Allen reviewed Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee
Review of 'Disgrace' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Great book, with a really fantastic writing style. Not for the faint of heart.
Hardcover, 285 pages
Deutsch language
Published Jan. 31, 2000 by S. Fischer.
Schande
4 stars
(23 reviews)
At fifty-two, Professor David Lurie is divorced, filled with desire, but lacking in passion. An affair with one of his students leaves him jobless, shunned by his friends, and ridiculed by his ex-wife. He retreats to his daughter Lucy's isolated smallholding, where a brief visit becomes an extended stay as he tries to find meaning from the one remaining relationship. David attempts to relate to Lucy and to a society with new racial complexities are disrupted by an afternoon of violence that shakes all of his beliefs and threatens to destroy his daughter. In this wry, visceral, yet strangely tender novel, Coetzee once again tells "truths [that] cut to the bone" (The New York Times Book Review).
Fionnáin reviewed Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee
Review of 'Disgrace' on 'GoodReads'
5 stars
Beautiful philosophy that is not as dark as it should be, considering the content. Has reinforced my love of all things Coetzee. An excellent book about individuals and the land.
AliCorbin reviewed Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee
Review of 'Disgrace' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
'Interesting' and 'challenging'. It was a difficult book to read. Depressing to watch everything possible go wrong, with a sense that none of the characters had the power or the will to change matters. There was no resolution, and not much in the way of character development, and we struggled desparately to find some small measure of redemption in the book. And where was the disgrace of the title anyway. David's affair with the student wasn't all that bad. Lucy's rape? (Carolyn admitted that she had been involved in a scandal at the U of Montana 4 decades ago, when she, a graduate student, had an affair with a prof. But they've now been married for 40 years, so one can say that it all worked out.)
