his criticism of the cruel rationalism and cosmetic morality of Western
civilization".
Typically Coetzee, 63, as spare in speech as prose, declined all
interview requests. A statement released by the University of Chicago,
where he is a visiting professor, said the news was a complete surprise.
"I was not even aware that the announcement was pending," he said.
Tributes from friends and colleagues hailed the award as recognition of
a literary great whose fiction captured the anguish of inner lives against
the backdrop of a changing social order. The citation from Stockholm
commended an ability to write fiction that "in innumerable guises
portrays the surprising involvement of the outsider".
Coetzee left South Africa several years ago for what some called self-
imposed exile after a clash with the ruling African National Congress
over his novel Disgrace. The daughter of the main character, like
Coetzee a white academic, is raped by three black men but declines to
prosecute, partly because of colonial guilt. Cabinet ministers said the
story was racist, and invoked the human rights commission in a high-
profile attack.