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Disgrace Book

Emerging from the dissident calibrations of literary voices joined together in the culture of protest against the apartheid regime, the distinctive writing of novelist, critic and academic J M Coetzee has become identified as one of the most finely tuned among contemporary Southern African writers. From the local recognition accorded his earliest novel Dusklands to the international acclaim with which his rewriting of Defoe's Robinson Crusoe story, Foe was received, Coetzee has dedicated himself to transforming South African writing from a blunt weapon of struggle to a delicate and incisive instrument of reflective liberation. Disgrace takes as its complex central character 52-year-old English professor David Lurie whose preoccupation with Romantic poetry--and romancing his … read more...students--threatens to turn him into a "a moral dinosaur". Called to account by the University for a passionate but brief affair with a student who is ambivalent about his embraces, David refuses to apologise, drawing on poetry before what he regards as political correctness in his claim that his "case rests on the rights of desire." Seeking refuge with his quietly progressive daughter Lucie on her isolated small holding, David finds that the violent dilemmas of the new South Africa are inescapable when the tentative emotional truce between errant father and daughter is ripped apart by a traumatic event that forces Lucie to an appalling disgrace. Pitching the moral code of political correctness against the values of Romantic poetry in its evocation of personal relationships, this novel is skillful--almost cunning--in its exploration of David's refusal to be accountable and his daughter's determination to make her entire life a process of accountability. Their personal dilemmas cast increasingly foreshortened shadows against the rising concerns of the emancipated community, and become a subtle metaphor for the historical unaccountability of one culture to another. The ecstatic critical reception with which Disgrace has been received has insisted that its excellence lies in its ability to encompass the universality of the human condition. Nothing could be farther from the truth, or do the novel--and its author--a greater disservice. The real brilliance of this stylish book lies in its ability to capture and render accountable--without preaching--the specific universality of the condition of whiteness and white consciousness. Disgrace is foremost a confrontation with history that few writers would have the resources to sustain. Coetzee's vision is unforgiving--but not bleak. Against the self-piteous complaints of all declining cultures and communities who bemoan the loss of privileges that were never theirs to take, Coetzee's vision of an unredeemed white consciousness holds out--to those who reach towards an understanding of their position in history by starting again, with nothing--the possibility of "a moderate bliss." --Rachel HolmesRead More read less...

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Chris M24 June 2010
With the South African World Cup in full swing I thought it would be fitting to review a book by arguably the host nation's greatest writer and one of my favourite authors. Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee (pronounced I am informed as "cut-zee-uh") is a complex novel, intricately weaving a soul questioning story line with intuitive undertones of socio-political and racial reflection on post-apartheid South Africa. These factors are coupled with an exploration of sexuality and a moralistic appraisal of middle-age masculinity. Race is obviously one of the key issues in South Africa's turbulent modern history and taking into consideration the other factors explored in the book I think it is worthwhile to note that J. M. Coetzee is a middle-age (at time of publication) white South African male of Afrikaner descent. Born in Cape Town in 1940 Coetzee's childhood and much of his adult existence were spent living in South Africa's apartheid regime. Throughout the book it is clear that Coetzee draws on his intuitive understanding and his own personal experiences of his native South Africa. Gifted with an exceptional literary talent and an arrestingly beautiful eloquence, Coetzee bewitchingly conveys to paper a commentary on the state of a whole country, veiled in the shadow of a Booker Prize winning story...

