Disgrace

Rating:
Summary: Astonishing..........
Review: An achingly spiritual reading experience. This book will change the life of anyone who has the courage to listen to its message. This is true literature. Thank you, J.M. Coetzee.

Rating:
Summary: a chilling look at S.Africa today
Review: 'Disgrace'by J.M.Coetze held me from the first page.At times horrified I couldn't put it down and will buy it.At first I was sympathetic to David and perhaps remained slightly so,but on rereading the book saw him as arrogant and insolent,The book was frightening in its revelation of the deep hatred felt by the blacks for the whites and I could see why so many of them have fled the country.I found the quality of the writing superb,spare,fast paced and beautiful in its depiction of the harshness of the land.

Rating:
Summary: Do believe the hype.
Review: Disgrace is about a man who refuses to quench his desires in his relations to others, and then learns what happens when others refuse to quench their desires in relation to him. This novel has in some quarters been deemed "too bleak", but that's not the whole story. Even if it predicts a sad future for South Africa it is also saying that is never too late to mend. David Lurie's fall from grace is actually a blessing, and Disgrace could be described as a morality tale on how to find redemption and grace in a state of disgrace. Coetzee, although always the minimalist, has never written anything so precise, never been more to the point. Worth every award imaginable. Note the implicit refrences, among many, to literary meisterwerks as Kafka's The Trial and Thomas Mann's Death in Venice.

Rating:
Summary: Disturbing and Beautiful
Review: "Disgrace" is a complicated, rich and disturbing book. It also challenges what we already know which, in my mind, is what literature (and art) should do.

Rating:
Summary: Disgrace a typo for Despair?
Review: I was deeply disturbed by this novel. I dislike David for he "never got it." He rationalized his actions in lofty romantic Byronic terms, and he never once realizes that he too has committed rape because he mislabels it as desire. He even goes on to say how it enriched his life and "hers"? Yet that line of reasoning is left behind when his own daughter experiences rape by three black men because of the "violent" overtones. There is no redemption even though he has opportunities to redeem himself. His daughter Lucy also makes extremely bad choices that are not redemptive in any way. I realize many people never "get it", but I thought the reason literature existed is to show us those moments of illumination in the human psyche. This was too despairing for me. His life is empty because he is unable to see the richness, and he has passed on that inability to his daughter.

Rating:
Summary: a writer a the peak of his power
Review: Unlike several of Coetzee's earlier works, Michael K and Barbarians, this novel never slips into sentimentality or moralization. The iron discipline demonstrates that the author has full mastery over his medium and message. There are no literay tricks or sleight of hand stylistic districtions. For some people, this novel will be too bleak, too dark and unrelentingly pessimestic; however, I believe Coetzee is a 21st century Camus, with a philosophical layering that is unsurpassed in modern, contemporary prose. Along with Ireland's John Banville, Coetzee is one of the finest writers in English today. There is really very little in contemporary American prose that can match the artistic discipline and philosophical impact of Coetzee.

Rating:
Summary: A Perfect Novel for the Millenial Age
Review: Employing simple yet elegant prose, Coetzee has written a book which miraculously braids the personal, the political and historical. At the start of DISGRACE, David Lurie is as cold and removed from the raging political metamorphasis of contemporary South Africa as he is from the effect of his desires. Soon his innocence is branded and he becomes the victim of his own cold, academic subjectivity. The miracle of this book is the way it manages to excavate the soul of its protagonist without evisceration leaving him open for redemption.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but not the best Booker, thats for sure.
Review: I was prepared to love this book, hence I was left more than sligtly disappointed when I remotely enjoyed most of it. I didn't find it stunning, beautiful or highly inspirational, and at times found it a little hard, a little too crude and confronting. In some texts, this works, but for some reason 'Disgrace' did not shock me into action or thought, but more disgust and indifference. The theme no doubt a very interesting one, the story a heart wrenching and ironic display of division in South Africa, but I found myself ultimately disliking David Lurie, and as the book proceeded, ccaring little about his selfish views or problems. His problems, ultimately were brought upon himself, and I resented the fact that he refused to take responsibility or care until the ending. I feel that this was decent, perhaps even quite good, but again, I would doubt that it is Booker standard, a second year in a row. A short, and worthwhile read, but nothing amazily special or spectatular.

Rating:
Summary: Two dimensional
Review: Disgrace shows two-dimensional characters dealing with problems that deserve a much richer and more thoughtful treatment. The violence is abstract and seems to exist solely as a device to explore some of South Africa's larger problems. The novel opened in a very compelling way, but the moment Coetzee moved from Lurie's personal problems to the broader spectrum of concerns dealing with race and gender, his narrative lost steam and credibility. I was reminded of my response to Chang-Rae Lee's A Gesture Life--both are philosophical novels that fail to fully engage the reader in the main character's plight.

Rating:
Summary: Shocking and Profound
Review: I read this book immediately upon my return from South Africa where I had traveled for the first time. Since then I have been haunted by Coetzee's message. The conviction that it stirred in me was that there must be a limit to white guilt. Does every white devil deserve to be mistreated? Personally, I think not. No one deserves to be raped. Like a battered woman who believes that it is her fault, Coetzee's characters David and Lucy are resigned to abuse. Anyone familiar with battered women's syndrome who reads "Disgrace" should recognize the pattern that is present. Mr. Coetzee's book is a mirror which reflects SHAME on all those who cause suffering to innocent individuals because they are members of an unwanted group--be they canine or human.