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Disgrace
Set in post-apartheid South Africa, J. M. Coetzee鈥檚 searing novel tells the story of David Lurie, a twice divorced, 52-year-old professor of communications and Romantic Poetry at Cape Technical University. Lurie believes he has created a comfortable, if somewhat passionless, life for himself. He lives within his financial and emotional means. Though his position at the university has been reduced, he teaches his classes dutifully; and while age has diminished his attractiveness, weekly visits to a prostitute satisfy his sexual needs. He considers himself happy. However, when Lurie seduces one of his students, he sets in motion a chain of events that will shatter his complacency and leave him utterly disgraced.
220 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
2,052 people are currently reading
70.6k people want to read
About the author
J.M. Coetzee
197听books5,099听followersJ. M. Coetzee is a South African writer, essayist, and translator, widely regarded as one of the most influential authors of contemporary literature. His works, often characterized by their austere prose and profound moral and philosophical depth, explore themes of colonialism, identity, power, and human suffering. Born and raised in South Africa, he later became an Australian citizen and has lived in Adelaide since 2002.
Coetzee鈥檚 breakthrough novel, Waiting for the Barbarians (1980), established him as a major literary voice, while Life & Times of Michael K (1983) won him the first of his two Booker Prizes. His best-known work, Disgrace (1999), a stark and unsettling examination of post-apartheid South Africa, secured his second Booker Prize, making him the first author to win the award twice. His other notable novels include Foe, Age of Iron, The Master of Petersburg, Elizabeth Costello, and The Childhood of Jesus, many of which incorporate allegorical and metafictional elements.
Beyond fiction, Coetzee has written numerous essays and literary critiques, contributing significantly to discussions on literature, ethics, and history. His autobiographical trilogy鈥擝oyhood, Youth, and Summertime鈥攂lends memoir with fiction, offering a fragmented yet insightful reflection on his own life. His literary achievements were recognized with the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2003.
A deeply private individual, Coetzee avoids public life and rarely gives interviews, preferring to let his work speak for itself.
Coetzee鈥檚 breakthrough novel, Waiting for the Barbarians (1980), established him as a major literary voice, while Life & Times of Michael K (1983) won him the first of his two Booker Prizes. His best-known work, Disgrace (1999), a stark and unsettling examination of post-apartheid South Africa, secured his second Booker Prize, making him the first author to win the award twice. His other notable novels include Foe, Age of Iron, The Master of Petersburg, Elizabeth Costello, and The Childhood of Jesus, many of which incorporate allegorical and metafictional elements.
Beyond fiction, Coetzee has written numerous essays and literary critiques, contributing significantly to discussions on literature, ethics, and history. His autobiographical trilogy鈥擝oyhood, Youth, and Summertime鈥攂lends memoir with fiction, offering a fragmented yet insightful reflection on his own life. His literary achievements were recognized with the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2003.
A deeply private individual, Coetzee avoids public life and rarely gives interviews, preferring to let his work speak for itself.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 9,012 reviews
March 13, 2009
鈥� 鈥僒his book made me want to read Twilight. Yes, Twilight: perfectly perfect young people falling in love and never growing old. God, I hope that鈥檚 what鈥檚 in store for me there. I need an antidote to Disgrace.
鈥� 鈥僆t affected me more than I thought it could, in ways I hadn鈥檛 imagined possible. At page ten I would have readily given it five stars; the writing is superb. Halfway through I鈥檇 have given it four. Excellent, but slightly annoying. At the moment I finished it, shouting 鈥淲HAT?? What the hell kind of ending is THAT???鈥� and wondering if I was going into shock, I鈥檇 have demanded stars back for ruining my life. A little distance was needed before I could consider it rationally again.
鈥� 鈥僒he word disgrace is what struck me with nearly every page. Coetzee鈥檚 writing is like that. Tight. There鈥檚 no escaping what he wants you to see. It鈥檚 not outrageously blatant, but it鈥檚 none too subtle either. It鈥檚 good. So good you might be tempted to revel in it. Do not. This is not for the faint-hearted. Run. Read something easy, something happy. Anything. If you stay Coetzee will turn that word, disgrace, in your mind a hundred different ways. I鈥檓 no stranger to the word. I have been a disgrace, been disgraced, disgraced myself and others. Seriously. I thought I was immune to it.
鈥� 鈥僒he main character, David Lurie, is disgraced. Big deal. He disgraces a student. Yeah, I鈥檓 familiar with that. She鈥檒l live. He is a disgrace. Yes, clearly. David Lurie is entering the disgrace of growing old. That鈥檚 where Coetzee has me.
鈥� 鈥僆 can鈥檛 find it in me to despise Lurie. He鈥檚 a Lothario and possibly worse (鈥淪he does not own herself. Beauty does not own itself.鈥�), but I don鈥檛 have to live with him. Then there鈥檚 the sharp intelligence with too little empathy or emotion to make it truly sing. The bare objectiveness. He claims to have lost 鈥榯he lyrical鈥� within himself, but it鈥檚 doubtful he ever had it. He鈥檚 a pretender. I鈥檓 amused by the fact that he, a professor of language, begins the affair that causes his public fall from grace by quoting Shakespeare鈥檚 first sonnet. The words apply as much to himself as to anyone. But self-delusion is my own stock-in-trade. I can鈥檛 condemn him for that. I don鈥檛 love him either. I feel as dispassionate as Lurie himself. The disgrace of the dying though - the 'without grace' 鈥� that younger generations foist upon them. That they鈥檙e made to feel as intruders in life, burdensome. This is where Coetzee hooks me. And he reels me in. Reels me in until I find myself suffocating in a world I want no part of. A world of shame, dishonor, humiliation, degradation. Disgrace. That of a man, a father, a daughter, a woman, an unborn child. Now make those plural. Add the disgraces of South Africa, of humanity, of animals. Yes, animals. I suspected Coetzee would sneak in a little commentary on that. He has a reputation. I did not expect to be so affected by it. I, a confirmed carnivore, did not expect to lie awake at night considering vegetarianism. Coetzee brings that passionate quote at the beginning of this paragraph back to hit me square in the face near the end though and 鈥� once again 鈥� Disgrace.
鈥� 鈥僑o five stars, but would I recommend it? I鈥檓 still not sure. Read it if you dare. Coetzee is brilliant.
鈥� 鈥僆t affected me more than I thought it could, in ways I hadn鈥檛 imagined possible. At page ten I would have readily given it five stars; the writing is superb. Halfway through I鈥檇 have given it four. Excellent, but slightly annoying. At the moment I finished it, shouting 鈥淲HAT?? What the hell kind of ending is THAT???鈥� and wondering if I was going into shock, I鈥檇 have demanded stars back for ruining my life. A little distance was needed before I could consider it rationally again.
鈥� 鈥僒he word disgrace is what struck me with nearly every page. Coetzee鈥檚 writing is like that. Tight. There鈥檚 no escaping what he wants you to see. It鈥檚 not outrageously blatant, but it鈥檚 none too subtle either. It鈥檚 good. So good you might be tempted to revel in it. Do not. This is not for the faint-hearted. Run. Read something easy, something happy. Anything. If you stay Coetzee will turn that word, disgrace, in your mind a hundred different ways. I鈥檓 no stranger to the word. I have been a disgrace, been disgraced, disgraced myself and others. Seriously. I thought I was immune to it.
鈥� 鈥僒he main character, David Lurie, is disgraced. Big deal. He disgraces a student. Yeah, I鈥檓 familiar with that. She鈥檒l live. He is a disgrace. Yes, clearly. David Lurie is entering the disgrace of growing old. That鈥檚 where Coetzee has me.
鈥� 鈥僆 can鈥檛 find it in me to despise Lurie. He鈥檚 a Lothario and possibly worse (鈥淪he does not own herself. Beauty does not own itself.鈥�), but I don鈥檛 have to live with him. Then there鈥檚 the sharp intelligence with too little empathy or emotion to make it truly sing. The bare objectiveness. He claims to have lost 鈥榯he lyrical鈥� within himself, but it鈥檚 doubtful he ever had it. He鈥檚 a pretender. I鈥檓 amused by the fact that he, a professor of language, begins the affair that causes his public fall from grace by quoting Shakespeare鈥檚 first sonnet. The words apply as much to himself as to anyone. But self-delusion is my own stock-in-trade. I can鈥檛 condemn him for that. I don鈥檛 love him either. I feel as dispassionate as Lurie himself. The disgrace of the dying though - the 'without grace' 鈥� that younger generations foist upon them. That they鈥檙e made to feel as intruders in life, burdensome. This is where Coetzee hooks me. And he reels me in. Reels me in until I find myself suffocating in a world I want no part of. A world of shame, dishonor, humiliation, degradation. Disgrace. That of a man, a father, a daughter, a woman, an unborn child. Now make those plural. Add the disgraces of South Africa, of humanity, of animals. Yes, animals. I suspected Coetzee would sneak in a little commentary on that. He has a reputation. I did not expect to be so affected by it. I, a confirmed carnivore, did not expect to lie awake at night considering vegetarianism. Coetzee brings that passionate quote at the beginning of this paragraph back to hit me square in the face near the end though and 鈥� once again 鈥� Disgrace.
鈥� 鈥僑o five stars, but would I recommend it? I鈥檓 still not sure. Read it if you dare. Coetzee is brilliant.
November 27, 2018
To begin with, let me make something clear: 's left me intellectually fulfilled and severely shocked. Fulfilled at the simplicity and beauty of its narrative which resulted in a powerful drama; shocked at the impact it had on my innermost self. This is not a book for the faint-hearted. If you lack faith in your fortitude, do not even start, read something easier. But that would be a pity, for you would be deprived of an experience that will only enrich your understanding of the world. If you stay, Coetzee will grant you a masterpiece. And there have been some moments of genuine awe in my reading experiences, but I can without any trace of doubt testify that reading Coetzee is always one of them.
Disgrace follows David Lurie鈥檚 fall from grace, a professor of poetry and communications, that is unable to fit in a tormented post-apartheid South Africa. David clashes with the University鈥檚 politically correct environment as well as with the land dispute barbarism in the country鈥檚 interior, where his daughter lives.
With an immaculate prose, in which no word is wasted, the novel is a plunge into a society lacerated by poverty, criminality and a social conduct values deadlock. Disgrace is a work of art, rare nowadays: that that refuses simple explanations, which reinvents and enriches reality.
In what is to come, he will face a brutal reality, made of vengeance, banditry, submission. Brutality against which occidental culture is simply worthless: 鈥淗e speaks Italian, speaks French, but Italian and French are useless to him in Black Africa鈥�.
J.M. Coetzee builds in Disgrace flesh and blood characters and, through them, weaves relationships between classes, between men and women, between parents and children, black and white, between a long exploration history and a present of explosive resentments.
Situated in nobody's land, where civilization and barbary mingle - a region well known by Brazilian readers, Coetzee slowly denudes realities and ultimately tells us that there are no just rewards, there are not even fairness.
Disgrace follows David Lurie鈥檚 fall from grace, a professor of poetry and communications, that is unable to fit in a tormented post-apartheid South Africa. David clashes with the University鈥檚 politically correct environment as well as with the land dispute barbarism in the country鈥檚 interior, where his daughter lives.
With an immaculate prose, in which no word is wasted, the novel is a plunge into a society lacerated by poverty, criminality and a social conduct values deadlock. Disgrace is a work of art, rare nowadays: that that refuses simple explanations, which reinvents and enriches reality.
鈥淏ut the truth, he knows, is otherwise. His pleasure in living has been snuffed out. Like a leaf on a stream, like a puffball on a breeze, he has begun to float towards his end. He sees it quite clearly, and it fills him with (the word will not go away) despair. The blood of life is leaving his body and despair is taking its place, despair that is like a gas, odourless, tasteless, without nourishment. You breathe it in, your limbs relax, you cease to care, even at the moment when the steel touches your throat.鈥�At 52, twice divorced, David is solitary, resigned, erudite and sarcastic. He does not care for the disinterest of his students show his poetry classes.
鈥淗e continues to teach because it provides him with a livelihood; also because it teaches him humility, brings it home to him who he is in the world. The irony does not escape him: that the one who comes to teach learns the keenest of lessons, while those who come to learn learn nothing.鈥�He contemplates writing an opera on Lord Byron, but always postpones the project. He believes to have 鈥渟olved the problem of sex rather well鈥�: on Thursdays afternoons he visits a prostitute that could be his daughter, pays what he owes her and has the right to the oasis of one and half hours of his continuous and dreary mundane existence.
In what is to come, he will face a brutal reality, made of vengeance, banditry, submission. Brutality against which occidental culture is simply worthless: 鈥淗e speaks Italian, speaks French, but Italian and French are useless to him in Black Africa鈥�.
J.M. Coetzee builds in Disgrace flesh and blood characters and, through them, weaves relationships between classes, between men and women, between parents and children, black and white, between a long exploration history and a present of explosive resentments.
Situated in nobody's land, where civilization and barbary mingle - a region well known by Brazilian readers, Coetzee slowly denudes realities and ultimately tells us that there are no just rewards, there are not even fairness.
鈥�'How humiliating, ' he says finally. 'Such high hopes, and to end like this.'____
'Yes, I agree, it is humiliating. But perhaps that is a good point to start from again. Perhaps that is what I must learn to accept. To start at ground level. With nothing. Not with nothing but... With nothing. No cards, no weapons, no property, no rights, no dignity.'
鈥楲ike a dog.'
'Yes, like a dog.'"
October 27, 2024
鈥楶erhaps it does us good to have a fall every now and then. As long as we don鈥檛 break鈥�.
Professor David Lurie is forced to resign when his affair with a student comes to light. His resignation and the humiliations he gets to swallow as a parent burn chinks in his cynical armour and self-image. By volunteering in a veterinary clinic, his indifference to man and animal gradually gives way to empathy. Disgrace deals with the human inability to communicate effectively and with the uncertain relations between black and white in post-apartheid South Africa. Coetzee writes soberly and compactly. He aptly records the wry horror of raw physical and psychological violence.
Disgrace hits like a sledgehammer, but results in a catharsis that one doesn't forget lightly. A staggering book.
(Willie Bester, Transition, 1994)
Misschien is het goed voor ons om af en toe te vallen. Zo lang we maar niet breken.
Professor David Lurie ziet zich gedwongen ontslag te nemen als zijn affaire met een studente aan het licht komt. Zijn ontslag en de vernederingen die hij als ouder te slikken krijgt, slaan barsten in zijn cynische pantser en zelfbeeld. Door zijn vrijwilligerswerk in een dierenkliniek maakt zijn onverschilligheid voor mens en dier geleidelijk plaats voor empathie. In ongenade handelt over het menselijke onvermogen tot werkelijke communicatie en over de onzekere verhoudingen tussen blank en zwart in het Zuid-Afrika van na de apartheid. Coetzee schrijft sober en compact. Hij registreert trefzeker de wrange gruwel van rauw fysiek en psychisch geweld.
In ongenade komt aan als een mokerslag, maar resulteert in een catharsis die je niet licht vergeet. Een onthutsend boek.
Professor David Lurie is forced to resign when his affair with a student comes to light. His resignation and the humiliations he gets to swallow as a parent burn chinks in his cynical armour and self-image. By volunteering in a veterinary clinic, his indifference to man and animal gradually gives way to empathy. Disgrace deals with the human inability to communicate effectively and with the uncertain relations between black and white in post-apartheid South Africa. Coetzee writes soberly and compactly. He aptly records the wry horror of raw physical and psychological violence.
Disgrace hits like a sledgehammer, but results in a catharsis that one doesn't forget lightly. A staggering book.
(Willie Bester, Transition, 1994)
Misschien is het goed voor ons om af en toe te vallen. Zo lang we maar niet breken.
Professor David Lurie ziet zich gedwongen ontslag te nemen als zijn affaire met een studente aan het licht komt. Zijn ontslag en de vernederingen die hij als ouder te slikken krijgt, slaan barsten in zijn cynische pantser en zelfbeeld. Door zijn vrijwilligerswerk in een dierenkliniek maakt zijn onverschilligheid voor mens en dier geleidelijk plaats voor empathie. In ongenade handelt over het menselijke onvermogen tot werkelijke communicatie en over de onzekere verhoudingen tussen blank en zwart in het Zuid-Afrika van na de apartheid. Coetzee schrijft sober en compact. Hij registreert trefzeker de wrange gruwel van rauw fysiek en psychisch geweld.
In ongenade komt aan als een mokerslag, maar resulteert in een catharsis die je niet licht vergeet. Een onthutsend boek.
April 12, 2017
I finished this book a little over a week ago and for the first time I couldn鈥檛 decide how to rate a book, much less write a review about it. So here I am still mulling it over, reading through my notes and trying to type some sort of articulate thoughts into my laptop. I don鈥檛 really think I 鈥榣iked鈥� Disgrace. I respected the writing; it made me think 鈥� a lot. I had trouble finding any beauty in it; and I think that is where the problem lies with this book for me. If a book touches me emotionally, or if I learn something by reading it, then I can truly say I loved it. However, the only real emotion I felt was anger if anything else. I didn鈥檛 really learn much 鈥� except that unfortunately maybe I am correct in that life can be really crummy at times and people sometimes unpleasant or in some cases downright despicable. How does one get into a state of disgrace and is it possible to move back into a state of grace afterwards? Perhaps.