David Lurie, a 52 year old professor of English at Cape Town University has a penchant for romantic poetry. Unfortunately for his career and his reputation his romantic inclinations consume him when he falls in love (a love all the more alarmingly born of lust) with one of his young students. A lustful creature, his weakness for heart pumping, soul stirring, life engaging romances are interestingly alluded to be conceived of a synchronous acceptance and denial of his own mortality, symbolised by his aging body and his fixed and unchangeable temperament (a mid-life crisis of sorts). Usually David is clinically romantic in the sense that he has his fling and ends it before things get too serious. He cites his two failed marriages as evidence that he is no good at relationships. This time however he is simply unable to stop himself and the romance builds a dangerous momentum, culminating in a sour ending for his life as he knows it. When the girl's parents find out about the relationship they forcibly end their daughter's involvement with David and call for the university to fire him for a gross misuse of his position of power. A tribunal is held and David reluctant to defend his actions and bemused as to why he should have to, pleads guilty to all accusations and puts the whole incident down to unstoppable human nature and the weakness of man. David's refusal to repent combined with a media frenzy forces the university's hand and our protagonist is dismissed in disgrace. Unemployed and his reputation in tatters David travels to the Eastern Cape to stay with his daughter on her small farm. For a while rural life and the company of his daughter suit him and his problems in Cape Town feel a long way away. However the dream like tranquillity of country life is soon transformed into a living nightmare as the pair fall victims of a home invasion by three young black men. His daughter raped and impregnated and himself beaten up and left bald and blistered by burns, David's life dramatically changes course for a second time. For David the horrifying events begin to bring into focus the issue of race and the much changed societal nature of post-apartheid South Africa...

Disgrace is a masterpiece as both a story and a commentary of post-apartheid South Africa, yet the lesson is universal. The book examines the excruciating scenario of a middle-aged man forced to comprehend and adapt to an evolving country at a time in his life where he believes himself too old to change. It questions human nature and the way in which we exploit each other to our own often selfish ends. It challenges our conception of disgrace and our humility in overcoming personal obstacles to forgive ourselves and gain the forgiveness of those we have wronged. Interesting and thought provoking throughout, this is one of the most intelligent yet accessible books I have ever read. Disgrace will enthrall you; challenge your own beliefs and preconceptions; and teach you a little bit about a country which despite its racial divisions of the past, has united together to bring the world a successful and exciting, distinctly African World Cup.
Amazon
A divorced, middle-aged English professor finds himself increasingly unable to resist affairs with his female students. When discovered by the college authorities he is expected to apologize to save his job, but instead he refuses and resigns, retiring to live with his daughter on her remote farm.
Foyles
The winner of the Booker Prize 1999 After years teaching Romantic poetry at the Technical University of Cape Town, David Lurie, middle-aged and twice divorced, has an impulsive affair with a student. The affair sours; and when discovered by the college authorities he is denounced and summoned before a committee of inquiry. Expected to apologise to save his job, he refuses. Whilst willing to admit his guilt, but refusing to yield to pressure to repent publicly, he resigns and retreats to his daughter Lucy's isolated smallholding. For a time, his daughter's influence and the natural rhythms of the farm promise to harmonise his discordant life. But the balance of power in the country is shifting. He and Lucy become victims of a savage and disturbing attack which brings into relief all the faultlines in their relationship.
Play
After years teaching Romantic poetry at the Technical University of Cape Town David Lurie middle-aged and twice divorced has an impulsive affair with a student. The affair sours; he is denounced and summoned before a committee of inquiry. Willing to admit his guilt but refusing to yield to pressure to repent publicly he resigns and retreats to his daughter Lucy's isolated smallholding. For a time his daughter's influence and the natural rhythms of the farm promise to harmonise his discordant life. But the balance of power in the country is shifting. He and Lucy become victims of a savage and disturbing attack which brings into relief all the faultlines in their relationship.
BookDepository
Disgrace : Paperback : Vintage Publishing : 9780099289524 : : 23 Jan 2001 : 'A great novel by one of the finest authors writing in the English language today' The Times After years teaching Romantic poetry at the Technical University of Cape Town, David Lurie, middle-aged and twice divorced, has an impulsive affair with a student.
ASDA
A divorced middle-aged English professor finds himself increasingly unable to resist affairs with his female students. When discovered by the college authorities he is expected to apologize to save his job but instead he refuses and resigns retiring to live with his daughter on her remote farm.

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Disgrace Book

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