Rating: 
Summary: A Gem
Review: This is one of the most beautiful and deeply moving book I have read in a long time. The deceptivly simple writing and the clean story line leave much room for thought. I hesitated about reading it, being put off by some of the reviews that I had read and thought that it would be a depressing book. It was not. I savored every moment of it.
Rating: 
Summary: Disgrace deserved the Booker Prize
Review: The reason I bought this book, was- as many others before me- because it won the 1999 Booker Prize. I wasn't disappointed: It was a good opportunity to discover a talented writer, whose work I hadn't come across before, & I'll certainly return to his work. Disgrace is the story, or a part of the story of David Lurie, a middle aged, twice divorced, disillusioned, burnt out professor of literature at a university of Cape Town. After an impulsive affair with a student, Lurie loses his job (in a way, willingly) & moves to a farm somewhere in South Africa, to live with his daughter for a while. There, Lurie & his daughter have to deal with the harsh realities of post-apartheid South Africa, on a day to day basis, & also with the harsh reality of their own relationship. More details would spoil the reading of the book! so I'll just go on with my impressions upon finishing it. First of all, Coetzee's writing is precise, sparse and to the point, & that's definitely a good reason to read this book. The reader has to read between the lines to understand & empathize with David Lurie. Feelings & relationships are not described in detail- you just have to use your own thoughts & feelings in order to step into the world of Disgrace. It's a very human story. It's about human frailty, about mistakes, even about sins. There is no easy conclusion, no easy redemption. No rising above the disillusionment. But there is an ending that signifies a letting go of the past, & the hope for a new beginning, at least that's the way I saw it. All in all, it's a book that can be read on many different levels, an interesting book, not only because of the information we get about South Africa, but also because of its honest, almost brutal portrayal of a "fallen" man who's struggling to go on living.
Rating:
Summary: Very much worth reading
Review: The characters here are very intriguing - even though the main character (Lurie) isn't likeable you still are interested in his thoughts. Also shows the logic of non-Western attitudes and insights. The writing complements the emotions of the characters very well, and also allows the reader to empathize with each character's development.
Rating:
Summary: Living life on the edge
Review: J.M Coetzee's novel, Disgrace, tells the story of slow disintegration of Professor David Lurie. As a character, I found Lurie intensly dislikable -- selfish, ineffectual and in many ways somewhat inaccessible to the reader. But nonetheless I enjoyed the book. Coetzee's minimalist writing is in a similar vein to that of Hemmingway or Richard Ford. And his depiction of the changing South African society is both disturbing and fascinating.
Rating:
Summary: EMPATHY on the road to nowhere
Review: I found this book able to evoke such strong empathy in me, perhaps more empathy than any book ever has: to feel along with these characters that sometimes you get so knocked down that you can't pull yourself back up again--true despair. Maybe that's what it's like to be a minority population no matter if it's in South Africa or the U.S. The power of this message to reach across so many boundaries astounds me. BUT, what's up with that ending? Some other reader mentioned being tired of literature that leaves off in the middle of no where. I concur. Worth the read despite the ending. . .
Rating:
Summary: A heartbreaking book
Review: I echo all of the other reviewers' positive things. This book, though lean, is not small. It tackles enormous issues with a minimum of wasted motion. I was compelled and repelled and drawn into the story and the characters' lives. Mr. Coetzee deserves all the accolades he receives for his novel.
Rating:
Summary: a dark tale
Review: If the measure of a work of art is its emotional impact, thenthis is a masterpiece. "Disgrace" provokes a morbidfascination with issues that most of us have the luxury of ignoring, issues which are capable of eliciting moral discomfort and perhaps even outright terror. Still, the distress is worth the price for the rare shock of recognizing the human power to communicate so effectively exercised in Coetzee's words. A book that on the surface makes one feel so alone and vulnerable, on a deeper level provides some measure of reassurance of our spiritual connectedness. Prof. Lurie's story is profoundly affecting. END
Rating:
Summary: This was an important, slightly disturbing book
Review: Once again, Coetzee creates an anti-hero who is not entirely likeable. In a refreshing way, he didn't give a complete insight into the mind of the main charactor. Rather, he gave the parts that I as a reader needed to see in order to understand the book as I quickly watched his main charactor, a university professor, fall into disgrace after his affiar with a student is discovered. This is an important, thought-provoking book not only for the story, but also because Coetzee paints a picture of modern South Africa as a backdrop and without judgement.
Rating:
Summary: outstanding literature
Review: A refreshingly complex work whose story can be considered at a number of levels. The efficiency and succinctness of Coetzee's writing are amazing--he does for the paragraph what Hemingway did for the sentence. The novel has been criticized for its disturbing quality and its lack of definitive solution. I agree with these observations, but disagree that they are weak points of the work. Disgrace is disturbing, but not in the titilating or superficial way typical of much contemporary art--it exposes fundamental questions about humanity that are frequently ignored or overlooked. Similarly, if the work does not suggest a single solution, it may be because the questions it raises have never been so directly posed. In fact, in some respects, I would argue that the novel does suggest solutions, albeit not a single one. If nothing else, the book may change our idea of what the word "disgrace" means. In the protagonist, David Lurie, Coetzee has created a classic hero, whose greatest quality is his humanity. Exploring exactly what that humanity implies is what makes the novel a masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Somber Reading for Whites Everywhere
Review: Coetzee's book is especially timely during what can only be termed a media silence regarding the recent deterioration of South Africa's post-Aparthied society. I was less absorbed by Dr. Lurie's morality crisis that so many reviewers have focused upon, but was drawn in by his description of the brutal displacement and dehumanization of Whites in what was once their domain. Americans who are ambivalent about the rising tide of color in our own country would be wise to read this book and to ask themselves how they would/will react under similar circumstances.
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