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 pressue to repent publicly, he resigns and retreats to his daughter Lucy's isolated small holding. For a time, his daughter's influence and natural rhythms of the farm promise to harmonise his discordant life. But the balance of power ...
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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 pressue to repent publicly, he resigns and retreats to his daughter Lucy's isolated small holding. For a time, his daughter's influence and 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.
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Add this copy of Disgrace: a Novel to cart. $0.99, fair condition, Sold by Dream Books Co. rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Denver, CO, UNITED STATES, published 2000 by Penguin Books.
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"Disgrace" is an eloquent book about changing and aging, told with thought and with understatement. It ties together two seemingly unrelated stories: the first dealing with the professional and libidinous difficulties of David Lurie, a 52 year old professor of English, the second dealing with the change in South African Society with the end of apartheid.
The story of David Lurie involves his liason with a prostitute, his subsequent seduction of a young student, and his consequent loss of his academic position.
The story of South Africa involves Lurie's daughter who is attempting to establish a life for herself in the rural areas of South Africa and who is brutally raped while her father is visiting her.
The most remarkable aspect of the book is its ability to present volatile issues and persons with a minimum of moralization and criticism. We learn to understand something of David Lurie and of South Africa and to control our predisposition to rush to instant, nonmeasured judgment.
Society and individuals both change and age for reasons internal to themselves. Some things must be learned and understood through time.
I think this is what this difficult book is about and it is beautifully conveyed.
jaime malamud
Jun 18, 2009
Superb fiction, wonderfully written
Coetzee is at the top of English fiction writing today. This a book about losing our path amidst the ruthlessness of class and racial tensions after apartheid. It is gripping yet subtly laid out, the plot depicts the inability of ordinary morality in a new conflicted and resentful world. Flesh tearing, this book is must for those caught up in the riddles of multi-racial communities where moral tenets have yet found a proper place. A must for those who are begining to realize our impotence to overcome social splits and are amenable to spend a sleepless night in fear and wondering....
skyprincess
Dec 16, 2008
Realistic Story Line
The synopsis for this book does a good job of outlining the story. This novel won the 1999 Booker Prize and that is why I chose to read it. The narrator of the story is Professor David Lurie, ousted from his teaching position for having an affair with a student. He goes to live briefly with his daughter on her farm in South Africa. When they are robbed and terrorized, he cannot convince her to leave the farm for a safer location. This book seems to have a theme of making choices despite the consequences. What I liked about the book was the realism of the character and the story. The ending is not a neat little package and the characters were not particularly likeable, nor their motives understandable. It is well-written and compelling, leaving you thinking about the book long after you have finished reading it.
gazinda
Jul 19, 2007
I did not think this book was particularly well written, though the story does a good job of illustrating how South Africa is still very tribal. If you do not have the power, in that you can physically retaliate or socially retaliate, people will look you in the eye and take your stuff.