Professor David Lurie is a man I disliked right from the start. "鈥� a woman鈥檚 beauty does not belong to her alone. It is part of the bounty she brings into the world. She has a duty to share it." Okay, there鈥檚 that. And then there is the fact that he has an affair with one of his students, a young woman that could be his own daughter, who is in fact younger than his daughter, Lucy. This is where I had some trouble 鈥� raising my own daughter that is still school-age and under the influence of her own teachers and others that have positions of 鈥榩ower鈥� over her 鈥� this perhaps makes me a poor audience for this book! When David is faced with harassment charges, he will fall into a state of disgrace. But what exactly does disgrace mean to David? He has no regrets for what he has done. He says to Lucy, "One can punish a dog, it seems to me, for an offence like chewing a slipper. A dog will accept the justice of that: a beating for a chewing. But desire is another story. No animal will accept the justice of being punished for following its instincts." Disgrace to him is not loss of his job, loss of respect, or loss of face. Rather for him it is the process of aging, losing that magnetism that attracts others, even perhaps not leaving behind a legacy for which he can be proud. When David leaves Cape Town to stay with Lucy in Salem in the Eastern Cape of post-apartheid South Africa, he will have time to ponder the state of disgrace and all of its inherent meanings. Lucy and David do not see eye to eye, but I have to give David some credit for trying to understand his daughter and the life she has made for herself on her farm and with the animals under her care. When violence erupts and becomes personal, David is placed in a position that prompts even further self-reflection.
Much of this book is uncomfortable and harsh. There may be triggers for those that are distressed by cruelty to both animals and people, so I want to note that warning here. Coetzee did manage to make me side with David and pull for him partway through the book. I couldn鈥檛 really understand Lucy 鈥� I felt sympathy for her but her actions troubled me and left me feeling a bit hopeless. I鈥檓 not thoroughly convinced that David will transform, but I can envision the opportunity; I will continue to hope for that state of grace. As far as a rating, well I鈥檝e finally settled on 3.5. The book is extremely well-written; no doubt about that. However, based on my own personal reaction to the book, I have to rate accordingly. I wouldn鈥檛 turn anyone away from this book (with the exception of the possible triggers noted above), but note that negative emotions got the best (or should I say worst) of me this time around.
Professor David Lurie is a man I disliked right from the start. "鈥� a woman鈥檚 beauty does not belong to her alone. It is part of the bounty she brings into the world. She has a duty to share it." Okay, there鈥檚 that. And then there is the fact that he has an affair with one of his students, a young woman that could be his own daughter, who is in fact younger than his daughter, Lucy. This is where I had some trouble 鈥� raising my own daughter that is still school-age and under the influence of her own teachers and others that have positions of 鈥榩ower鈥� over her 鈥� this perhaps makes me a poor audience for this book! When David is faced with harassment charges, he will fall into a state of disgrace. But what exactly does disgrace mean to David? He has no regrets for what he has done. He says to Lucy, "One can punish a dog, it seems to me, for an offence like chewing a slipper. A dog will accept the justice of that: a beating for a chewing. But desire is another story. No animal will accept the justice of being punished for following its instincts." Disgrace to him is not loss of his job, loss of respect, or loss of face. Rather for him it is the process of aging, losing that magnetism that attracts others, even perhaps not leaving behind a legacy for which he can be proud. When David leaves Cape Town to stay with Lucy in Salem in the Eastern Cape of post-apartheid South Africa, he will have time to ponder the state of disgrace and all of its inherent meanings. Lucy and David do not see eye to eye, but I have to give David some credit for trying to understand his daughter and the life she has made for herself on her farm and with the animals under her care. When violence erupts and becomes personal, David is placed in a position that prompts even further self-reflection.
Much of this book is uncomfortable and harsh. There may be triggers for those that are distressed by cruelty to both animals and people, so I want to note that warning here. Coetzee did manage to make me side with David and pull for him partway through the book. I couldn鈥檛 really understand Lucy 鈥� I felt sympathy for her but her actions troubled me and left me feeling a bit hopeless. I鈥檓 not thoroughly convinced that David will transform, but I can envision the opportunity; I will continue to hope for that state of grace. As far as a rating, well I鈥檝e finally settled on 3.5. The book is extremely well-written; no doubt about that. However, based on my own personal reaction to the book, I have to rate accordingly. I wouldn鈥檛 turn anyone away from this book (with the exception of the possible triggers noted above), but note that negative emotions got the best (or should I say worst) of me this time around.
December 24, 2024
wow..what a novel!
丕賱禺夭賷..丕賱丕丨爻丕爻 亘丕锟斤拷毓丕乇..兀氐毓亘 廿丨爻丕爻 賲賲賰賳 兀賷 丨丿 賷丨爻 亘賷賴..
丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 亘鬲鬲賰賱賲 毓賳 丿賰鬲賵乇 噩丕賲毓賷 兀賯丕賲 毓賱丕賯丞 噩賳爻賷丞 賲毓 胤丕賱亘丞 毓賳丿賴 賵賲毓 匕賱賰 賴賵 乇丕賮囟 賷毓鬲乇賮 廿賳賴 睾賱胤丕賳 丕賵 廿賳賴 丨鬲賷 賱丕夭賲 賷鬲睾賷乇 亘賱 亘丕賱毓賰爻 賴賵 亘賷亘乇乇 兀賮毓丕賱賴 毓賱賷 廿賳賴丕 睾乇賷夭丞 廿賳爻丕賳賷丞 胤亘賷毓賷丞..
"廿賳 賯囟賷鬲賷 鬲乇鬲賰夭 毓賱賷 丨賯 丕賱卮賴賵丞貙毓賱賷 丕賱乇亘 丕賱匕賷 賷噩毓賱 丨鬲賷 兀氐睾乇 胤丕卅乇 賷乇鬲毓卮..!
賱爻鬲 賲囟胤乇丕 廿賱賷 兀賳 兀氐亘丨 廿賳爻丕賳丕賸 兀賮囟賱..賱爻鬲 賲爻鬲毓丿丕賸 賱賱丕氐賱丕丨 丕乇賷丿 兀賳 兀亘賯賷 賰賲丕 兀賳丕..!"
丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 賮賷 兀丨丿丕孬賴丕 亘鬲鬲賰賱賲 毓賳 丕賱毓賳氐乇賷丞 賮賷 噩賳賵亘 兀賮乇賷賯賷丕 亘胤乇賷賯丞 睾賷乇 賲亘丕卮乇丞 賵賰賲丕賳 亘鬲爻賱胤 丕賱囟賵亍 毓賱賷 兀賳賵丕毓 賲禺鬲賱賮丞 賲賳 丕賱禺夭賷..廿丨爻丕爻賰 亘丕賱毓丕乇 賲卮 賱丕夭賲 賷賰賵賳 賳鬲賷噩丞 睾賱胤鬲賰 廿賳鬲貙 賲賲賰賳 鬲賰賵賳 囟丨賷丞 卮禺氐 丌禺乇 賵賲毓 匕賱賰 鬲丨爻 亘丕賱毓丕乇.. 夭賷 丕賱爻鬲 丕賱賱賷 亘鬲鬲毓乇囟 賱賱丕睾鬲氐丕亘 賲孬賱丕賸..
兀毓鬲賯丿 廿賳 賰賵賷鬲夭賷 毓丕賵夭 賷賯賵賱賳丕 廿賳 賰賱賳丕 賲賲賰賳 賮賷 賮鬲乇丞 賲賳 丨賷丕鬲賳丕 賳丨爻 亘丕賱禺夭賷 賱兀爻亘丕亘 賰鬲賷乇貙 爻賵丕亍 賰賳丕 睾賱胤丕賳賷賳 兀賵 賱兀..亘爻 丕賱賲賴賲 廿賳賳丕 賲卮 賱丕夭賲 賳爻鬲爻賱賲 賵賱丕 賳丿賮賳 乇丕爻賳丕 賮賷 丕賱乇賲賱丞..
"廿賳 賲丕 賱丕 賷賯鬲賱..賷賯賵賾賷.."
乇賵丕賷丞 賲卮 賰亘賷乇丞 賮賷 毓丿丿 氐賮丨丕鬲賴丕 ..鬲賯賷賱丞 賮賷 賲丨鬲賵丕賴丕 ..賲丐賱賲丞 賵賲賲鬲毓丞 噩丿丕賸 賮賷 賯乇丕卅鬲賴丕..
丕賱賯乇丕亍丞 丕賱鬲丕賳賷丞 賱賰賵賷鬲夭賷 亘毓丿 ' 賮賷 廿賳鬲馗丕乇 丕賱亘乇丕亘乇丞' 賵 賷亘丿賵 賰丿丞 廿賳 爻賳丞 丕賱賰賵乇賵賳丕 亘丕賱賳爻亘丞 賱賷 丨鬲賰賵賳 爻賳丞 廿賰鬲卮丕賮 丕賱賰購鬲丕亘 丕賱賲鬲賲賷夭賷賳 噩丿丕賸 丕賱賱賷 賰賵賷鬲夭賷 兀賰賷丿 賵丕丨丿 賲賳賴賲...
corona is not that bad after all;)
"賰賲 賴賵 賲購匕賱賾 賵賱賰賳 賱毓賱賴丕 鬲賰賵賳 賳賯胤丞 亘丿丕賷丞 噩賷丿丞 賱毓賱 賴匕丕 賲丕 賷賳亘睾賷 毓賱賷 兀賳 兀鬲毓賱賲 亘賯亘賵賱賴.. 兀賳 兀亘丿兀 賲賳 丕賱氐賮乇..亘丿賵賳 兀賷 卮卅..亘賱丕 禺賷丕乇丕鬲 賵賱丕 賲賱賰賷丞 賵賱丕 丨賯賵賯 賵賱丕 賰乇丕賲丞..!"
丕賱禺夭賷..丕賱丕丨爻丕爻 亘丕锟斤拷毓丕乇..兀氐毓亘 廿丨爻丕爻 賲賲賰賳 兀賷 丨丿 賷丨爻 亘賷賴..
丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 亘鬲鬲賰賱賲 毓賳 丿賰鬲賵乇 噩丕賲毓賷 兀賯丕賲 毓賱丕賯丞 噩賳爻賷丞 賲毓 胤丕賱亘丞 毓賳丿賴 賵賲毓 匕賱賰 賴賵 乇丕賮囟 賷毓鬲乇賮 廿賳賴 睾賱胤丕賳 丕賵 廿賳賴 丨鬲賷 賱丕夭賲 賷鬲睾賷乇 亘賱 亘丕賱毓賰爻 賴賵 亘賷亘乇乇 兀賮毓丕賱賴 毓賱賷 廿賳賴丕 睾乇賷夭丞 廿賳爻丕賳賷丞 胤亘賷毓賷丞..
"廿賳 賯囟賷鬲賷 鬲乇鬲賰夭 毓賱賷 丨賯 丕賱卮賴賵丞貙毓賱賷 丕賱乇亘 丕賱匕賷 賷噩毓賱 丨鬲賷 兀氐睾乇 胤丕卅乇 賷乇鬲毓卮..!
賱爻鬲 賲囟胤乇丕 廿賱賷 兀賳 兀氐亘丨 廿賳爻丕賳丕賸 兀賮囟賱..賱爻鬲 賲爻鬲毓丿丕賸 賱賱丕氐賱丕丨 丕乇賷丿 兀賳 兀亘賯賷 賰賲丕 兀賳丕..!"
丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 賮賷 兀丨丿丕孬賴丕 亘鬲鬲賰賱賲 毓賳 丕賱毓賳氐乇賷丞 賮賷 噩賳賵亘 兀賮乇賷賯賷丕 亘胤乇賷賯丞 睾賷乇 賲亘丕卮乇丞 賵賰賲丕賳 亘鬲爻賱胤 丕賱囟賵亍 毓賱賷 兀賳賵丕毓 賲禺鬲賱賮丞 賲賳 丕賱禺夭賷..廿丨爻丕爻賰 亘丕賱毓丕乇 賲卮 賱丕夭賲 賷賰賵賳 賳鬲賷噩丞 睾賱胤鬲賰 廿賳鬲貙 賲賲賰賳 鬲賰賵賳 囟丨賷丞 卮禺氐 丌禺乇 賵賲毓 匕賱賰 鬲丨爻 亘丕賱毓丕乇.. 夭賷 丕賱爻鬲 丕賱賱賷 亘鬲鬲毓乇囟 賱賱丕睾鬲氐丕亘 賲孬賱丕賸..
兀毓鬲賯丿 廿賳 賰賵賷鬲夭賷 毓丕賵夭 賷賯賵賱賳丕 廿賳 賰賱賳丕 賲賲賰賳 賮賷 賮鬲乇丞 賲賳 丨賷丕鬲賳丕 賳丨爻 亘丕賱禺夭賷 賱兀爻亘丕亘 賰鬲賷乇貙 爻賵丕亍 賰賳丕 睾賱胤丕賳賷賳 兀賵 賱兀..亘爻 丕賱賲賴賲 廿賳賳丕 賲卮 賱丕夭賲 賳爻鬲爻賱賲 賵賱丕 賳丿賮賳 乇丕爻賳丕 賮賷 丕賱乇賲賱丞..
"廿賳 賲丕 賱丕 賷賯鬲賱..賷賯賵賾賷.."
乇賵丕賷丞 賲卮 賰亘賷乇丞 賮賷 毓丿丿 氐賮丨丕鬲賴丕 ..鬲賯賷賱丞 賮賷 賲丨鬲賵丕賴丕 ..賲丐賱賲丞 賵賲賲鬲毓丞 噩丿丕賸 賮賷 賯乇丕卅鬲賴丕..
丕賱賯乇丕亍丞 丕賱鬲丕賳賷丞 賱賰賵賷鬲夭賷 亘毓丿 ' 賮賷 廿賳鬲馗丕乇 丕賱亘乇丕亘乇丞' 賵 賷亘丿賵 賰丿丞 廿賳 爻賳丞 丕賱賰賵乇賵賳丕 亘丕賱賳爻亘丞 賱賷 丨鬲賰賵賳 爻賳丞 廿賰鬲卮丕賮 丕賱賰購鬲丕亘 丕賱賲鬲賲賷夭賷賳 噩丿丕賸 丕賱賱賷 賰賵賷鬲夭賷 兀賰賷丿 賵丕丨丿 賲賳賴賲...
corona is not that bad after all;)
"賰賲 賴賵 賲購匕賱賾 賵賱賰賳 賱毓賱賴丕 鬲賰賵賳 賳賯胤丞 亘丿丕賷丞 噩賷丿丞 賱毓賱 賴匕丕 賲丕 賷賳亘睾賷 毓賱賷 兀賳 兀鬲毓賱賲 亘賯亘賵賱賴.. 兀賳 兀亘丿兀 賲賳 丕賱氐賮乇..亘丿賵賳 兀賷 卮卅..亘賱丕 禺賷丕乇丕鬲 賵賱丕 賲賱賰賷丞 賵賱丕 丨賯賵賯 賵賱丕 賰乇丕賲丞..!"
November 25, 2017
A savage, ruthless book.
At the onset of this 1999 Booker winner, I thought I was reading the story of 52 year old Capetown romantics poetry professor David Lurie, who has an affair with a student over thirty years his junior. I was in awe of the storytelling, of how Coetzee was able to show much by saying little, about the two sides of that affair.
Lurie, a man who identifies as a Byron-esque lover, who has been twice divorced and who enjoys the services of prostitutes, isn't exactly likeable. Especially when he has the opportunity to save his career by simply issuing an apology, but doesn't, on principle. His hubris is cold and unwavering.
I thought the book would revolve around his fall from grace after being forced to resign from his position. I guess it is, in a small part, but the book really begins after taking what seems like a wild left turn into the remote countryside of South Africa, where Lurie鈥檚 daughter Lucy lives. It鈥檚 a whole other world - a world that buzzes with danger.
This 1990鈥檚 post-Apartheid South Africa is a seething place, certainly unsafe for a white lesbian woman alone on a farm. A terrible attack occurs, fuelled by hatred.
So yes, it is a story about disgrace - but Coetzee casts his net far wider than an aging philanderer who abuses his position of power and loses face in the academic community. It is more about the disgrace of rape. The disgrace of misogyny. The disgraceful violence, resulting from Apartheid.
It also touches on the father/daughter relationship, generational gaps, and what one is prepared to lose for one's principles. It is about aging, loss of virility, and death. And I haven鈥檛 even discussed the animals - those poor, poor dogs. All in 220 pages (what IS it with the powerful, short novels I鈥檝e been reading this month?!).
I am disturbed by the brutality of life in this part of the world. I鈥檓 even more disturbed by how Lucy reacts to it. She refuses to leave the farm after the attack. Transformed into a walking dead, she is at the mercy of her attackers, becoming a peasant in the fields she once mastered. I wasn't a fan of David Lurie, womanizer, objectifier, general dick-head. But I found myself pleading along with him, begging his daughter to choose something else for her life. Instead, she loses herself, laying down in submission, much like a dog undergoing euthanasia.
