Disgrace

Rating:
Summary: Near Perfect
Review: I don't normally take much notice of literary prizes to determine what I read: I usually disagree with judges, particularly those who award the Booker Prize. But I didn't let that put me off this time. For once, this was a Booker winner that actually looked like an enjoyable read.

I can't quite put my finger on why, but this is the first instance of a perfect novel I've read in years and years. The writing is tight, the themes neat and satisfying, the narrative has a clear and rewarding pattern, the story, however bleak, is a good one, and the characters are intriguing.

Coetzee's refusal to sugar coat his characters or soften the blow of the key points in the narrative with flowery language make this a powerful book. If it had been any less simple it would have been much less real.

None of the characters here are likeable, nor should they have to be for the book to be successful. Coetzee also leaves many questions unanswered; why does Lucy respond to her attack the way she does, and why does the protagonist seem so hell bent on ruin? But in life, we often find ourselves asking why, and never getting an answer; far from being dissatisfying here, Coetzee's reluctance to provide answers lends the book a believable edge.

The simplicity of his prose is actually quite beautiful - the writing is so neat that it is a joy to read, despite the subject matter. The themes of love/lust, silence, taking/giving and power are played out in an obvious but satisfying way, the many aspects of each theme explored from different angles, showing not that 'what goes around comes around' but that our actions and attitudes, when held to stubbornly and without modification, can have awful effects.

"Disgrace" is a great work of fiction, presented in the disguise of a rather plain and unassuming little novel. Which makes it all the more enjoyable.

Rating:
Summary: Overdose of symbolism, but a fascinating piece of work.
Review: J. M . Coetzee's new novel 'Disgrace', is, at first glance, a very striking tale about the ageing scolar David Lurie, who finds his life to be falling apart by all sorts of personal problems, the sett-off of which being the sexual harassment case he is accused of at the university where he is employed. The disgraced Lurie then visits his daughter Lucy in the country were he seems to find temporary peace of mind, but before soon, their both lives are turned upside down radically and Lurie finds all the factors of his former life to be vanished and replaced by new ways and ideas, that sometimes go alongside with enormous emotionality and disappointment. 'Disgrace' is an easy readable book, with an enormous amount of storylines and symbolism, which I sometimes find slightly overdone and searched for. The amount of stories-within-the-story might have been too much in a novel as short as 'Disgrace', as not all storylines have been worked out properly and some seem not to be finished at all. With a book like this, I have to try to explain some of the symbolism in the book. I picked some of the most intriguing and important themes and symbolic values of the novel, starting off with the question of guilt. Coetzee has done a great job linking the historic question of quilt in South Africa, concerning slavery and apartheid, with the questions of guilt and sympathy in Lurie's life and mind. These personal guilty feelings appear on different levels in the book, starting right at the beginning when Lurie feels guilty about intervening in the private life of prostitute Soraya, who he sees regularly. Somehow, all his sexual encounters are combined with guilt and remorse, most clearly seen in the sexual harassment case that leads to his resignation, where Lurie has no trouble with pleading guilty. At one point in the book, when Lucy has been raped, she expresses a very strange way of looking at the situation, by telling her father that her rape may just be some kind of payment. A debt that had to be paid of. Fact is, that she has been raped by black men, which very subtly raises the question of oppression, in history of Africans by white people, but here, strikingly, the other way around. Looking at the mentioned two affairs Lurie had with Soraya and his student, Melanie Isaacs, we see another link to the relations of blacks and whites in South Africa. Soraya is an exotic looking, coloured prostitute and Melanie is nicknamed 'Meláni, the dark one' by Lurie. In both cases, it first seems to be Lurie who is in charge of the situations, but in the end, the women are the ones who play the leading role, and both relationships end to his misfortune. All these guilt feelings are symbolised and expressed in Lurie's involvement with animals, which is an overview of his feelings and situations on the whole, also concerning his relationship with his daughter. Another very interesting case in the novel, is the opera that Lurie is writing about Byron and his relationship with Teresa. Byron, when looked up, was associated with incestuous liaisons, multiple affairs and the violation of taboos. He had a taste for exotic women and apparently very good looks. This, of course, is perfectly applicable to Lurie's life before the attack, so we might see him as Lurie's alter ego. When his foundations of life fall away: intellect, the Romantic poets, his appearance, that was destroyed by the attack and along that his sexual conquests, his drive to write about Byron also seems to diminish. More or less every seemingly unimportant detail in 'Disgrace' has a hidden reference or meaning, like the Byron-opera, but also the names of the characters. There is Pollux, one of the rapists, and his name carries a mythological reference to the twins Castor and Pollux (or Polydeuces in Greek). This young boy is related to Petrus, Lucy's neighbour who wants to possess Lucy's land and is seen as the instigator of the attack. When Lucy turns out to be pregnant, he proposes to marry her to relieve her of the burden of being a disgraced single mother and to get to own her land. This, Lucy finds a reasonable solution, and she is not at all uncomfortable with his inappropriate proposal. Now Petrus is of course a biblical name, referring to the leader of the twelve disciples, which could be interpreted at the character Petrus indeed being the leader of the gang that attacked the Lurie's. Furthermore, Petrus in the bible is seen as the one carrying the key to the gates of heaven, in the book that may refer to him being the final solution and rescue of Lucy. And of course he denies knowing Jesus in the bible, which is the harshest betrayal in history, which quite well reflects his character in the book. All together, 'Disgrace' turns out not to be as simple a story as I thought at first. It is remarkable and respectable how detailed all the symbolism and references in the book are, and what I have discussed in the above is not even the start of it. The only thing that comes to mind is that writing is not only a profession and nearly -in this case- a science, but also a free, creative process and should be enjoyed by both the writer and the readers. I cannot see this book as having much to do which creative experiences and expressing oneself, which is a shame. Still, Coetzee has succeeded in the most accessible way, to bring up the difficulties in the relations between black and white in the South Africa of nowadays and in former days, which is a great achievement. An interesting read!

