The Pole by J.M. Coetzee

Published in Argentina in 2022; published in translation by W.W. Norton & Co./Liveright on September 19, 2023

The Pole is in his seventies but still vigorous, a concert pianist known for his unusual interpretation of Chopin, an interpretation that is arguably more authentic than the “hard, percussive” Chopin that has become fashionable. He is invited to perform in Barcelona by a Concert Circle that caters to a wealthy, aging audience with conservative tastes. The Circle refers to him as “the Pole” because Witold Walczykiewicz has “too many w’s and z’s.”

Beatriz and Margarita are members of the Concert Circle’s board. Beatriz is intelligent but not reflective because an “excess of reflection can paralyze the will.” She defers to Margarita’s desire to invite the Pole because Margarita knows more about music and has glowing things to say about him. Beatriz and Margarita are both society wives and not taken seriously, so they do the good works that society wives are expected to perform as their husbands go about their business. Margarita enjoys having affairs; Beatriz considers them but can’t be bothered.

Beatriz is pressed into service to entertain the Pole when Margarita, the more natural choice for that task, falls ill. Beatriz is concerned because, unlike Margarita, she is not the type to flirt and flatter. Beatrix is more than twenty years younger than the Pole and expects that they will have nothing in common. His presence does not change her expectation. She does not enjoy his interpretation of Chopin. He cannot answer her question about his performance in a way that satisfies her. She does not like his dentures: “too gleaming, too white, too fake.” They have an uncomfortable dinner with a couple from the Circle and Beatriz expects never to see him again.

Weeks later, the Pole comes to Spain to give piano lessons and asks to see Beatriz again. He admits that he has come to Spain for her, but she does not know what that means. She tells him she isn’t going to sleep with him. She thinks he speaks nonsense when he says she gives him peace and joy. She wonders if he wants a caregiver to help him in his declining years.

Beatriz does not know why the Pole wants her but feels vaguely insulted that he does. Perhaps he knows he would not have a chance with a more vivacious woman but regards her as attainable. Anyway, she is married. Yes, her husband has affairs, but that’s the way men are. She is busy with her social life and has no time for the Pole. She is not the answer to the riddle of his existence, even if he believes that to be the case. And yet.

The Pole invites Beatriz to take a vacation with him in Brazil. Beatriz refuses. He sends her private recordings of Chopin, claiming he is playing just for her. She cannot hear a personal message in the recordings. Still, she can’t get the Pole out of her mind. Perhaps she is discontented. “Discontent is not uncommon. Discontent: not knowing what one wants.”

Yet Beatriz is frustrated because she does not know why the Pole wants her. Why her? The question haunts her. She does not understand why he would love her without expecting to be loved in return. Her conversations with the Pole return platitudes about destiny, not answers. Their conversations are like “coins passed back and forth in the dark, in ignorance of what they are worth.” Perhaps there are simply no words to answer: “Why me?”

The Pole is the story of a woman who persistently says no as she inches toward yes, never acknowledging to herself that yes is even a possibility. She delights in the Pole’s admiration, his “dazzlement, as though he cannot believe his luck.” He makes her feel wanted. He is happy to take what she gives him, and that joy makes her want to give more and more. Yet she always wants more than the Pole can give. She is disappointed that he does not woo her or try to seduce her. He cannot give her a younger body than his tired old physical frame. He cannot play music that speaks to her. He cannot write love poems that transfigure her body into soul.

Why is the Pole never enough? Why does Beatriz want him to be more than he is? These are questions J.M. Coetzee leaves for the reader to decide. The right kind of book club might enjoy exploring the answers.

By the last half of the novel, the Pole is merely a puzzling memory in Beatriz’ life — apart from poems that he wanted her to have, poems that often refer to Dante and his girlfriend Beatrice. What do the poems mean? Are the poems vengeful, written to turn her into “a plaster saint”? What meaning should she attach to his description of the rose left between Beatrice’s legs? Does meaning matter? Is it enough that the poems cause a burning between Beatriz’s legs?

There is plenty for readers to unpack in Coetzee’s novels. This one is no exception. The story is told in a minimalist style that makes each sentence seem important. Beatriz and the Pole are the only characters of significance. While the Pole sees parallels between his relationship with Beatriz and Dante’s with Beatrice, Coetzee flips the story by focusing not on the man’s perspective but the woman’s. Beatriz often tells the Pole that his attention is unwanted, yet she encourages his interest, then discourages it, then feels guilty for doing both.

It is difficult for the reader to explore the depths of Beatriz’s heart, if only because it is difficult for Beatriz to do so. Perhaps that is the novel’s point. The Pole is a straightforward man, even if he cannot communicate with Beatriz in the way she believes an artist should. Beatriz’s confusion may reflect the tug-of-war between the heart and mind in matters of romance. The Pole knows what he wants even if he can’t express it. Beatriz seems to know what she wants but refuses to listen to her heart because her mind is busy cataloging the Pole’s faults.

How the conflict between heart and mind should resolve is a profound question that most people address at some point. The Pole illustrates the conflict by stripping it to its essence, again leaving it to the reader to arrive at an answer.

RECOMMENDED