I鈥檓 shattered by the way that Lucy lays down like a dead dog, whether it is in general terms as a woman in subjugation to the violence of men, or whether it is a political illustration of how white South Africans of this time laid down to take their punishment, a retribution for the sins of their fathers. Coetzee is merciless in his depictions, pointing an accusing finger. It鈥檚 shocking, unacceptable. A complete DISGRACE.
At the onset of this 1999 Booker winner, I thought I was reading the story of 52 year old Capetown romantics poetry professor David Lurie, who has an affair with a student over thirty years his junior. I was in awe of the storytelling, of how Coetzee was able to show much by saying little, about the two sides of that affair.
Lurie, a man who identifies as a Byron-esque lover, who has been twice divorced and who enjoys the services of prostitutes, isn't exactly likeable. Especially when he has the opportunity to save his career by simply issuing an apology, but doesn't, on principle. His hubris is cold and unwavering.
I thought the book would revolve around his fall from grace after being forced to resign from his position. I guess it is, in a small part, but the book really begins after taking what seems like a wild left turn into the remote countryside of South Africa, where Lurie鈥檚 daughter Lucy lives. It鈥檚 a whole other world - a world that buzzes with danger.
This 1990鈥檚 post-Apartheid South Africa is a seething place, certainly unsafe for a white lesbian woman alone on a farm. A terrible attack occurs, fuelled by hatred.
So yes, it is a story about disgrace - but Coetzee casts his net far wider than an aging philanderer who abuses his position of power and loses face in the academic community. It is more about the disgrace of rape. The disgrace of misogyny. The disgraceful violence, resulting from Apartheid.
It also touches on the father/daughter relationship, generational gaps, and what one is prepared to lose for one's principles. It is about aging, loss of virility, and death. And I haven鈥檛 even discussed the animals - those poor, poor dogs. All in 220 pages (what IS it with the powerful, short novels I鈥檝e been reading this month?!).
I am disturbed by the brutality of life in this part of the world. I鈥檓 even more disturbed by how Lucy reacts to it. She refuses to leave the farm after the attack. Transformed into a walking dead, she is at the mercy of her attackers, becoming a peasant in the fields she once mastered. I wasn't a fan of David Lurie, womanizer, objectifier, general dick-head. But I found myself pleading along with him, begging his daughter to choose something else for her life. Instead, she loses herself, laying down in submission, much like a dog undergoing euthanasia.
I鈥檓 shattered by the way that Lucy lays down like a dead dog, whether it is in general terms as a woman in subjugation to the violence of men, or whether it is a political illustration of how white South Africans of this time laid down to take their punishment, a retribution for the sins of their fathers. Coetzee is merciless in his depictions, pointing an accusing finger. It鈥檚 shocking, unacceptable. A complete DISGRACE.
August 28, 2019
This short novel, written in spare, economical prose, tells the story of a not particularly likable middle-aged Capetown college instructor who falls into "disgrace" because of an affair with a student and is soon reduced to living with his daughter in the bush and working as a euthanizer at the local animal shelter. A violent incident occurs, and "disgrace" takes on another meaning.
The novel is both merciless and compassionate (not an easy combination to achieve), and is also incisive in its portrayal of the changing world of South Africa.
December 28, 2024
鈥濪up膬 o anumit膬 v卯rst膬, nu exist膬 dec卯t pedeaps膬鈥� (p.194).
Men葲ionez 卯n grab膬 c膬 am recitit acest roman sumbru f膬r膬 pl膬cere, minun卯ndu-m膬 de psihologia contorsionat膬 a personajelor (profesorul David Lurie de la o universitate din Cape Town 葯i Lucy, fiica lui lesbian膬). Cu siguran葲a c膬 este o carte notabil膬 de vreme ce un conclav de savan葲i a estimat c膬 e vorba de cel mai bun roman scris 卯n englez膬 de un non-american, 卯n intervalul 1980-2005. 脦ndr膬znesc, totu葯i, s膬 am o alt膬 opinie.
脦n opinia mea, personajele se comport膬 absurd. Faptele lor contrazic toate a葯tept膬rile cititorului 葯i orice psihologie normal膬. Lucy e violat膬, dar refuz膬 s膬-i acuze pe f膬ptuitori 葯i s膬 anun葲e poli葲ia. 脦葯i pierde ferma 葯i nu simte nici cel mai mic regret, cade 卯ntr-un soi de somnolen葲膬. Prin resemnare, Lucy devine un personaj inert, o 卯ntruchipare a pasivit膬葲ii, trupul ei s-a golit de suflet. Nici David Lurie nu e mai logic. Dup膬 ce are o leg膬tur膬 cu o student膬, Melanie Isaacs, refuz膬 s膬-葯i cear膬 iertare de la p膬rin葲ii ei. Asta ar rezolva cazul, 葯i-ar p膬stra postul. Dar profesorul e str膬p卯nit de un acces inutil de orgoliu 葯i demisioneaz膬. Se retrage la fiica lui. Peste un timp, se r膬zg卯nde葯te, 卯i caut膬 pe p膬rin葲ii fetei, 卯ngenuncheaz膬 卯n fa葲a lor 葯i le cere iertare (scena aminte葯te de Dostoievski). E absolvit de p膬cat, dar asta nu-i folose葯te la nimic. Se 卯ntoarce la ad膬postul pentru c卯ini, unde a cunoscut-o pe meticuloasa Bev Shaw. 脦n acest punct, firul narativ se rupe...
Dintre toate c膬r葲ile prozatorului sud-african (locuie葯te acum 卯n Australia), prefer, desigur, A葯tept卯ndu-i pe barbari.
P. S. 脦ntr-un comentariu, am g膬sit aceast膬 explica葲ie pentru refuzul lui Lucy de a merge la poli葲ie 葯i de a-i denun葲a pe violatori: 鈥濫a pare s膬 卯n葲eleag膬 ceea ce David nu poate aproba: c膬 pentru a r膬m卯ne acolo trebuie s膬 tolereze brutalitatea 葯i umilirea, ca o isp膬葯ire pentru ofensele 葯i cruzimile albilor fa葲膬 de negri鈥�. Explica葲ia nu m-a convins. Nu cred 卯n vinov膬葲ii universale.
April 8, 2017
Update: $1.99 Kindle special today ..... for those who can handle reading this book .... the writing - and story gets inside you and doesn't leave quickly.
"Disgrace" is a perfect title.
David Laurie, professor, father, divorced, (twice married), jobless after and inappropriate affair, temporary farmworker, is a 'disgrace'.
David dips into a downfall transgression with himself and his daughter, Lucy.
Racial tensions run high....violence is on the rise....brutal.....in South Africa. ( and this was post apartheid). .....
It was easier for me to understand the "disgrace-of-David".....than it was for me to understand Lucy's train of thought after the horrific things that happened to her.
Step into Africa with J.M. Coetzee.....complex, controversial, personal & political.....
Choices to cringe over ....yet compassion is circulating in our thoughts.
Powerful --- winner of the 1999 Booker Prize
*note.... readers who are extremely sensitive to animals abuse, may not want to read this --- or skip over parts.
"Disgrace" is a perfect title.
David Laurie, professor, father, divorced, (twice married), jobless after and inappropriate affair, temporary farmworker, is a 'disgrace'.
David dips into a downfall transgression with himself and his daughter, Lucy.
Racial tensions run high....violence is on the rise....brutal.....in South Africa. ( and this was post apartheid). .....
It was easier for me to understand the "disgrace-of-David".....than it was for me to understand Lucy's train of thought after the horrific things that happened to her.
Step into Africa with J.M. Coetzee.....complex, controversial, personal & political.....
Choices to cringe over ....yet compassion is circulating in our thoughts.
Powerful --- winner of the 1999 Booker Prize
*note.... readers who are extremely sensitive to animals abuse, may not want to read this --- or skip over parts.
May 6, 2010
This could have been the most uncomfortable I鈥檝e ever felt while reading a novel. The issues and themes addressed are those that are immersed in the sensitive, pitch-black parts of my insides. And it didn鈥檛 relent; not once did it get easier. It was painful to keep going, yet I was gripped and couldn鈥檛 stop.
Mining through our darker spirits is not pleasurable. Looking at the world and its sickness, and feeling some of its constant, inherent pain is no easier. But when these merge together, a glorifying truth is present; one we train ourselves to avoid in order to make life easier. But to read Disgrace intently and honestly is to not have a choice in these matters, and the reward is a realness and truth found in very few novels. Your own moral inadequacies are dug up and looked at directly, as is your culture; your race; your generation; your values; your guilts; and your sense of justice. Your way of life gets shaken.
Yet the general state of all life, as a whole, is exposed. Because people are weak and corrupt, life for the individual wavers in many ways. But life itself, with all its beings -- put together with nature, the earth, and all it entails -- is solid and ongoing. Life is still. Life is indifferent. The meat of existence is unbending and immovable. And it goes on.....
Mining through our darker spirits is not pleasurable. Looking at the world and its sickness, and feeling some of its constant, inherent pain is no easier. But when these merge together, a glorifying truth is present; one we train ourselves to avoid in order to make life easier. But to read Disgrace intently and honestly is to not have a choice in these matters, and the reward is a realness and truth found in very few novels. Your own moral inadequacies are dug up and looked at directly, as is your culture; your race; your generation; your values; your guilts; and your sense of justice. Your way of life gets shaken.
Yet the general state of all life, as a whole, is exposed. Because people are weak and corrupt, life for the individual wavers in many ways. But life itself, with all its beings -- put together with nature, the earth, and all it entails -- is solid and ongoing. Life is still. Life is indifferent. The meat of existence is unbending and immovable. And it goes on.....
Shelved as 'dnf'
May 22, 2018Listen. I decided I do not want to read stories written by men about men who are misogynistic pieces of shit and also rapists. I can and will happily go without the pretentious literary value these books want to teach me.
April 4, 2017
I read Disgrace by Nobel Laureate J M Coetzee with a few friends in the group reading for pleasure. A winner of the Man Booker Prize, Disgrace also fulfills the Nobel Laureate square on my classics bingo card. All of Coetzee's novels have received multiple awards or prizes, and Disgrace is the first of his novels that I have read. Although short in length, this introduction reveals to me the brilliance of Coetzee's writing.
David Lurie is a fifty two year old professor of communications at Cape Town Technical University. Having been divorced twice and struggling to get inspired by his courses, Lurie engages in one affair after another with either prostitutes or women passing through town. Lurie's last affair left a bad taste in his mouth, and for the first time he decided to sleep with a student. Although this is hardly unheard of, Lurie is caught and forced to resign his position. In the throes of both a scandal and midlife crisis, he moves in with his grown daughter Lucy.
A child of the city, Lucy has decided to live in a rural farming community on the eastern cape. A young, determined woman of the younger generation, Lucy allows her father into her homestead but from the onset it is obvious that she would rather be left alone. The generation gap is evident as she calls her father by his first name and does not bestow any respect on him. Determined to do a better job as a parent as a middle aged man, Lurie feels the inherent need to parent Lucy at this trying time for both of them.
Coetzee's writing delves into what an affair and a rape is like for both the man and the woman, across lines of race and class. Set in post apartheid South Africa, it is evident that blacks are still struggling in their relations with whites and feel the need to turn the tables on them. Likewise, the younger generation that Lucy is a part of also does not see a need for white male protection. In striving to erase these lines, Coetzee writes in third person and refers to all characters, even in passing, by their first names. He treats all his persona with the same respect regardless of age, gender, or class, even the animals at the clinic where Lucy and later David work. As a result, as a reader, I am able to feel empathy for all of the characters, even the stubborn ones like Lucy and the disgraced David.
For an introduction to Coetzee, Disgrace is a poignant novel. After reading only women authors during women's history month, it was refreshing to read a novel written by a male author that shows empathy toward strong women characters. The writing is powerful and deserving of its praise. I am now inspired to read more of Coetzee in the future to see firsthand the work that merited him the Nobel Prize. Solid 4.5 stars.
David Lurie is a fifty two year old professor of communications at Cape Town Technical University. Having been divorced twice and struggling to get inspired by his courses, Lurie engages in one affair after another with either prostitutes or women passing through town. Lurie's last affair left a bad taste in his mouth, and for the first time he decided to sleep with a student. Although this is hardly unheard of, Lurie is caught and forced to resign his position. In the throes of both a scandal and midlife crisis, he moves in with his grown daughter Lucy.
A child of the city, Lucy has decided to live in a rural farming community on the eastern cape. A young, determined woman of the younger generation, Lucy allows her father into her homestead but from the onset it is obvious that she would rather be left alone. The generation gap is evident as she calls her father by his first name and does not bestow any respect on him. Determined to do a better job as a parent as a middle aged man, Lurie feels the inherent need to parent Lucy at this trying time for both of them.
Coetzee's writing delves into what an affair and a rape is like for both the man and the woman, across lines of race and class. Set in post apartheid South Africa, it is evident that blacks are still struggling in their relations with whites and feel the need to turn the tables on them. Likewise, the younger generation that Lucy is a part of also does not see a need for white male protection. In striving to erase these lines, Coetzee writes in third person and refers to all characters, even in passing, by their first names. He treats all his persona with the same respect regardless of age, gender, or class, even the animals at the clinic where Lucy and later David work. As a result, as a reader, I am able to feel empathy for all of the characters, even the stubborn ones like Lucy and the disgraced David.
For an introduction to Coetzee, Disgrace is a poignant novel. After reading only women authors during women's history month, it was refreshing to read a novel written by a male author that shows empathy toward strong women characters. The writing is powerful and deserving of its praise. I am now inspired to read more of Coetzee in the future to see firsthand the work that merited him the Nobel Prize. Solid 4.5 stars.
January 11, 2021
LE RAGIONI DELL'ALTRO, A MAD HEART
John Malkovic 猫 il professore David Lurie, e Jessica Haines 猫 sua figlia Lucy nel film di Steve Jacobs del 2008.
Qual 猫 la vera vergogna, chi la commette, chi dovrebbe provarla?
Devono vergognarsi anche le vittime?
La ragione non sta mai da una parte sola.
La storia di David Lurie, professore di Poesia Romantica in una qualche universit脿 di Cape Town, con la sua studentessa 猫 uno stupro? Il prof si 猫 avvantaggiato della sua posizione e del suo carisma, ma ha davvero commesso violenza?
Una violenza pari a quella dei tre ragazzi di colore?
Eppure, anche loro sembrano avere giustificazioni: la segregazione razziale non si cancella con la spugna, la povert脿 esiste, la rabbia la violenza la voglia di vendetta prosperano in condizioni repressive e razziste, la miseria non 猫 un punto di vista, uno dei tre ragazzi 猫 perfino mentalmente disturbato: basta questo a spiegare, ad assolverli?
Il professore appare fastidiosamente altezzoso e arrogante, per貌 sa restare accanto alla figlia che sembra aver fatto una scelta molto irragionevole e dalle conseguenze tutt鈥檃ltro che semplici: quest鈥檜omo 猫 davvero cos矛 superbo e borioso come i suoi colleghi lo dipingono e percepiscono?
David Lurie 猫 incapace di difendere la figlia, 猫 debole e vigliacco come anche la figlia Lucy sembra pensare, oppure la violenza che subisce, il tentativo di dargli fuoco, spiega il suo non intervento?
I tre stupratori uccidono anche i cani in gabbia. I neri vedevano nei cani il simbolo del potere bianco, della repressione che dovevano subire.
Basta a motivare l鈥檕diosa gratuita carneficina?
Possiamo spiegare questo magnifico romanzo di Coetzee come una parabola del Sudafrica post-apartheid?
Coetzee non 猫 uno scrittore per chi ama i punti fermi pi霉 dei punti interrogativi, per chi preferisce le risposte alle domande: senza pregiudizio, scrivendo tre parole e cancellandone quattro, scopre le responsabilit脿 di ciascun personaggio, rovescia ogni violenza e ogni vergogna.
Per capire le ragioni dell'altro bisogna dimenticare, mettere da parte almeno per un poco le proprie - solo cos矛 potremo concederci di arrivare al giudizio.
Ma a quel punto, ci renderemo conto dell'inutilit脿 del giudizio.
Ci renderemo conto di essere abbandonati al nostro destino.
John Malkovic 猫 il professore David Lurie, e Jessica Haines 猫 sua figlia Lucy nel film di Steve Jacobs del 2008.
Qual 猫 la vera vergogna, chi la commette, chi dovrebbe provarla?
Devono vergognarsi anche le vittime?
La ragione non sta mai da una parte sola.
La storia di David Lurie, professore di Poesia Romantica in una qualche universit脿 di Cape Town, con la sua studentessa 猫 uno stupro? Il prof si 猫 avvantaggiato della sua posizione e del suo carisma, ma ha davvero commesso violenza?
Una violenza pari a quella dei tre ragazzi di colore?
Eppure, anche loro sembrano avere giustificazioni: la segregazione razziale non si cancella con la spugna, la povert脿 esiste, la rabbia la violenza la voglia di vendetta prosperano in condizioni repressive e razziste, la miseria non 猫 un punto di vista, uno dei tre ragazzi 猫 perfino mentalmente disturbato: basta questo a spiegare, ad assolverli?