Rating:
Summary: Thought provoking, intelligent and gives great insight
Review: David Laurie, a Cape Town professor takes us on a visit to modern South Africa. The contrast between the very normal sounding life in the city, with university and student life and life on a farm is stark and so very real. The disintegration of "law and order" in the countryside is portrayed in a, matter of fact, non judgemental manner.

The confusion in the society in the country and the way blacks and whites view one another is presented as David Laurie sees it with no attempt to explain it. I liked that and disgreed with the review of Salamn Rushedi ( forgive the spelling ) who felt that the book failed to explain why things were the way they were. I didn't feel I was missing out on further explanation.

Laurie's daughter and her friends in the country come across as throwback to the 60's with sufficient dose of cynisism to make it 99. I loved the description of life on the farm and the animal shelter, you can almost smell Bev's house.

On to the parts I likes least. The university hearing proves to be be somewhat out of charachter, as we get to know more about David Laurie. The Byron opera part came across contrieved, even though it was beautifully written

Rating:
Summary: Very Poor
Review: I found this book very depressing. The storyline was very poor, nothing really happens in the end - and the main character David Lurie i had nothing in common with. How it won the Booker prize prize i'll never know.

Rating:
Summary: lean and mean
Review: This is the first book I've read by Coetzee, but I can definitely see why he's considered a great writer. At first, his writing seems almost plain, but then you start to read into the silences and the gaps and understand that his art is to say so much more (or even to imply so much more) than the words themselves can. He reminds me of Hemingway a little, in that many think that he's a simple writer although in fact he's very cerebral and complex. Lurie is not an enjoyable character, but you will feel his pain. For me, this book was a real discovery and sent me on the path to read Michael K.

