Book Review: J.M. Coetzee's "Disgrace"

Author: J.M. Coetzee

Copyright: 1999: First published in Great Britain by Martin Secker & Warburg 1999. First published in the United States of America by Viking Penguin. Published by Penguin Books 2000.

Other Coetzee works:

Waiting for the Barbarians

Life and Times of Michael K

ABBREVIATED BOOK REVIEW:

Coetzee has a way of writing that I find particularly appealing. He doesn't use extra words or fluff, rather he gets rights into the characters and the story. The end result is that someone like me, with a short attention span, can cruise through his book in a week. The major accomplishment by Coetzee is that his conciseness does not compromise his writing talent.

This book is set in 1990s South Africa. David Lurie is an accomplished college professor who is at a crossroads in his life. His skills have been marginalized at the university in Cape Town, he is twice-divorced, and he has a penchant for poor judgment. An ultimately bad decision to sleep with one of his students, driven by his sexually fueled "erotic" ways, burns him badly.

He is forced to leave the university in "disgrace" and decides on spending time with his daughter (Lucy) in rural South Africa, working on her farm, doing things he never imagined he would do.

After a horrific crime takes place at Lucy's house, he realizes what a sham his life has become. Although he frowns on Lucy's way of life in the dangerous outskirts of South Africa, perhaps it is in this "backwards place" that David will ultimately find a semblance of substance in himself.

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5