Il professore appare fastidiosamente altezzoso e arrogante, per貌 sa restare accanto alla figlia che sembra aver fatto una scelta molto irragionevole e dalle conseguenze tutt鈥檃ltro che semplici: quest鈥檜omo 猫 davvero cos矛 superbo e borioso come i suoi colleghi lo dipingono e percepiscono?
David Lurie 猫 incapace di difendere la figlia, 猫 debole e vigliacco come anche la figlia Lucy sembra pensare, oppure la violenza che subisce, il tentativo di dargli fuoco, spiega il suo non intervento?
I tre stupratori uccidono anche i cani in gabbia. I neri vedevano nei cani il simbolo del potere bianco, della repressione che dovevano subire.
Basta a motivare l鈥檕diosa gratuita carneficina?
Possiamo spiegare questo magnifico romanzo di Coetzee come una parabola del Sudafrica post-apartheid?
Coetzee non 猫 uno scrittore per chi ama i punti fermi pi霉 dei punti interrogativi, per chi preferisce le risposte alle domande: senza pregiudizio, scrivendo tre parole e cancellandone quattro, scopre le responsabilit脿 di ciascun personaggio, rovescia ogni violenza e ogni vergogna.
Per capire le ragioni dell'altro bisogna dimenticare, mettere da parte almeno per un poco le proprie - solo cos矛 potremo concederci di arrivare al giudizio.
Ma a quel punto, ci renderemo conto dell'inutilit脿 del giudizio.
Ci renderemo conto di essere abbandonati al nostro destino.
October 11, 2017
David Lurie, 52, professor, seduces a student. 鈥楴ot rape,鈥� we are told, 鈥榥ot quite that, but undesired nevertheless.鈥� The girl's name, Melanie, means black. The power dynamic between them, the disparity of authority, is foregrounded.
Later, Lurie's daughter is raped by intruders, and violently. She is white; her assailants 鈥� three of them 鈥撎齛re black. We are in South Africa.
~~~~
David is forced out of his position at the university for his 鈥榰ndesired鈥� liaison. An investigating committee asks him to issue a statement of contrition and regret, but he refuses to do so on principle. He insists on accepting his due punishment. He insists on what he calls his 鈥榝reedom to remain silent鈥�.
Later, David's daughter refuses to report her rape. She refuses to take medical precautions. She refuses to seek vengeance against one of the men when she sees him in the neighbourhood. She, too, insists on remaining silent. She, too, bases this on a moral principle.
~~~~
Apartheid was in force in South Africa from 1948 to 1991. This book, published in 1999, is set after apartheid has ended.
There are many animals in this book. The way people talk about animals sounds a lot like the way that white South Africans once talked openly about black South Africans. 鈥楤y all means let us be kind to them,鈥� Lurie comments. 鈥楤ut let us not lose perspective. We are of a different order of creation from the animals. Not higher, necessarily, but different.鈥�
~~~~
What is the moral of these correspondences (which I write down here only to order my thoughts, not to elucidate the book's point)? The answer is the novel, and it can't helpfully be further distilled. What makes Disgrace so impressive is precisely that it is no simple allegory, but rather a series of dynamics that echo and echo against each other in painful and confusing ways.
Lurie's employers talk primly about the undesirability of 鈥榤ixing power relations with sexual relations鈥�. But Coetzee suggests that the two might be 鈥� if not quite synonymous, at least tightly bound together. He writes about sex in an extraordinary way: unsentimentally, even anti-sentimentally, to the point of misanthropy. Libido is described in terms of
Lurie's daughter, who is gay, addresses the link between sex and violence directly, in a monologue that is the more shocking for her tone of calm, dispassionate analysis:
Jesus. Coetzee's words hit like whiplash. And they are very carefully chosen, despite an expressed conviction in the novel that 鈥楨nglish is an unfit medium for the truth of South Africa鈥�.
This is a very grown-up book (it reminded me a lot of Max Frisch's ). But it isn't a hopeless one 鈥撎齣t expresses confusion, anger, and sometimes despair, but also a certain sense of searching that at least imagines a different future. Perhaps, as one of the characters thinks, it is necessary, in order to build something up, for everything to be first brought down to nothing. For that, you need disgrace. And Coetzee offers that to everyone in the book 鈥� and everyone reading it.
Later, Lurie's daughter is raped by intruders, and violently. She is white; her assailants 鈥� three of them 鈥撎齛re black. We are in South Africa.
~~~~
David is forced out of his position at the university for his 鈥榰ndesired鈥� liaison. An investigating committee asks him to issue a statement of contrition and regret, but he refuses to do so on principle. He insists on accepting his due punishment. He insists on what he calls his 鈥榝reedom to remain silent鈥�.
Later, David's daughter refuses to report her rape. She refuses to take medical precautions. She refuses to seek vengeance against one of the men when she sees him in the neighbourhood. She, too, insists on remaining silent. She, too, bases this on a moral principle.
~~~~
Apartheid was in force in South Africa from 1948 to 1991. This book, published in 1999, is set after apartheid has ended.
There are many animals in this book. The way people talk about animals sounds a lot like the way that white South Africans once talked openly about black South Africans. 鈥楤y all means let us be kind to them,鈥� Lurie comments. 鈥楤ut let us not lose perspective. We are of a different order of creation from the animals. Not higher, necessarily, but different.鈥�
~~~~
What is the moral of these correspondences (which I write down here only to order my thoughts, not to elucidate the book's point)? The answer is the novel, and it can't helpfully be further distilled. What makes Disgrace so impressive is precisely that it is no simple allegory, but rather a series of dynamics that echo and echo against each other in painful and confusing ways.
Lurie's employers talk primly about the undesirability of 鈥榤ixing power relations with sexual relations鈥�. But Coetzee suggests that the two might be 鈥� if not quite synonymous, at least tightly bound together. He writes about sex in an extraordinary way: unsentimentally, even anti-sentimentally, to the point of misanthropy. Libido is described in terms of
complex proteins swirling in the blood, distending the sexual organs, making the palms sweat and voice thicken and the soul hurl its longings to the skies. That is what [Lurie's regular prostitute] and the others were for: to suck the complex proteins out of his blood like snake-venom, leaving him clear-headed and dry.
Lurie's daughter, who is gay, addresses the link between sex and violence directly, in a monologue that is the more shocking for her tone of calm, dispassionate analysis:
鈥楳aybe, for men, hating the woman makes sex more exciting. You are a man, you ought to know. When you have sex with someone strange 鈥撎齱hen you trap her, hold her down, get her under you, put all your weight on her 鈥撎齣sn't it a bit like killing? Pushing the knife in; exiting afterwards, leaving the body behind covered in blood 鈥� doesn't it feel like murder, like getting away with murder?鈥�
Jesus. Coetzee's words hit like whiplash. And they are very carefully chosen, despite an expressed conviction in the novel that 鈥楨nglish is an unfit medium for the truth of South Africa鈥�.
Only the monosyllables can still be relied on, and not even all of them.
This is a very grown-up book (it reminded me a lot of Max Frisch's ). But it isn't a hopeless one 鈥撎齣t expresses confusion, anger, and sometimes despair, but also a certain sense of searching that at least imagines a different future. Perhaps, as one of the characters thinks, it is necessary, in order to build something up, for everything to be first brought down to nothing. For that, you need disgrace. And Coetzee offers that to everyone in the book 鈥� and everyone reading it.
May 11, 2022
Disgrace, J.M. Coetzee
Disgrace is a novel by J. M. Coetzee, published in 1999. David Lurie is a South African professor of English who loses everything: his reputation, his job, his peace of mind, his dreams of artistic success, and finally even his ability to protect his own daughter. He is twice-divorced and dissatisfied with his job as a 'communications' lecturer, teaching a class in romantic literature at a technical university in Cape Town in post-apartheid South Africa.
鬲丕乇蹖禺 賳禺爻鬲蹖賳 禺賵丕賳卮: 乇賵夭 賴噩丿賴賲 賲丕賴 丌賵乇蹖賱 爻丕賱2006賲蹖賱丕丿蹖
毓賳賵丕賳: 乇爻賵丕蹖蹖貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 噩蹖. 丕賲. 讴賵鬲爻蹖貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 丨爻賳 亘賱蹖睾貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 賳卮乇 丌诏乇丕貨 爻丕賱1383貨 丿乇285氐貨 卮丕亘讴9649325980貨 賲賵囟賵毓: 丿丕爻鬲丕賳賴丕蹖 賳賵蹖爻賳丿诏丕賳 丕賮乇蹖賯丕蹖 噩賳賵亘蹖 - 爻丿賴20賲
毓賳賵丕賳: 乇爻賵丕蹖蹖貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 噩蹖. 丕賲. 讴賵鬲爻蹖貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 賲丨爻賳 賲蹖賳賵禺乇丿貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 賳卮乇 趩卮賲賴貨 爻丕賱1387貨 丿乇289氐貨 卮丕亘讴 9789643625351貨
讴鬲丕亘 芦乇爻賵丕蹖蹖禄 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 夭賳丿诏蹖 丕爻鬲丕丿 賲蹖丕賳鈥屫池з� 夭亘丕賳 賵 丕丿亘蹖丕鬲 丕賳诏賱蹖爻蹖 丿丕賳卮诏丕賴蹖 丿乇 卮賴乇 芦讴蹖倬 鬲丕賵賳禄 丌賮乇蹖賯丕蹖 噩賳賵亘蹖鈥屄� 丕爻鬲 讴賴 亘賴鈥屸€� 禺丕胤乇 乇丕亘胤賴鈥� 蹖 噩賳爻蹖 亘丕 蹖讴蹖 丕夭 丿丕賳卮噩賵蹖丕賳 丿禺鬲乇 讴賱丕爻卮 亘丿賳丕賲 賲蹖鈥屫促堌� 賵 讴丕乇卮 亘賴 乇爻賵丕蹖蹖 賲蹖鈥屭┴簇� 芦丿蹖賵蹖丿 賱賵乇蹖禄 丿乇 夭賳丿诏蹖 丿賵 亘丕乇 丕夭丿賵丕噩 讴乇丿賴 丕賲丕 賴乇 丿賵 亘丕乇 賴賲 卮讴爻鬲 禺賵乇丿賴 賵 丕夭 賴乇 丿賵 賴賲爻乇卮 噩丿丕 卮丿賴 丕爻鬲貙 丕夭 賴賲爻乇 賳禺爻鬲蹖賳 禺賵蹖卮 讴賴 芦賴賱賳丿蹖禄 亘賵丿賴貙 丿禺鬲乇蹖 亘賴 賳丕賲 芦賱賵爻蹖禄 丿丕乇丿貨 亘賴 賴賲蹖賳 禺丕胤乇 丕賵丕蹖賱 乇賲丕賳貙 賴乇 倬賳噩鈥屫促嗀ㄙ� 亘賴 蹖讴蹖 丕夭 禺丕賳賴鈥屬囏й� 毓賲賵賲蹖 卮賴乇 賲蹖鈥屫辟堌� 賵 亘賴鈥屫池з� 賲卮鬲乇蹖 賵賮丕丿丕乇蹖 爻乇丕睾 丕鬲丕賯 卮賲丕乇賴鈥� 蹖 蹖讴氐丿 賵 爻蹖夭丿賴 乇丕 賲蹖鈥屭屫必� 賵 丿乇 賲賯丕亘賱 倬乇丿丕禺鬲 丕賳丿讴 倬賵賱蹖貙 賳蹖丕夭 禺賵丿 乇丕 亘乇胤乇賮 賲蹖鈥屭┵嗀�.
鬲丕乇蹖禺 亘賴賳诏丕賲 乇爻丕賳蹖 08/04/1399賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 20/02/1401賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 丕. 卮乇亘蹖丕賳蹖
Disgrace is a novel by J. M. Coetzee, published in 1999. David Lurie is a South African professor of English who loses everything: his reputation, his job, his peace of mind, his dreams of artistic success, and finally even his ability to protect his own daughter. He is twice-divorced and dissatisfied with his job as a 'communications' lecturer, teaching a class in romantic literature at a technical university in Cape Town in post-apartheid South Africa.
鬲丕乇蹖禺 賳禺爻鬲蹖賳 禺賵丕賳卮: 乇賵夭 賴噩丿賴賲 賲丕賴 丌賵乇蹖賱 爻丕賱2006賲蹖賱丕丿蹖
毓賳賵丕賳: 乇爻賵丕蹖蹖貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 噩蹖. 丕賲. 讴賵鬲爻蹖貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 丨爻賳 亘賱蹖睾貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 賳卮乇 丌诏乇丕貨 爻丕賱1383貨 丿乇285氐貨 卮丕亘讴9649325980貨 賲賵囟賵毓: 丿丕爻鬲丕賳賴丕蹖 賳賵蹖爻賳丿诏丕賳 丕賮乇蹖賯丕蹖 噩賳賵亘蹖 - 爻丿賴20賲
毓賳賵丕賳: 乇爻賵丕蹖蹖貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 噩蹖. 丕賲. 讴賵鬲爻蹖貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 賲丨爻賳 賲蹖賳賵禺乇丿貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 賳卮乇 趩卮賲賴貨 爻丕賱1387貨 丿乇289氐貨 卮丕亘讴 9789643625351貨
讴鬲丕亘 芦乇爻賵丕蹖蹖禄 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 夭賳丿诏蹖 丕爻鬲丕丿 賲蹖丕賳鈥屫池з� 夭亘丕賳 賵 丕丿亘蹖丕鬲 丕賳诏賱蹖爻蹖 丿丕賳卮诏丕賴蹖 丿乇 卮賴乇 芦讴蹖倬 鬲丕賵賳禄 丌賮乇蹖賯丕蹖 噩賳賵亘蹖鈥屄� 丕爻鬲 讴賴 亘賴鈥屸€� 禺丕胤乇 乇丕亘胤賴鈥� 蹖 噩賳爻蹖 亘丕 蹖讴蹖 丕夭 丿丕賳卮噩賵蹖丕賳 丿禺鬲乇 讴賱丕爻卮 亘丿賳丕賲 賲蹖鈥屫促堌� 賵 讴丕乇卮 亘賴 乇爻賵丕蹖蹖 賲蹖鈥屭┴簇� 芦丿蹖賵蹖丿 賱賵乇蹖禄 丿乇 夭賳丿诏蹖 丿賵 亘丕乇 丕夭丿賵丕噩 讴乇丿賴 丕賲丕 賴乇 丿賵 亘丕乇 賴賲 卮讴爻鬲 禺賵乇丿賴 賵 丕夭 賴乇 丿賵 賴賲爻乇卮 噩丿丕 卮丿賴 丕爻鬲貙 丕夭 賴賲爻乇 賳禺爻鬲蹖賳 禺賵蹖卮 讴賴 芦賴賱賳丿蹖禄 亘賵丿賴貙 丿禺鬲乇蹖 亘賴 賳丕賲 芦賱賵爻蹖禄 丿丕乇丿貨 亘賴 賴賲蹖賳 禺丕胤乇 丕賵丕蹖賱 乇賲丕賳貙 賴乇 倬賳噩鈥屫促嗀ㄙ� 亘賴 蹖讴蹖 丕夭 禺丕賳賴鈥屬囏й� 毓賲賵賲蹖 卮賴乇 賲蹖鈥屫辟堌� 賵 亘賴鈥屫池з� 賲卮鬲乇蹖 賵賮丕丿丕乇蹖 爻乇丕睾 丕鬲丕賯 卮賲丕乇賴鈥� 蹖 蹖讴氐丿 賵 爻蹖夭丿賴 乇丕 賲蹖鈥屭屫必� 賵 丿乇 賲賯丕亘賱 倬乇丿丕禺鬲 丕賳丿讴 倬賵賱蹖貙 賳蹖丕夭 禺賵丿 乇丕 亘乇胤乇賮 賲蹖鈥屭┵嗀�.
鬲丕乇蹖禺 亘賴賳诏丕賲 乇爻丕賳蹖 08/04/1399賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 20/02/1401賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 丕. 卮乇亘蹖丕賳蹖
February 10, 2017
It鈥檚 a little-known fact (where 鈥渇act鈥� is understood in the contemporary, alternative sense) that the title of this book was originally an acronym that Coetzee used as a guide for writing it:
Dishonor-Inducing Sex & Glaring Racial Antipathy Corroding Emotions
David Lurie, a white South African professor in his fifties, had taught communications and poetry in Cape Town. An ill-advised affair with a student spoiled all that. David sought refuge with his daughter Lucy who experienced some conflicts of her own living in the country鈥檚 interior. With its setting in post-apartheid South Africa, a race angle was virtually inevitable. I have to say, the emotions packed a real punch, including some you don鈥檛 see coming. As far as I know, Disney had no role in producing the movie version of this raw and hard-edged book. Despite the lack of uplift, I did appreciate the writing and the plausibility of the angst. Evidently, the Booker committee did, too, since they gave this one their fiction prize in 1999.
This has been another entry in the KISS series -- Keep It Short, Steve. Note that 鈥淪teve鈥� itself is an acronym:
Severely Testing Every V颈蝉颈迟辞谤鈥檚 Equanimity
Dishonor-Inducing Sex & Glaring Racial Antipathy Corroding Emotions
David Lurie, a white South African professor in his fifties, had taught communications and poetry in Cape Town. An ill-advised affair with a student spoiled all that. David sought refuge with his daughter Lucy who experienced some conflicts of her own living in the country鈥檚 interior. With its setting in post-apartheid South Africa, a race angle was virtually inevitable. I have to say, the emotions packed a real punch, including some you don鈥檛 see coming. As far as I know, Disney had no role in producing the movie version of this raw and hard-edged book. Despite the lack of uplift, I did appreciate the writing and the plausibility of the angst. Evidently, the Booker committee did, too, since they gave this one their fiction prize in 1999.