Rating:
Summary: plain story, plainly told
Review: i am going to try to come at why those of us who liked the book (i try not to give five stars to any book i'm not going to reread every year) can agree with the reviwers who were lukewarm about it, but still like it enormously nonetheless. simple exercise: read a bit of the book, any bit, but especially the bits about the stray animals...now sit down and try to write like this. i am not a writer, but i've tried this several times. i cannot do it. the plain-ness, if plain-ness is thought of as emily dickinson's face or a palladian portico, is painfully difficult to get right without being bland. coetzee tells an admittedly plain story in so plain, so simple, unadorned, straightforward, and unexceptional a way that the subject, subjects, are piercingly profound. it reminded me much of penelope fitzgerald and anita brookner (anyone agree?). there is no point looking for rushdie-esque verbal acrobatics and iris murdoch-esque plot machinations. you experience an entirely linear morality play in the way you would experience it in life, simply, with much in plain view and what is not, not hinted at, but assumed.

Rating:
Summary: Elegant, Economical, Complex
Review: This is a work well deserving of its accolades and very likely one of the best books that I'll read this year.

"Disgrace" is a book that, somehow, never allows you to get your bearings. The charm of this book is Coetzee's amazing ability to effortlessly shift moods, from dark humor to interpersonal interaction to political insight. His writing is light, precise, never verbose, and always razor-sharp.

Disgrace is the story of David Lurie, a Capetown professor who's middle-aged philandering puts him into a situation that his pride and confused idealism won't let him gracefully escape; he therefore loses his job and his reputation. This leads him on a journey to rediscover himself, his relationship with his daughter, and eventually the unfolding chaos of his changing country.

Laurie is a protagonist filled with flaws, but one with whom the reader ultimately can relate. We cringe in the beginning as we watch his self destructive behavior unwind his life, then watch as Cotezee's expert literary voice takes the novel in unexpected directions. Indeed, the first and second halves of the books are like two different novels. The story of David Laurie becomes the story of South Africa.

In reading this novel one is hit hard with the complex racial and political reality of modern South Africa; in many ways this is not a work of hope. Throughout it all Cotezee avoids being judgmental, wallowing in stereotypes, or ducking difficult truths.

In summary this is a brilliant novel: a well-crafted quick read with realistic, flawed, sympathetic characters.

Rating:
Summary: Disgrace indeed!
Review: I like the book because the uncontrollable lust, the nonchalence, the moral abandonment, and the callousness the old Professor shows in all his sexual encounters is met with severe punishment suffered by his own daughter. Retribution indeed. Disgrace on all sides indeed. I like the thought that "what goes around comes around".( )

The book is definitely thought provoking. I thank the author for granting me a view of the modern African psyche. I am now reading another one of Coetzee's books - Boyhood.

Rating:
Summary: Restrained despair
Review: With an economy of language almost as bleak and detached as the South African back country where much of this novel takes place, Coetzee carefully spools out the tale of disgraced professor David Lurie.

Coetzee does not make Lurie a likeable character. In some ways, he is reminiscent of Jane Urquhart's selfish, exploitive artist in "The Underpainter".

Lurie knowingly, casually, uses women. He flippantly rejects the offers of help from good and loyal friends. And he is unable to comprehend the turmoil his daughter endures after the attack at her small farm.

Even though his writing is straightforward and matter-of-fact almost to the point of being dispassionate, Coetzee is able to make Lurie's anger, shame and confusion palpable.

There is quiet despair and mounting bewilderment as Lurie collides with the savagery that exists beyond the academic gentility of the career he willfully squanders.

It is Coetzee's considerable achievement that he evokes this wrenching discovery in such simple yet horrifying terms.

Rating:
Summary: shocking
Review: I was quite shocked - but impressed by the beauty of his writing. Having just visited this vast continent, I read this book as part of my effort to understand countries in Africa. It is quite refreshing to read of such unusual, unimaginable circumstances.