unfortunately, I was wrong.  I didn’t enjoy this series, despite trying hard to.