This has been another entry in the KISS series -- Keep It Short, Steve. Note that 鈥淪teve鈥� itself is an acronym:
Severely Testing Every V颈蝉颈迟辞谤鈥檚 Equanimity
September 8, 2016
Update: It's been a while since i read this book and it is still on my mind. As it succeeded to make me remember it after more than a year it means it deserves 5 stars instead of 4.
Very disturbing. I need to read something easy now. Maybe a Lee Child.
Very disturbing. I need to read something easy now. Maybe a Lee Child.
April 1, 2021
鈥淵et we cannot live our daily lives in a realm of pure ideas, cocooned from sense-experience. The question is not, How can we keep the imagination pure, protected from the onslaughts of reality? The question has to be, Can we find a way for the two to coexist?鈥�
Raw, sharp, brave, soul-scattering, brilliant. Coetzee said a lot in a condensed, 220-page novel. The style reminds me of Salinger's in . Through live memorable imagery there is conveyed a lot of inner world, moral, ethical and political issues without dense or complicated language, written in a very readable form, with laser precision, balanced, smooth, no word wasted. Writing is so good you don't even notice it as you become immersed in the story. I was very similarly shocked and devastated after reading Nine stories, as they are unforgettable as Disgrace is. Gods of showing not telling.
The subjectivity of one's experience and self-delusion as central parts of the novel are visible in the sarcastic opening sentence.
鈥淔or a man of his age, fifty-two, divorced, he has, to his mind, solved the problem of sex rather well.鈥�
Everything lies in the open, but not everything is said. As , Coetzee says even more with the unsaid than with what is written. He also writes violence with such dignity and contemporary writers could learn a lesson from him on how to write about brutality in a meaningful, not pornographic way with unnecessary details of molestation. The imagery of violence is strong yet subtle and described aggression serves as a window to geopolitical, social, race, gender complex issues and deep psychological and existential conflicts considering sexuality, identity, meaning and death. Coetzee does not shy away even from most forbidden taboo topics, from animal violence to incestuous connotations and aggressive deep end of sex drive.
鈥淗atred . . . When it comes to men and sex, David, nothing surprises me any more. Maybe, for men, hating the woman makes sex more exciting. You are a man, you ought to know. When you have sex with someone strange - when you trap her, hold her down, get her under you, put all your weight on her - isn't it a killing? Pushing the knife in; exiting afterwards, leaving the body behind covered in blood - doesn't it feel like murder, like getting away with murder?鈥�
The story is open for interpretation but ironically, you feel there is no interpretation needed. The reading experience alone shifts the perspective of the world on a new level. This book is well-loved and I see why, it is a masterpiece that serves as an axe on a frozen sea.
David is both piteous and repulsive as oftentimes we are to ourselves in our deepest hidden desires. He is immature, regressive, delusional, maladjusted, yet, evokes empathy. The perpetrator becomes a victim in the endless suffering cycle of life. In fragments of the story of each human life, there is the history of the land and political and social dynamic embedded, as the context of post-apartheid Africa veils and very much defines tension in the main characters' lives.
鈥淭he reason is that as far as I am concerned, what happened to me is a purely private matter. In another time, in another place it might be held to be a public matter. But in this place, in this time, it is not. It is my bussines, mine alone.
'This place being what?'
'This place being South Africa鈥�
Sometimes only the shock of violence in the outer world can open our eyes to our own and set us on a transcendental journey. Coetzee holds a mirror not only to us, but to the soul of humanity, and disgrace is universal.
鈥淧erhaps it does us good to have a fall every now and then. As long as we don鈥檛 break.鈥�
Raw, sharp, brave, soul-scattering, brilliant. Coetzee said a lot in a condensed, 220-page novel. The style reminds me of Salinger's in . Through live memorable imagery there is conveyed a lot of inner world, moral, ethical and political issues without dense or complicated language, written in a very readable form, with laser precision, balanced, smooth, no word wasted. Writing is so good you don't even notice it as you become immersed in the story. I was very similarly shocked and devastated after reading Nine stories, as they are unforgettable as Disgrace is. Gods of showing not telling.
The subjectivity of one's experience and self-delusion as central parts of the novel are visible in the sarcastic opening sentence.
鈥淔or a man of his age, fifty-two, divorced, he has, to his mind, solved the problem of sex rather well.鈥�
Everything lies in the open, but not everything is said. As , Coetzee says even more with the unsaid than with what is written. He also writes violence with such dignity and contemporary writers could learn a lesson from him on how to write about brutality in a meaningful, not pornographic way with unnecessary details of molestation. The imagery of violence is strong yet subtle and described aggression serves as a window to geopolitical, social, race, gender complex issues and deep psychological and existential conflicts considering sexuality, identity, meaning and death. Coetzee does not shy away even from most forbidden taboo topics, from animal violence to incestuous connotations and aggressive deep end of sex drive.
鈥淗atred . . . When it comes to men and sex, David, nothing surprises me any more. Maybe, for men, hating the woman makes sex more exciting. You are a man, you ought to know. When you have sex with someone strange - when you trap her, hold her down, get her under you, put all your weight on her - isn't it a killing? Pushing the knife in; exiting afterwards, leaving the body behind covered in blood - doesn't it feel like murder, like getting away with murder?鈥�
The story is open for interpretation but ironically, you feel there is no interpretation needed. The reading experience alone shifts the perspective of the world on a new level. This book is well-loved and I see why, it is a masterpiece that serves as an axe on a frozen sea.
David is both piteous and repulsive as oftentimes we are to ourselves in our deepest hidden desires. He is immature, regressive, delusional, maladjusted, yet, evokes empathy. The perpetrator becomes a victim in the endless suffering cycle of life. In fragments of the story of each human life, there is the history of the land and political and social dynamic embedded, as the context of post-apartheid Africa veils and very much defines tension in the main characters' lives.
鈥淭he reason is that as far as I am concerned, what happened to me is a purely private matter. In another time, in another place it might be held to be a public matter. But in this place, in this time, it is not. It is my bussines, mine alone.
'This place being what?'
'This place being South Africa鈥�
Sometimes only the shock of violence in the outer world can open our eyes to our own and set us on a transcendental journey. Coetzee holds a mirror not only to us, but to the soul of humanity, and disgrace is universal.
鈥淧erhaps it does us good to have a fall every now and then. As long as we don鈥檛 break.鈥�
Read
April 29, 2024why did I do this to myself, she remarked
February 14, 2020
I don't think if someone described the plot of this book to me I would think that this is a book that I would enjoy yet here we are. I'm not sure how to even explain what about this book appeals to me. I think it's that the writing felt really wonderful and every word felt meaningful and right. I can't stand overly verbose prose and nothing about this felt this way. I think I also just really enjoy flawed characters, and David, the main character, clearly has his flaws. I just enjoyed the humanizing way we see David grapple with his faults and limits, and his disposition towards romanticism and passion are things I can also empathize with. It's just one of those times where I've read a book and everything I've read felt like it added it to the book and just the writing and characters were so human and easy to embody when reading. I really really enjoyed this one.
May 25, 2013
It's admirable, what you do, what she does, but to me animal-welfare people are a bit like Christians of a certain kind. Everyone is so cheerful and well-intentioned that after a while you itch to go off and do some raping and pillaging. Or to kick a cat.
At the beginning, it appears pretty easy:
- To hate David Lurie.
- To take Coetzee鈥檚 writing for granted.
- To assume that everything would fall in its right or may be wrong place.
- To anticipate a letdown feeling by just another Booker prize novel.
- To learn the same old lessons we have confronted since the original sin was committed.
- To read another long-winded definition of Disgrace.
But talent rarely hails from Planet Obvious and Coetzee, a talented writer he is, knows very well what it takes to write a good book. Disgrace left me pleasantly surprised and severely shocked. Surprised at the simplicity of narrative which resulted in a powerful fiction and shocked at the impact it had on my psyche. David Lurie, an aging Professor at a University in Cape Town, SA, who is best friends with Eros is getting reckless with a young girl student of his. I rolled my eyes after reading this because more notes on a trite scandal was something I didn鈥檛 want to read about but I gave my snobbery a break. The pace of the book helped and quickly we鈥檙e introduced to David鈥檚 daughter, Lucy. She has turned into a perfect country girl with no inclination towards dressing up or looking attractive and would rather tend her farm and take a walk with her dogs. At this point begins a surge of impressive writing and one can say that Coetzee is home. He knows his South Africa well, he knows the plight of its citizens and above all he knows how to put across various points by using myriad symbolisms and allegories to tell the story of a big, unfortunate world in a small, splendid novel.
Disgrace knocked at Lurie鈥檚 door at an age when conventionally one look forward to a calm life without any burden of expectations but if we ever try to chart out the blueprint of our future then the joke is on us. Lurie wasn鈥檛 prudent to say the least but to come face to face with his immediate past in a brutal fashion is something he didn鈥檛 prepare himself for and neither did the readers. Coetzee slowly takes off the layers after layers and tells us that:
- Beauty is indeed only skin deep.
- It鈥檚 not what it looks like.
- God works in mysterious ways.
- Welcome to The Karma Caf茅. There are no menus. You will get served what you deserve.
'How humiliating,' he says finally. 'Such high hopes, and to end like this.'
'Yes, I agree, it is humiliating. But perhaps that is a good point to start from again. Perhaps that is what I must learn to accept. To start at ground level. With nothing. Not with nothing but. With nothing. No cards, no weapons, no property, no rights, no dignity.'
鈥楲ike a dog.'
'Yes, like a dog.'
Lurie also got what he deserved. But was it fair? What he did? What her daughter did? Whatever they had to experience? From one point it was completely unfair but the history of Africa is an example of unfairness and to live there, to find a place one can call home even if the price to pay is through disgrace, acceptance of fate and be at peace with whatever we are left with to move on with our lives is something one can鈥檛 deny no matter how much it infuriates us. If at times the characters seems a bit distant then it's solely because we would never want to be in their shoes and experiencing this feeling, the pathos this book is able to create is something which makes it a great read.
October 6, 2017
Durante aquella 茅poca de mi febril admiraci贸n por Fi贸dor Dostoievski, unos a帽os atr谩s, admiraci贸n que cuya llama no se apaga, tuve la oportunidad de leer el libro "El maestro de Petersburgo", de J.M. Coetzee y ver en la tapa que hab铆a sido premiado con el premio Nobel en 2003 auguraba una interesante lectura.
Me sorprendi贸 en el acto y gratamente la manera en que se mete en la piel del genial escritor ruso, en una novela atrapante donde Dostoievski, luego de a帽os de exilio vuelve su querido San Petersburgo para averiguar que sucedi贸 con P谩vel, su hijo fallecido.
Coetzee crea una ficci贸n en la que nos narra c贸mo el la miseria y la pobreza petersburguesa de las clases m谩s baja con la misma maestr铆a que el viejo Fi贸dor. Ese libro me encant贸 y lo releer茅 alg煤n d铆a.
Ahora bien, mucho tiempo despu茅s, decido encarar la lectura de "Desgracia", al que siempre ve铆a en las estanter铆as de las librer铆as y que de alg煤n modo me llamaba con su tapa tan especial, la de ese perro flaco mirando hacia un camino de tierra. Inform谩ndome del resumen de la contratapa, podr铆a percibir una historia fuerte y as铆 fue.
Realmente, la prosa de Coetzee es profundamente convincente, sin retru茅canos ni rodeos y va al hueso. Es directo, visceral por momentos y no le da miedo meterse con temas escabrosos, fuertes y de apabullante actualidad como lo son el abuso de menores, el acoso sexual, o la violaci贸n.
Es que Coetzee pinta una cruda realidad que abofetea al lector sin aviso.
Mientras uno lee el principio del libro, cuando David Lurie sac铆a sus necesidades con Soraya, la prostituta que frecuenta hasta que decide ir a visitar a su hija Lucy, no espera que la historia gire hacia una direcci贸n inesperada a partir de un suceso puntual que sucede en la granja de Lucy y a partir de esto la acci贸n se desarrollar谩 sin pausa y luego de lo sucedido comenzar谩n a aflorar las miserias de los personajes, las culpas y las peleas.
Es que David y Lucy congenian poco. Siendo un padre ausente, todo lo que sucede entre ellos a partir de su llegada a la granja se torna forzado y complejo.
Durante todo el libro se narra todo lo que le sucede a David, este profesor devenido en ayudante de una veterinaria que sacrifica perros, pero que en realidad nunca sabe que hacer con su vida. Ha fracasado en dos matrimonios y a los cincuenta y dos a帽os su vida naufraga entre el hast铆o y la indecisi贸n.
Para m铆 el libro se divide en tres partes bien claras: en primer lugar, todo el asunto del affaire con su alumna Melanie Isaacs, un tema que lo salpica de lleno y que lo perseguir谩 hasta el final, en segundo termino el episodio violento en la granja de su hija Lucy, que no voy a contar para no generar spoiler y en su devaneo existencial final, su vuelta a su ciudad, mucho peor de como se fue y de sus inciertos planteos de cara al futuro, especialmente respecto de sus intentos de terminar una 贸pera que est谩 escribiendo sobre Lord Byron, "Byron en Italia".
"Desgracia" es una historia fuerte, sin tapujos que el lector no puede esquivar, puesto que se le viene encima de golpe. Narrada por Coetzee con aplomo, sin pausas y como aclar茅 antes con mucha convicci贸n.
Ese es el t茅rmino que define a "Desgracia": es una historia convincente, con un acercamiento psicol贸gico de los principales personajes muy logrado. Nuevamente ha sido de sumo placer para m铆 leer a Coetzee.
"Todo esto no ha sido otra cosa que una desgracia, una verdadera desgracia", dice su ex esposa Rosalind.
Y s铆, David. Deber铆as haber sabido que todo terminar铆a as铆.
Me sorprendi贸 en el acto y gratamente la manera en que se mete en la piel del genial escritor ruso, en una novela atrapante donde Dostoievski, luego de a帽os de exilio vuelve su querido San Petersburgo para averiguar que sucedi贸 con P谩vel, su hijo fallecido.
Coetzee crea una ficci贸n en la que nos narra c贸mo el la miseria y la pobreza petersburguesa de las clases m谩s baja con la misma maestr铆a que el viejo Fi贸dor. Ese libro me encant贸 y lo releer茅 alg煤n d铆a.
Ahora bien, mucho tiempo despu茅s, decido encarar la lectura de "Desgracia", al que siempre ve铆a en las estanter铆as de las librer铆as y que de alg煤n modo me llamaba con su tapa tan especial, la de ese perro flaco mirando hacia un camino de tierra. Inform谩ndome del resumen de la contratapa, podr铆a percibir una historia fuerte y as铆 fue.
Realmente, la prosa de Coetzee es profundamente convincente, sin retru茅canos ni rodeos y va al hueso. Es directo, visceral por momentos y no le da miedo meterse con temas escabrosos, fuertes y de apabullante actualidad como lo son el abuso de menores, el acoso sexual, o la violaci贸n.
Es que Coetzee pinta una cruda realidad que abofetea al lector sin aviso.
Mientras uno lee el principio del libro, cuando David Lurie sac铆a sus necesidades con Soraya, la prostituta que frecuenta hasta que decide ir a visitar a su hija Lucy, no espera que la historia gire hacia una direcci贸n inesperada a partir de un suceso puntual que sucede en la granja de Lucy y a partir de esto la acci贸n se desarrollar谩 sin pausa y luego de lo sucedido comenzar谩n a aflorar las miserias de los personajes, las culpas y las peleas.
Es que David y Lucy congenian poco. Siendo un padre ausente, todo lo que sucede entre ellos a partir de su llegada a la granja se torna forzado y complejo.
Durante todo el libro se narra todo lo que le sucede a David, este profesor devenido en ayudante de una veterinaria que sacrifica perros, pero que en realidad nunca sabe que hacer con su vida. Ha fracasado en dos matrimonios y a los cincuenta y dos a帽os su vida naufraga entre el hast铆o y la indecisi贸n.
Para m铆 el libro se divide en tres partes bien claras: en primer lugar, todo el asunto del affaire con su alumna Melanie Isaacs, un tema que lo salpica de lleno y que lo perseguir谩 hasta el final, en segundo termino el episodio violento en la granja de su hija Lucy, que no voy a contar para no generar spoiler y en su devaneo existencial final, su vuelta a su ciudad, mucho peor de como se fue y de sus inciertos planteos de cara al futuro, especialmente respecto de sus intentos de terminar una 贸pera que est谩 escribiendo sobre Lord Byron, "Byron en Italia".
"Desgracia" es una historia fuerte, sin tapujos que el lector no puede esquivar, puesto que se le viene encima de golpe. Narrada por Coetzee con aplomo, sin pausas y como aclar茅 antes con mucha convicci贸n.
