#58 Disgrace, by J.M. Coetzee

 



Booker Prize:  WINNER 1999

Plot Time and Place:  South Africa, late 1990's

Opening sentence: "For a man of his age, fifty-two, he has, to his mind, solved the problem of sex rather well."

Plot summary: The story follows David Lurie, a disgraced 52-year-old professor in post-apartheid Cape Town whose life collapses after an illicit affair with a student, leading him to confront profound personal and societal violence at his daughter's rural farm. 

Review:  It's a sad story, in a bleak world, with depressed and depressing characters. I enjoyed the author's intelligent exploration of the following ideas: South Africa's painful transition out of apartheid, historical guilt, racial tensions, remorse, guilt, shame, retribution, sex as power, sex as domination, the parallels between male violence against women and colonialism. However, the writing style didn't strike me as special, and I couldn't really relate to any of the characters. 

Rating:   3/5






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