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A quick read. Well written and cause for deep thoughts. My problem is that I really dislike the main character, Professor David Lurie. He is self centred to the point where he never seems to grasp his own 'disgrace'.

While I understand what is driving him, and can even sympathize with his basic feelings for his student, I will never be able to see him as anything but a man who uses his position as a professor to force himself sexually on a young student. I call that Rape.

From that event on in the story, I could only detest him for his ability to maintain his own narcissistic attitude in spite of what he has done. Once he has been defined as a monster, Lurie cannot undergo any transformation.

His concern for his daughter, who is much the opposite to him, never becomes enthralling , and even she, never prying for details, seems not to care what her father has done. Indeed, even those people (the males in any case) at the university tasked with judging him seem more concerned with helping him to extricate himself from the true disgrace he deserves.

There is much more to this story than my review will reveal. It is set in the South Africa after the end of apartheid. This setting establishes a shifting ground that father and daughter must adjust to. But Professor Lurie is too entangled in himself to let that story play out in my opinion.

I admit to dealing badly with sexual abuse and rape stories. But read it. I'm sure there's more there than I can see.