Ese es el t茅rmino que define a "Desgracia": es una historia convincente, con un acercamiento psicol贸gico de los principales personajes muy logrado. Nuevamente ha sido de sumo placer para m铆 leer a Coetzee.
"Todo esto no ha sido otra cosa que una desgracia, una verdadera desgracia", dice su ex esposa Rosalind.
Y s铆, David. Deber铆as haber sabido que todo terminar铆a as铆.
May 13, 2019
Not that I'm in the slightest way bothered, but this happened to be my very first Booker Prize novel. I generally have zero interest in when books get awards, and I only found out on the day I purchased this that Disgrace bagged the Booker back in 99. Whether or not it deserved it, and how significant the Booker is, I have absolutely no idea. All I do know is that I really liked this. But that doesn't all of a sudden mean I'm likely to go on a frantic search and stack up on Booker prize novels, because I'm not. This is a one off. For now anyway. As novels go, it ticked a good few boxes for me. A good length, it felt expansive in nature but not in the page count, what it needed to do it did surprisingly well, without the need to drag it out, an interesting story with plenty of compelling plot developments, characters I really cared for and wanted to cuddle, characters I despised and wanted to push into a live volcano, and a feeling of immediate satisfaction once all was done. Also, I found it multi-layered, things that hit me straight away whilst reading, and deeper issues that lingered strong after I finished it. Coetzee鈥檚 intensely human vision infuses a fictional world that both invites and confounds political interpretation.
Cape Town lecturer David Lurie, on whom Coetzee visits a contemporary catalogue of humiliations, is a fairly average, twice-married, fiftysomething, who, accused of sexual misconduct with one of his students (he the bear, she the honeypot) chooses not to defend himself but rather to suffer his fate with a noble, slightly grumpy, stoicism. In his mind, Lurie has committed no offence; he prefers to get fired and suffer the disgrace than endure a politically correct process of rehabilitation.
Once the scenery changes by him going to the country to live with his daughter Lucy, and address the meaning of this self-inflicted injunction, It鈥檚 here that Disgrace, moved up a gear or too and began seriously to engage with the aftermath of apartheid. A feeling of hope started to settle in, before it was suddenly ripped away, the prospect of stability is replaced by the fact that the conflicts of South Africa will never truly go away.
Disgrace finishes quickly with the question of judgment; its real interest lies in what comes after, when all one's days are stamped with the word of its title. And the way the novel develops suggests that it is perhaps Coetzee, despite his resistance to a historically conditioned realism, who has the more deeply political mind. Lurie is an ironic man, but Coetzee's own irony has a surgical precision that slices through and beyond and around the character's own. The novel stands out for the way in which the writer's use of the present tense is in itself enough to shape the structure and form of the book as a whole. Even though it presents an almost unrelieved series of grim moments, where one could feel bogged down with a claustrophobic or depressing feeling, it actually works more for it's sublime exhilaration. Also it's impossible not to mention the dogs, Something I will only touch on, not go into, there is a profound meditation and a kind of otherness, when it comes to the lives and the rights of animals.
I still don't think this was as good as Waiting for the Barbarians, but on the whole I was impressed.
Cape Town lecturer David Lurie, on whom Coetzee visits a contemporary catalogue of humiliations, is a fairly average, twice-married, fiftysomething, who, accused of sexual misconduct with one of his students (he the bear, she the honeypot) chooses not to defend himself but rather to suffer his fate with a noble, slightly grumpy, stoicism. In his mind, Lurie has committed no offence; he prefers to get fired and suffer the disgrace than endure a politically correct process of rehabilitation.
Once the scenery changes by him going to the country to live with his daughter Lucy, and address the meaning of this self-inflicted injunction, It鈥檚 here that Disgrace, moved up a gear or too and began seriously to engage with the aftermath of apartheid. A feeling of hope started to settle in, before it was suddenly ripped away, the prospect of stability is replaced by the fact that the conflicts of South Africa will never truly go away.
Disgrace finishes quickly with the question of judgment; its real interest lies in what comes after, when all one's days are stamped with the word of its title. And the way the novel develops suggests that it is perhaps Coetzee, despite his resistance to a historically conditioned realism, who has the more deeply political mind. Lurie is an ironic man, but Coetzee's own irony has a surgical precision that slices through and beyond and around the character's own. The novel stands out for the way in which the writer's use of the present tense is in itself enough to shape the structure and form of the book as a whole. Even though it presents an almost unrelieved series of grim moments, where one could feel bogged down with a claustrophobic or depressing feeling, it actually works more for it's sublime exhilaration. Also it's impossible not to mention the dogs, Something I will only touch on, not go into, there is a profound meditation and a kind of otherness, when it comes to the lives and the rights of animals.
I still don't think this was as good as Waiting for the Barbarians, but on the whole I was impressed.
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April 4, 2022
J. M. Coetzee鈥檚 Disgrace is a harrowing-and-haunting novel about the human (im)possibility to live honourably; to be allowed the very experience of honour and dignity. As opposed to being, rather, buried alive in humiliation; disgraced, utterly and ruthlessly; deprived, therefore, of humanness. It tirelessly circuits around questions of morality, pondering what it might mean for a human being to be in the throes of passions or subjected to extraneous power 鈥� a human being become a lonesome figure; an outsider, at the mercy of the grand narrative of history.
David Lurie, Communications professor at Cape Town Technical University, and his removed-from-society, self-sufficient daughter, Lucy, could not be seemingly more different from one another; separate in their ways of life and vision of the world. It could be said that they represent the double movement of this novel, between city and country, the old and the new. David 鈥� if the incipit is any indication to go by 鈥� is taken by his preoccupation with finding a solution for his sexual needs. At 52, he thought he had found it: his wholesome routine encounters with his prostitute-lover, Soraya. But her unaccounted for disappearance suggests otherwise, and the unbearable blankness resulting from this absence unsettles him profoundly. It feels almost fatal 鈥� in both meanings of the term: fateful and ruinous 鈥� that he should thus find himself having to re-orient his deep desires, electing 20-year-old Melanie, his student, as the pined for object of his desire. Needless to say that the situation degenerates all too rapidly. And upon being dismissed, he decides to visit his daughter Lucy, who lives just outside of Salem and shares her land with Petrus, emblem of the new rising power in post-apartheid South Africa. What suddenly and shockingly happens to David and Lucy 鈥� this one day, one day like any other 鈥� changes everything. And the life Lucy had assiduously built for herself 鈥� and her dogs 鈥� comes crashing down, with no real possibility for restoration鈥�
狈补产辞办辞惫鈥檚 Lolita was surely at the back of Coetzee鈥檚 mind, in the writing of Disgrace. David Lurie stands for 鈥榯he rights of desire鈥�, driven as he is 鈥� much like Humbert 鈥� by the 鈥榣ogic of passion鈥�; a 鈥榤oral dinosaur鈥� in the eyes of the committee gathered at his dismissal hearing. Defined, also, as 鈥榓 great self-deceiver鈥�, with dire implications for the unfolding of his own life-narrative. His post-religiousness and 鈥榯errible irony鈥�, coupled with his tendency to act on impulse rather than principle, transform him into an unpleasant and unloveable monster 鈥榗ondemned to solitude鈥�. At the same time, the pseudo-lawful proceedings of the hearing itself operate in line with an extended commentary on moral righteousness. It turns out that more than a confession 鈥� where he is only able to deliver 鈥榓 secular plea鈥� 鈥� is expected of him. Indeed, the committee refuses to actually hear what he has to say. The representatives are merely interested in determining whether he is truly repentant, in the Christian sense of the term that is also constitutive of a more general, puritanical system of belief. The hearing thus transforms into a quixotic scene, with David standing his ground. Judged to be a Casanova unwilling to even feign repentance, he is marginalised accordingly.
The one solid claim that David Lurie seems to be making throughout the novel, further confirmed through the later confrontation with Melanie鈥檚 father, is that there is something all-too-human about desire; about finding oneself, almost irresistibly, 鈥榠n the grip of something鈥�. His attempts to rationalise 鈥� 鈥榃hat is far, what is too far, in a matter like this?鈥� 鈥� or legitimise his actions by proclaiming himself to be Eros鈥檚 servant 鈥� 鈥榃hat vanity! Yet not a lie, not entirely.鈥� 鈥� all seem to fall short, not quite exposing, or fully articulating, the extent to which being caught by the 鈥榓nxious flurry of promiscuity鈥� is also and ultimately a 鈥榖urden鈥�; a site of conflict.
Alongside the references to Emma Bovary 鈥� the emblem of unbridled passion 鈥� much of the novel鈥檚 metacommentary operates through a poetic vein, in the light of the protagonist鈥檚 scholarly study of Romantic poets, Wordsworth and Byron in particular. Taking the lead from one of Wordsworth鈥檚 poems, David comments 鈥� during one of his lectures 鈥� that one ought not to 鈥榗ondemn this being with the mad heart鈥� but to 鈥榰nderstand and sympathise鈥�, within certain limits. Limits that are compulsively questioned throughout the novel, to the point where David confesses that he is hard put to consider these Romantic poets of his as decent guides in matters of life. There is also the fact that he is working on a long-term project that sees Byron and his mistress Teresa as protagonists of an opera. The shifting of moods, and the radical modifications he applies to his opera, as well as the struggle to make something of the 鈥榝ragments鈥� that come to him from time to time, are an added layer to this underlying preoccupation with the concept of being; with understanding the nature of one鈥檚 passions and desires, and working through them. Ultimately he realises that his need for sex is of a less passionate order. When he has sex with a young woman passing by 鈥� after a relatively long period of abstention 鈥� he comments: 鈥�So that is all it takes! How could I ever have forgotten it? Not a bad man but not good either鈥�, though evidently 鈥榣acking in fire鈥�. As it seems, his temperament is more attuned to unsentimental sex 鈥� 鈥榓 moderate bliss, a moderated bliss鈥�.
And yet what haunts him (and his immersion in Lucy鈥檚 world defines his deep-rooted apprehensions all the more starkly) is the thought 鈥� absurd in that it strips humanity of its dignity 鈥� of being brought to hate one鈥檚 own nature, whatever that might mean. In a highly revealing parallelism between humans and dogs, David relates the story of a dog being relentlessly reprimanded by its master, and rhetorically questions whether it is not in itself 鈥榠gnoble鈥� and disgraceful that the dog should develop a self-hating instinct, and is 鈥榬eady to punish itself鈥� for simply being what it is in its nature to be. It is no coincidence that dogs dominate the backdrop of this novel, and that the fate of humanity and dogs becomes intertwined on a very deep level. Indeed, David ends up assisting Bev with extinguishing the lives of the too-many dogs that show up at the small shelter on a daily basis 鈥� either because unwanted by their owners, heavily injured, or disabled in one way or another. On his part, he insists on giving them an honourable death. But the overpowering violence of the land turns the incinerator 鈥� the object that annihilates the dogs, forever 鈥� into the governing god of this new world in-the-making. Inescapable, for man and dog, alike.
The levels of extraneously-imposed hatred, leading up to rape, confound this framework even further. What is so tremendously shocking about what happens to Lucy on her own land is that she experiences the full force of being a non-entity, divested of her right to life and dignity. In an early meta-passage, David lingers on the meanings of 鈥榰surp鈥�:鈥�usurp upon means to intrude or encroach upon. Usurp, to take over entirely鈥�. This is 鈥� in a nutshell 鈥� the nature of the power shifts at work in the novel, the rift between black and white. 鈥楢 history of wrong鈥� that cannot be made right, it seems. Rather, hatred seems to be appropriated by the previously subjugated people, and the 鈥榳rongs of the past鈥� thus perpetuated, with the respective roles merely reversed. This is made clear especially when Petrus, who has been progressively taking over Lucy鈥檚 land and possessions, refuses to send away one of the young men who violated Lucy, on the grounds that he is 鈥榦ne of them鈥�. David realises: 鈥楽o that is it. No more lies. My people. As naked an answer as he could wish.鈥� Lucy 鈥� humiliated, subjugated, disgraced, and exiled from her own land 鈥� is adamant about staying put, however. She appears to take upon herself the sheer weight of historical wrongs, and insists on wanting to be a good citizen on the one hand, and on holding on to her individual right to lead the life she wants to lead, on the other. Lucy wonders, in fact:
The questions, it seems, keep piling up, becoming more complex and convoluted. To what extent is what David did to Melanie different 鈥� or substantially so 鈥� from what the three countrymen did to Lucy? Is it that the narrative perspective itself 鈥� in privileging David鈥檚 viewpoint 鈥� comes to reflect the tensions and the impenetrable divide between them and the others? In this novel, Coetzee delineates an unforgiving land that knows only the language of violence, coarseness, domination, vengeance. A dry aridness with something of the unfathomable about it.
This changing reality is indistinct, uncertain, as yet unknown and unknowable. And Coetzee鈥檚 meticulous attention to language and the meaning of words, as well as his sober, plain and fairly laconic prose, conjointly strive to present and articulate some understanding of this chilling landscape; to keep despair at bay.
***
4.5 solid stars.
It is no wonder that Coetzee won his first Booker Prize in 1999 precisely with this incalculably complex and powerful novel. And that it was followed by the Nobel Prize in 2003.
Disgrace is a remarkably perturbing novel. It dismantles many an illusion, reveals the nothingness beneath 鈥� and leaves us, where, exactly? Nowhere, I would say. Or perhaps, bereft: disgraced in our adriftness, or dignified in our inarticulate understanding of disgrace as a 鈥榮tate of being鈥� synonymous with the 鈥榙esert鈥� of life, figuratively and non-figuratively. Humanity, like dogs, destined to all-encompassing desolation, flung out in the 鈥榳ilderness鈥�, caught in the 鈥榲ast circulatory system鈥�, or the incinerator, with no means of escape.
Edward Hopper
David Lurie, Communications professor at Cape Town Technical University, and his removed-from-society, self-sufficient daughter, Lucy, could not be seemingly more different from one another; separate in their ways of life and vision of the world. It could be said that they represent the double movement of this novel, between city and country, the old and the new. David 鈥� if the incipit is any indication to go by 鈥� is taken by his preoccupation with finding a solution for his sexual needs. At 52, he thought he had found it: his wholesome routine encounters with his prostitute-lover, Soraya. But her unaccounted for disappearance suggests otherwise, and the unbearable blankness resulting from this absence unsettles him profoundly. It feels almost fatal 鈥� in both meanings of the term: fateful and ruinous 鈥� that he should thus find himself having to re-orient his deep desires, electing 20-year-old Melanie, his student, as the pined for object of his desire. Needless to say that the situation degenerates all too rapidly. And upon being dismissed, he decides to visit his daughter Lucy, who lives just outside of Salem and shares her land with Petrus, emblem of the new rising power in post-apartheid South Africa. What suddenly and shockingly happens to David and Lucy 鈥� this one day, one day like any other 鈥� changes everything. And the life Lucy had assiduously built for herself 鈥� and her dogs 鈥� comes crashing down, with no real possibility for restoration鈥�
狈补产辞办辞惫鈥檚 Lolita was surely at the back of Coetzee鈥檚 mind, in the writing of Disgrace. David Lurie stands for 鈥榯he rights of desire鈥�, driven as he is 鈥� much like Humbert 鈥� by the 鈥榣ogic of passion鈥�; a 鈥榤oral dinosaur鈥� in the eyes of the committee gathered at his dismissal hearing. Defined, also, as 鈥榓 great self-deceiver鈥�, with dire implications for the unfolding of his own life-narrative. His post-religiousness and 鈥榯errible irony鈥�, coupled with his tendency to act on impulse rather than principle, transform him into an unpleasant and unloveable monster 鈥榗ondemned to solitude鈥�. At the same time, the pseudo-lawful proceedings of the hearing itself operate in line with an extended commentary on moral righteousness. It turns out that more than a confession 鈥� where he is only able to deliver 鈥榓 secular plea鈥� 鈥� is expected of him. Indeed, the committee refuses to actually hear what he has to say. The representatives are merely interested in determining whether he is truly repentant, in the Christian sense of the term that is also constitutive of a more general, puritanical system of belief. The hearing thus transforms into a quixotic scene, with David standing his ground. Judged to be a Casanova unwilling to even feign repentance, he is marginalised accordingly.
The one solid claim that David Lurie seems to be making throughout the novel, further confirmed through the later confrontation with Melanie鈥檚 father, is that there is something all-too-human about desire; about finding oneself, almost irresistibly, 鈥榠n the grip of something鈥�. His attempts to rationalise 鈥� 鈥榃hat is far, what is too far, in a matter like this?鈥� 鈥� or legitimise his actions by proclaiming himself to be Eros鈥檚 servant 鈥� 鈥榃hat vanity! Yet not a lie, not entirely.鈥� 鈥� all seem to fall short, not quite exposing, or fully articulating, the extent to which being caught by the 鈥榓nxious flurry of promiscuity鈥� is also and ultimately a 鈥榖urden鈥�; a site of conflict.
鈥�No more than a child! What am I doing? Yet his heart lurches with desire.鈥�
Alongside the references to Emma Bovary 鈥� the emblem of unbridled passion 鈥� much of the novel鈥檚 metacommentary operates through a poetic vein, in the light of the protagonist鈥檚 scholarly study of Romantic poets, Wordsworth and Byron in particular. Taking the lead from one of Wordsworth鈥檚 poems, David comments 鈥� during one of his lectures 鈥� that one ought not to 鈥榗ondemn this being with the mad heart鈥� but to 鈥榰nderstand and sympathise鈥�, within certain limits. Limits that are compulsively questioned throughout the novel, to the point where David confesses that he is hard put to consider these Romantic poets of his as decent guides in matters of life. There is also the fact that he is working on a long-term project that sees Byron and his mistress Teresa as protagonists of an opera. The shifting of moods, and the radical modifications he applies to his opera, as well as the struggle to make something of the 鈥榝ragments鈥� that come to him from time to time, are an added layer to this underlying preoccupation with the concept of being; with understanding the nature of one鈥檚 passions and desires, and working through them. Ultimately he realises that his need for sex is of a less passionate order. When he has sex with a young woman passing by 鈥� after a relatively long period of abstention 鈥� he comments: 鈥�So that is all it takes! How could I ever have forgotten it? Not a bad man but not good either鈥�, though evidently 鈥榣acking in fire鈥�. As it seems, his temperament is more attuned to unsentimental sex 鈥� 鈥榓 moderate bliss, a moderated bliss鈥�.
And yet what haunts him (and his immersion in Lucy鈥檚 world defines his deep-rooted apprehensions all the more starkly) is the thought 鈥� absurd in that it strips humanity of its dignity 鈥� of being brought to hate one鈥檚 own nature, whatever that might mean. In a highly revealing parallelism between humans and dogs, David relates the story of a dog being relentlessly reprimanded by its master, and rhetorically questions whether it is not in itself 鈥榠gnoble鈥� and disgraceful that the dog should develop a self-hating instinct, and is 鈥榬eady to punish itself鈥� for simply being what it is in its nature to be. It is no coincidence that dogs dominate the backdrop of this novel, and that the fate of humanity and dogs becomes intertwined on a very deep level. Indeed, David ends up assisting Bev with extinguishing the lives of the too-many dogs that show up at the small shelter on a daily basis 鈥� either because unwanted by their owners, heavily injured, or disabled in one way or another. On his part, he insists on giving them an honourable death. But the overpowering violence of the land turns the incinerator 鈥� the object that annihilates the dogs, forever 鈥� into the governing god of this new world in-the-making. Inescapable, for man and dog, alike.
The levels of extraneously-imposed hatred, leading up to rape, confound this framework even further. What is so tremendously shocking about what happens to Lucy on her own land is that she experiences the full force of being a non-entity, divested of her right to life and dignity. In an early meta-passage, David lingers on the meanings of 鈥榰surp鈥�:鈥�usurp upon means to intrude or encroach upon. Usurp, to take over entirely鈥�. This is 鈥� in a nutshell 鈥� the nature of the power shifts at work in the novel, the rift between black and white. 鈥楢 history of wrong鈥� that cannot be made right, it seems. Rather, hatred seems to be appropriated by the previously subjugated people, and the 鈥榳rongs of the past鈥� thus perpetuated, with the respective roles merely reversed. This is made clear especially when Petrus, who has been progressively taking over Lucy鈥檚 land and possessions, refuses to send away one of the young men who violated Lucy, on the grounds that he is 鈥榦ne of them鈥�. David realises: 鈥楽o that is it. No more lies. My people. As naked an answer as he could wish.鈥� Lucy 鈥� humiliated, subjugated, disgraced, and exiled from her own land 鈥� is adamant about staying put, however. She appears to take upon herself the sheer weight of historical wrongs, and insists on wanting to be a good citizen on the one hand, and on holding on to her individual right to lead the life she wants to lead, on the other. Lucy wonders, in fact:
鈥榃hat if鈥hat if that is the price one has to pay for staying on? Perhaps that is how I should look at it too. They see me as owing something.鈥�
The questions, it seems, keep piling up, becoming more complex and convoluted. To what extent is what David did to Melanie different 鈥� or substantially so 鈥� from what the three countrymen did to Lucy? Is it that the narrative perspective itself 鈥� in privileging David鈥檚 viewpoint 鈥� comes to reflect the tensions and the impenetrable divide between them and the others? In this novel, Coetzee delineates an unforgiving land that knows only the language of violence, coarseness, domination, vengeance. A dry aridness with something of the unfathomable about it.
鈥楳ore and more he is convinced that English is an unfit medium for the truth of South Africa. Stretches of English code whole sentences long have thickened, lost their articulations, their articulateness, their articulatedness.鈥�
This changing reality is indistinct, uncertain, as yet unknown and unknowable. And Coetzee鈥檚 meticulous attention to language and the meaning of words, as well as his sober, plain and fairly laconic prose, conjointly strive to present and articulate some understanding of this chilling landscape; to keep despair at bay.
***
4.5 solid stars.
It is no wonder that Coetzee won his first Booker Prize in 1999 precisely with this incalculably complex and powerful novel. And that it was followed by the Nobel Prize in 2003.
Disgrace is a remarkably perturbing novel. It dismantles many an illusion, reveals the nothingness beneath 鈥� and leaves us, where, exactly? Nowhere, I would say. Or perhaps, bereft: disgraced in our adriftness, or dignified in our inarticulate understanding of disgrace as a 鈥榮tate of being鈥� synonymous with the 鈥榙esert鈥� of life, figuratively and non-figuratively. Humanity, like dogs, destined to all-encompassing desolation, flung out in the 鈥榳ilderness鈥�, caught in the 鈥榲ast circulatory system鈥�, or the incinerator, with no means of escape.
Edward Hopper
January 3, 2014
Although I did enjoy elements of this book and found it to be both symbolically rich and multi-dimensional, I could not look past the silencing of women's voices.
The whole story rotates around the rapes of two women: David Lurie's rape of Melanie and his daughter, Lucy's, rape at the hands of three criminals who invade her home and attack her. Yet, there are few moments where women discuss their own rapes - Lucy refuses to do so, given only a few lines of dialogue to describe what happened to her and how it is she feels; Melanie's testimony silenced, due to David Lurie's decision not to read her statement. I understand the creation of a character like David Lurie and the reasons he would choose not to read such a statement or to avoid acknowledging his own complicity in such behaviour - I also acknowledge Coetzee's attempts to rectify such culpability with Lucy's dialogue "Maybe, for men, hating the woman makes sex more exciting. You are a man, you ought to know" - Here the reader and David Lurie himself are made painfully aware of his own complicity in committing the same atrocity against another human being. But Melanie's story is never heard, her words are never given the same respect as David's, or as Lucy's, which holds both gendered and racial weight within this story. In fact, the rape of Lucy becomes more of a political metaphor for post-Apartheid politics : "a history of wrong. Think of it that way, if it helps. It may have seemed personal but it wasn't. It came down from the ancestors. Women's experiences and voices, here, become metaphors for the redistribution of land and property in the wake of the apartheid ere, with Lucy's rape aligned with Petrus' desire to take her land. In the end, it is Petrus' complicity in the rape, Lucy's pregnancy, that allow him to take control of her, to demand that she "marry" him and hand over her land, in return for his "protection." Lucy becomes isolated, within the domestic sphere, and Coetzee does nothing to rectify this, to question this, to philosophise on what this means.
In fact, throughout the story Coetzee's descriptions of women, through David Lurie's eyes, leave little to be desired. He describes his daughter's breasts and buttocks as "ample," he describes Bev as a woman who "make[s] little effort to look attractive," and despite the fact that this is an element of David Lurie's character, there is little to redeem Coetzee's presentation of women. David Lurie's epiphany at the end of the novel is to reassert his own use of the word "enrinched," to reinforce the idea that the women in his life have enriched him. He says nothing of their pleasures, their desires, their humanity, it is their impact upon his life that is important to David, they have enriched him "even the least of him, even the failures," even plain women like Bev have had an impact on his life, regardless of their own humanity.
The problem with this representation, isn't the characterisation of the abhorrent David Lurie but the complicity of Coetzee in this attitude. Lucy tells her father that she is not a "minor" character within his life, he is not the major player and she simply a character in his story, she has her own life, desires, thoughts, feelings. Yet, Coetzee doesn't let us see these, he characterises Lucy as just this, a secondary player in David Lurie's story, and moreso, in the story of South Africa. Her body, and the body of the silenced Melanie, become terrain over which men battle - David and Petrus battle over his daughter's body, while she fights to retain control but doesn't ever really manage it. Coetzee returns to the trope of "virgin" terrain - emphasising this through Lucy's sexual orientation "no wonder they are so vehement against rape, she and Helen. Rape, god of chaos and mixture, violator of seclusions. Raping a lesbian worse than raping a virgin: more of a blow." Here, Lucy's sexuality becomes a modern interpretation of "virgin" soil. SHe is a lesbian, untouched by men, has "no need of men," but has been trespassed upon - these men have taken her territory, she has become the virgin soil of colonialist tropes - her body representative of the land that Petrus, and the other Black South Africans in the post-apartheid world - want to take ownership over, want to dominate.
Coetzee doesn't rectify this idea. He uses women's body to create an image of South African in the post-apartheid setting; he returns to the "virgin soil" trope and reminds his readers that women's bodies, objects, clothing, land, are all property to be taken, to be damaged, to be dominated by the men of the world. He uses David's rape of Melanie to mirror Lucy's rape, to draw attention to the racial differences and similarities, that both Lucy's rapists and David are attempting to dominate women's bodies, to dominate the land. Yet he doesn't give women voices; the women are silenced by the men's attempts and domination and, in the end, men speak for both Lucy and Melanie and Coetzee himself takes no efforts to free them from this bond.
The conclusion to this critique could easily be summed up through Coetzee's own words, that come through David when he is contemplating his daughter's rape, "he can, if he concentrates, if he loses himself, be the men, inhabit them, fill them with the ghost of himself. The question is, does he have it in him to be the woman?" David doesn't wonder if he can put himself in his daughter's place, empathise with her feelings as a victim, he asks if he can be the woman, if he can put himself in the shoes of a woman and understand her experiences, as a general contemplation. He can imagine being a rapist, a violent one at that, but he can't imagine being violated, being the victim, being a woman, in general - in all that being a woman represents. I would argue, that this line sums up Coetzee's own position within this novel. He can describe a rapist, he can understand a rape, he can present the internal monologue of a man both raping and dealing with the rape of someone he loves, but he can't, he doesn't have it in him, to be the woman. It is enlightening that David eventually is able to write as a woman, through his Opera, which develops through the voice of Theresa, Byron's lover, but Coetzee himself fails to do this - he doesn't ever give Melanie a voice, or Lucy enough of one. He remains unable to "be the woman," to see his story through another's eyes. Instead, it is through his, Coetzee, the white South African's eyes, we see this story and we see this battle. His terrain and his story is the body of women, but women are merely that, terrain, land, property, voiceless and dominated, and the whole thing left a bitter taste in my mouth.
January 6, 2020
Some novelists can work comic relief into the most heart-wrenching dramas. See , , to mention a few. The light moments help provide greater contrast when things turn black. knew that well. But Coetzee is absolutely dead humorless. That said, this is a story that should resonate well in our #metoo era. Our narrator, a twice divorced middle-aged man, a Cape Town professor, bangs one of his students who then files a complaint with the college. I knew a professor like this; but a blind eye was turned to such matters then. It鈥檚 hard now to believe such a time ever existed, but it did. One wonders what the upshot will be long term? Will we live in this constant din of accusation, or will the hounds eventually be dissuaded by rule of law? Please read Sigrid Nunez鈥檚 fabulous novel for more on how our culture has been warped by #metoo. She cites this particular Coetzee novel a number of times.
鈥淎fter a certain age one is simply no longer appealing, and that鈥檚 that. One just has to buckle down and live out the rest of one鈥檚 life. Serve one鈥檚 time鈥� (p. 67) says the 52-year-old narrator. When called on the carpet by colleagues he refuses to make any written expression of remorse, and he refuses 鈥渃ounseling,鈥� which he likens to Maoist re-education. He leaves Cape Town and drives into the countryside to visit his daughter on her farm. Soon they are brutalized by black men. The daughter is raped. So how does what the professor did differ from what his assailants did? The question hangs in the air. The apartheid legacy is plumbed. The daughter, who refuses to leave her farm, says 鈥淲hat if that [rape] is the price one has to pay for staying on? Perhaps that is how they look at it ; perhaps that is how I should look at it too. They see me as owing something. They see themselves as a debt collectors, tax collectors. Why should I be allowed to live here without paying? Perhaps that is what they tell themselves.鈥� (p. 158)
There鈥檚 so much here I haven鈥檛 addressed. Like the narrator鈥檚 work in a local animal shelter, or his apology to the parents of the student he鈥檚 seduced, or his conversations with his deeply bitter ex-wife, Lucy鈥檚 mother, or the return to Lucy鈥檚 farm of one of her rapists. . . . The characters are flawed: angry, beneficent, cruel, complaisant. These attributes are like serrations on a knife that give the story purchase in one鈥檚 mind. I will re-read this one. I don鈥檛 think I could forget it if I tried.
鈥淎fter a certain age one is simply no longer appealing, and that鈥檚 that. One just has to buckle down and live out the rest of one鈥檚 life. Serve one鈥檚 time鈥� (p. 67) says the 52-year-old narrator. When called on the carpet by colleagues he refuses to make any written expression of remorse, and he refuses 鈥渃ounseling,鈥� which he likens to Maoist re-education. He leaves Cape Town and drives into the countryside to visit his daughter on her farm. Soon they are brutalized by black men. The daughter is raped. So how does what the professor did differ from what his assailants did? The question hangs in the air. The apartheid legacy is plumbed. The daughter, who refuses to leave her farm, says 鈥淲hat if that [rape] is the price one has to pay for staying on? Perhaps that is how they look at it ; perhaps that is how I should look at it too. They see me as owing something. They see themselves as a debt collectors, tax collectors. Why should I be allowed to live here without paying? Perhaps that is what they tell themselves.鈥� (p. 158)
There鈥檚 so much here I haven鈥檛 addressed. Like the narrator鈥檚 work in a local animal shelter, or his apology to the parents of the student he鈥檚 seduced, or his conversations with his deeply bitter ex-wife, Lucy鈥檚 mother, or the return to Lucy鈥檚 farm of one of her rapists. . . . The characters are flawed: angry, beneficent, cruel, complaisant. These attributes are like serrations on a knife that give the story purchase in one鈥檚 mind. I will re-read this one. I don鈥檛 think I could forget it if I tried.
March 26, 2020
Humiliation
J.M. Coetzee's book, Disgrace, provides a few very challenging topics. The main protagonist, David Lurie, bitterly resigns his academic position at the Univerity of Cape Town after an affair with a student. The relationship ethics of teacher-student is confronted when David refuses to apologise publicly for what he considered a consensual adult relationship. What runs deeper than this misjudged affair, is David's perspective on women, and with 2 failed marriages behind him, it reveals his disrespectful and disconnected attitude towards females. Coetzee is just a marvel at how he creates a character with multiple-layered traits that show the complexity of a person as their persona swings between black and white.
David then moves to his daughter Lucy's farm, in remote South Africa during the political changes with the black population transitioning into control. During the initial period, there is a hope that David starts to rectify his behaviour and outlook on women and life. The relationship with his daughter seems to be improving from previous encounters. Life isn't going to be that simple and as a white landowner, they are attacked on their land and racial issues and personal tensions are brought to the boil again. Old problems regarding the father-daughter relationship come through and place considerable stress on the home.
The writing is wonderful as it stirs emotions, some unpleasant, disagreeable and difficult to come to terms with. This is a deep look into a character and his interactions with women, and it explores the powerful prejudices some people hold.
The imagery of South Africa is excellent and the atmosphere during that period is wonderfully drawn. I would recommend this book.
J.M. Coetzee's book, Disgrace, provides a few very challenging topics. The main protagonist, David Lurie, bitterly resigns his academic position at the Univerity of Cape Town after an affair with a student. The relationship ethics of teacher-student is confronted when David refuses to apologise publicly for what he considered a consensual adult relationship. What runs deeper than this misjudged affair, is David's perspective on women, and with 2 failed marriages behind him, it reveals his disrespectful and disconnected attitude towards females. Coetzee is just a marvel at how he creates a character with multiple-layered traits that show the complexity of a person as their persona swings between black and white.
David then moves to his daughter Lucy's farm, in remote South Africa during the political changes with the black population transitioning into control. During the initial period, there is a hope that David starts to rectify his behaviour and outlook on women and life. The relationship with his daughter seems to be improving from previous encounters. Life isn't going to be that simple and as a white landowner, they are attacked on their land and racial issues and personal tensions are brought to the boil again. Old problems regarding the father-daughter relationship come through and place considerable stress on the home.
The writing is wonderful as it stirs emotions, some unpleasant, disagreeable and difficult to come to terms with. This is a deep look into a character and his interactions with women, and it explores the powerful prejudices some people hold.
The imagery of South Africa is excellent and the atmosphere during that period is wonderfully drawn. I would recommend this book.
August 4, 2013
Brace yourself to meet Professor David Lurie, banished son of the Romantic Poets, he roves and loves, spreading his unfertile seed unapologetically.
Byronic in his burning desire to possess female bodies, he doesn鈥檛 crave for their souls, it is the release of the flesh, the ecstasy of the unloved that he is after.
Fifty-two year old David seeks only his own pleasure and succumbs to his instincts as the true womanizer he is, or as he calls himself a lover of women, paying homage to Wordsworth in nurturing his true nature, embracing its mystery, arising as the dutiful Don Juan.
David feels satisfied combining this quiet life of debauchery with his comfortable post as a teacher at Cape Town University, but when his old age starts pressing on him, casting a shadow to his virile charms, he seeks for rejuvenation in lusting over one of his young students. Taking advantage of his position and blinded by his heated obsession, he recklessly pursues the young girl until she yields to his unrelenting demands.
When the affair is brought to light, David rejects all kind of moral compromise and, adopting a pose built on vanity and self-righteousness, he self-expels himself from the University.
"I am not prepared to be reformed. I want to go on being myself", he unflinchingly says to his daughter Lucy, whom he visits in her faraway farm until the scandal in Cape Town subsides.
A despicable character, indeed.
Or isn鈥檛 it?
This is the real beginning of David Lurie鈥檚 story. The starting point of a transcendental journey, which will change, not Lurie鈥檚 nature but the way he understands life, death and history.
For his lesbian daughter Lucy is everything he is not, a sturdy countrywoman who runs a farm and a kennel in a foreign land, an idealist with a not yet fired gun for protection, a forgiving soul who takes him in, without judging or questioning.
David will discover an unknown South Africa in Lucy鈥檚 rural spot, a place where his erudition and cynicism are worthless, a terrible place where a new order is being consolidated amidst brutish racial conflict, a territory whose implacable rules transcend what鈥檚 merely human. Lucy will pay a dear price for the sake of history, only to become David鈥檚 scapegoat, leaving no path for redemption.
Coetzee intertwines subjects such as the suffering and the dignity of animals with the mute and inescapable violence of his homeland, presenting challenging questions to the reader. What kind of mercy can animals expect from human beings who kill each other because of their race, their gender, or simply for random pleasure? How is it possible for people to achieve mutual respect if they can鈥檛 treat animals that feed them with the dignity they deserve?
The suffering of animals, the suffering of human beings: a sublime game of two-way mirrors.
Coetzee鈥檚 mirrors, capable of deforming his characters until the reader can see them for what they really are, reflect, from a myriad of kaleidoscopic angles, the central idea of the novel: the concept of Disgrace.
David Lurie, the cult seducer, disgraced in his old age and remorse.
His daughter Lucy, the white independent woman, disgraced in losing her status in a world where racial conflict has turned over the social order through injustice and cruelty. Humiliation and shame become Lucy鈥檚 new home in penance for the burden of history.
South Africa, a wealthy country and the future of Africa, disgraced with its harrowing violence and misery.
Coetzee鈥檚 final coupe de gr芒ce relays in the way he weaves his dry, detached tone and unadorned narrative style with the lyrical closing chapters, in which David tries to recover his existential balance through the process of writing an opera based on the decaying affair of Lord Byron and his mistress Teresa. The voice of the dead poet mingles with David鈥檚, and a phantasmagorical chant roams dolefully throughout South Africa, accompanying his descend to the abyss.
This crude novel won鈥檛 offer redeeming answers. But one can recover some dignity in resigned acceptance, as David does when his thoughts meddle with Yeats鈥檚 poem:
鈥淗e sighs. The young in one another's arms heedless, engrossed in the sensual music. No country, this, for old men.鈥�
Old men, like Professor David Lurie, don鈥檛 have it in their core to adjust to change, to adapt to a new imposed reality. Their only aspiration is that of a decent death. In finding someone merciful enough to give a lethal shot while they are soothed and caressed, only to be put in a plastic bag and later be consumed by the fire of an industrial oven. What鈥檚 important is to make sure they don鈥檛 suffer any more than what鈥檚 strictly necessary, it doesn鈥檛 matter whether they are animals or human beings, when their souls are finally sucked away and gone in a gush of dark smoke.
"That is no country for old men. The young
In one another's arms, birds in the trees
- Those dying generations - at their song,
The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas,
Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long
Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.
Caught in that sensual music all neglect
Monuments of unageing intellect.
An aged man is but a paltry thing,
A tattered coat upon a stick, unless
Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing
For every tatter in its mortal dress,
Nor is there singing school but studying
Monuments of its own magnificence;
And therefore I have sailed the seas and come
To the holy city of Byzantium.
O sages standing in God's holy fire
As in the gold mosaic of a wall,
Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre,
And be the singing-masters of my soul.
Consume my heart away; sick with desire
And fastened to a dying animal
It knows not what it is; and gather me
Into the artifice of eternity.
Once out of nature I shall never take
My bodily form from any natural thing,
But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make
Of hammered gold and gold enamelling
To keep a drowsy Emperor awake;
Or set upon a golden bough to sing
To lords and ladies of Byzantium
Of what is past, or passing, or to come.鈥�
William Butler Yeats
Byronic in his burning desire to possess female bodies, he doesn鈥檛 crave for their souls, it is the release of the flesh, the ecstasy of the unloved that he is after.
Fifty-two year old David seeks only his own pleasure and succumbs to his instincts as the true womanizer he is, or as he calls himself a lover of women, paying homage to Wordsworth in nurturing his true nature, embracing its mystery, arising as the dutiful Don Juan.
David feels satisfied combining this quiet life of debauchery with his comfortable post as a teacher at Cape Town University, but when his old age starts pressing on him, casting a shadow to his virile charms, he seeks for rejuvenation in lusting over one of his young students. Taking advantage of his position and blinded by his heated obsession, he recklessly pursues the young girl until she yields to his unrelenting demands.
When the affair is brought to light, David rejects all kind of moral compromise and, adopting a pose built on vanity and self-righteousness, he self-expels himself from the University.
"I am not prepared to be reformed. I want to go on being myself", he unflinchingly says to his daughter Lucy, whom he visits in her faraway farm until the scandal in Cape Town subsides.
A despicable character, indeed.
Or isn鈥檛 it?
This is the real beginning of David Lurie鈥檚 story. The starting point of a transcendental journey, which will change, not Lurie鈥檚 nature but the way he understands life, death and history.
For his lesbian daughter Lucy is everything he is not, a sturdy countrywoman who runs a farm and a kennel in a foreign land, an idealist with a not yet fired gun for protection, a forgiving soul who takes him in, without judging or questioning.
David will discover an unknown South Africa in Lucy鈥檚 rural spot, a place where his erudition and cynicism are worthless, a terrible place where a new order is being consolidated amidst brutish racial conflict, a territory whose implacable rules transcend what鈥檚 merely human. Lucy will pay a dear price for the sake of history, only to become David鈥檚 scapegoat, leaving no path for redemption.
Coetzee intertwines subjects such as the suffering and the dignity of animals with the mute and inescapable violence of his homeland, presenting challenging questions to the reader. What kind of mercy can animals expect from human beings who kill each other because of their race, their gender, or simply for random pleasure? How is it possible for people to achieve mutual respect if they can鈥檛 treat animals that feed them with the dignity they deserve?
The suffering of animals, the suffering of human beings: a sublime game of two-way mirrors.
Coetzee鈥檚 mirrors, capable of deforming his characters until the reader can see them for what they really are, reflect, from a myriad of kaleidoscopic angles, the central idea of the novel: the concept of Disgrace.
David Lurie, the cult seducer, disgraced in his old age and remorse.
His daughter Lucy, the white independent woman, disgraced in losing her status in a world where racial conflict has turned over the social order through injustice and cruelty. Humiliation and shame become Lucy鈥檚 new home in penance for the burden of history.
South Africa, a wealthy country and the future of Africa, disgraced with its harrowing violence and misery.
Coetzee鈥檚 final coupe de gr芒ce relays in the way he weaves his dry, detached tone and unadorned narrative style with the lyrical closing chapters, in which David tries to recover his existential balance through the process of writing an opera based on the decaying affair of Lord Byron and his mistress Teresa. The voice of the dead poet mingles with David鈥檚, and a phantasmagorical chant roams dolefully throughout South Africa, accompanying his descend to the abyss.
This crude novel won鈥檛 offer redeeming answers. But one can recover some dignity in resigned acceptance, as David does when his thoughts meddle with Yeats鈥檚 poem:
鈥淗e sighs. The young in one another's arms heedless, engrossed in the sensual music. No country, this, for old men.鈥�
Old men, like Professor David Lurie, don鈥檛 have it in their core to adjust to change, to adapt to a new imposed reality. Their only aspiration is that of a decent death. In finding someone merciful enough to give a lethal shot while they are soothed and caressed, only to be put in a plastic bag and later be consumed by the fire of an industrial oven. What鈥檚 important is to make sure they don鈥檛 suffer any more than what鈥檚 strictly necessary, it doesn鈥檛 matter whether they are animals or human beings, when their souls are finally sucked away and gone in a gush of dark smoke.
"That is no country for old men. The young
In one another's arms, birds in the trees
- Those dying generations - at their song,
The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas,
Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long
Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.
Caught in that sensual music all neglect
Monuments of unageing intellect.
An aged man is but a paltry thing,
A tattered coat upon a stick, unless
Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing
For every tatter in its mortal dress,
Nor is there singing school but studying
Monuments of its own magnificence;
And therefore I have sailed the seas and come
To the holy city of Byzantium.
O sages standing in God's holy fire
As in the gold mosaic of a wall,
Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre,
And be the singing-masters of my soul.
Consume my heart away; sick with desire
And fastened to a dying animal
It knows not what it is; and gather me
Into the artifice of eternity.
Once out of nature I shall never take
My bodily form from any natural thing,
But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make
Of hammered gold and gold enamelling
To keep a drowsy Emperor awake;
Or set upon a golden bough to sing
To lords and ladies of Byzantium
Of what is past, or passing, or to come.鈥�
William Butler Yeats
April 4, 2017
When I closed on the last page of this book, I just sat in stunned silence and stared into space. I felt a little sick and lost, over affected by the sad truths it disclosed. I did not cry, but there were tears behind my eyes pricking through much of this read, and they were not tears for these characters as much as for humanity at large.
David Lurie is not a likeable person. He is short-sighted and self-centered and amazingly insensitive. So, how is it that I ended this book wishing him well? Wishing he would find the future better than the present? That Bev Shaw鈥檚 assertion that 鈥淥ne gets used to things getting harder; one ceases to be surprised that what used to be as hard as hard can be grows harder yet.鈥� will not be the truth for him always? There is a glimmer of hope growing at the end of this story that flickers like a candle flame. It might easily be blown out, but perhaps it will find a way to burn on into the future; perhaps it will save Lucy and David alike.
I have been being surprised a lot by the books I have been reading lately. I seem to have some preconceived idea about what they will entail and then find they are not that at all. This definitely falls into that category for me. I thought this was going to be about race relations in South Africa, and it is, but it is about so much more than that. It is about humanity and what unavoidable ugly choices we make, that we are not always forced into, and how we relate to others and their choices which we find completely impossible to understand. Lucy tells David that he sees her as a minor play in the story of his life, but that she believes she is at the center of her own story. And that might be the most true statement Coetzee makes. We are all the center of our own stories and everyone else is a minor player. We cannot help that. Can anyone really imagine life goes on without them? Can you think about the day after you are dead and all the people you know still getting up for breakfast and going to work...but you are not there, you do not exist? It is the hardest thing to imagine in all the world.
Huge kudos to J. M. Coetzee for tackling the big questions and weaving them into a marvelous story that grips you from beginning to end. I heartily recommend this book. I have no doubt I will be thinking about it for a long, long time.
David Lurie is not a likeable person. He is short-sighted and self-centered and amazingly insensitive. So, how is it that I ended this book wishing him well? Wishing he would find the future better than the present? That Bev Shaw鈥檚 assertion that 鈥淥ne gets used to things getting harder; one ceases to be surprised that what used to be as hard as hard can be grows harder yet.鈥� will not be the truth for him always? There is a glimmer of hope growing at the end of this story that flickers like a candle flame. It might easily be blown out, but perhaps it will find a way to burn on into the future; perhaps it will save Lucy and David alike.
I have been being surprised a lot by the books I have been reading lately. I seem to have some preconceived idea about what they will entail and then find they are not that at all. This definitely falls into that category for me. I thought this was going to be about race relations in South Africa, and it is, but it is about so much more than that. It is about humanity and what unavoidable ugly choices we make, that we are not always forced into, and how we relate to others and their choices which we find completely impossible to understand. Lucy tells David that he sees her as a minor play in the story of his life, but that she believes she is at the center of her own story. And that might be the most true statement Coetzee makes. We are all the center of our own stories and everyone else is a minor player. We cannot help that. Can anyone really imagine life goes on without them? Can you think about the day after you are dead and all the people you know still getting up for breakfast and going to work...but you are not there, you do not exist? It is the hardest thing to imagine in all the world.
Huge kudos to J. M. Coetzee for tackling the big questions and weaving them into a marvelous story that grips you from beginning to end. I heartily recommend this book. I have no doubt I will be thinking about it for a long, long time.
October 28, 2023
I live, I have lived, I lived.
I think I鈥檓 alright.
My heart is unbroken, my soul appears to be intact, my pulse seems to be normal and my eyes are dry.
Then why do I feel so spent? Why do I sense my heart is being squeezed in an invisible fist? Why do my eyes burn?
And as for my soul鈥y soul...my soul?
I was led; I followed. I arrived, I was bewitched, I wandered off and left my soul, my all, among the mountains and valleys of South Africa.
What dwelling shall receive me? in what vale
Shall be my harbour? underneath what grove
Shall I take up my home? and what clear stream
Shall with its murmur lull me into rest?
The earth is all before me. With a heart
Joyous, nor scared at its own liberty,
I look about; and should the chosen guide
Be nothing better than a wandering cloud,
I cannot miss my way. I breathe again!
-William Wordsworth (from The Prelude)
The story begins one evening.
He is walking through the college gardens and so is a young woman, a student of his. Their paths cross, words pass between them, and at that moment something happens which he cannot describe.
Suffice it to say that Eros entered.
After that day, he is not the same. He is not a fifty-two year old man any longer, but a servant of Eros.
It was a god who acted through me.
That is how it begins.
But nothing is secret that will not come to light. And so does the professor鈥檚 indiscretion.
Out of the poets I learned to love,
But life, I found is another story.
He is not a bad man but not good either. He is not cold but not hot either. He is principled and on principle refuses to defend himself.
What he lacks is hypocrisy.
Will that be the verdict on him, the verdict of the universe and its all-seeing eye?
Hence, David Lurie, disciple of William Wordsworth and a professor at the Cape Technical University is sentenced to life in disgrace.
First the sentence then the trial.
Quitting his job is easy; his students aren鈥檛 keen on learning about dead poets and archaic poetry anyway.
If he is being led, then what god is doing the leading?
So, with nothing left to lose, he decides to stay with his daughter who lives on a farm in Eastern Cape. But can he cope with the rustic life and its perils and threats?
Perhaps it does us good to have a fall every now and then. As long as we don鈥檛 break.
Can he put the past behind and begin a new life and a new existence?
And what about the shocks, vicissitudes and the unpredictables?
Can he learn to take them more lightly?
Can he learn to live again?
I think I鈥檓 alright.
My heart is unbroken, my soul appears to be intact, my pulse seems to be normal and my eyes are dry.
Then why do I feel so spent? Why do I sense my heart is being squeezed in an invisible fist? Why do my eyes burn?
And as for my soul鈥y soul...my soul?
I was led; I followed. I arrived, I was bewitched, I wandered off and left my soul, my all, among the mountains and valleys of South Africa.
What dwelling shall receive me? in what vale
Shall be my harbour? underneath what grove
Shall I take up my home? and what clear stream
Shall with its murmur lull me into rest?
The earth is all before me. With a heart
Joyous, nor scared at its own liberty,
I look about; and should the chosen guide
Be nothing better than a wandering cloud,
I cannot miss my way. I breathe again!
-William Wordsworth (from The Prelude)
The story begins one evening.
He is walking through the college gardens and so is a young woman, a student of his. Their paths cross, words pass between them, and at that moment something happens which he cannot describe.
Suffice it to say that Eros entered.
After that day, he is not the same. He is not a fifty-two year old man any longer, but a servant of Eros.
It was a god who acted through me.
That is how it begins.
But nothing is secret that will not come to light. And so does the professor鈥檚 indiscretion.
Out of the poets I learned to love,
But life, I found is another story.
He is not a bad man but not good either. He is not cold but not hot either. He is principled and on principle refuses to defend himself.
What he lacks is hypocrisy.
Will that be the verdict on him, the verdict of the universe and its all-seeing eye?
Hence, David Lurie, disciple of William Wordsworth and a professor at the Cape Technical University is sentenced to life in disgrace.
First the sentence then the trial.
Quitting his job is easy; his students aren鈥檛 keen on learning about dead poets and archaic poetry anyway.
If he is being led, then what god is doing the leading?
So, with nothing left to lose, he decides to stay with his daughter who lives on a farm in Eastern Cape. But can he cope with the rustic life and its perils and threats?
Perhaps it does us good to have a fall every now and then. As long as we don鈥檛 break.
Can he put the past behind and begin a new life and a new existence?
And what about the shocks, vicissitudes and the unpredictables?
Can he learn to take them more lightly?
Can he learn to live again?
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