With the new movie Disgrace about to start in Australia I finally got around to reading the novel that it is based on by J.M. Coetzee. I had not read any Coetzee before but having finished Disgrace I will be very much open to reading some more by him - always a good sign! There were two things on constant visual playback in my mind as I read this book. The first was John Malcovich as the lead character (based on the fact that I had seen his name and picture attached to the movie advertising) and secondly, scenes from my own visit to South Africa with my husband in 1995. I am sure both these things impacted on my reading of the novel. As I was reading it was like a movie was simultaneously playing in my head, the intensity of which rarely happens when I read a book.

While our trip to South Africa was pleasantly spent staying with locals and visiting their large cities and game parks I always had a sense of the underlying tension present in day-to-day life there. Even though we were actively shielded from the violence and uncertainty there I could still feel it about us and it was ultimately very unsettling. I felt this same presence in Disgrace even though the main action deals with a professor's infidelity and its aftermath as he escapes to his daughter's farm. I had a great conversation with my husband about this book, an indication that its themes were playing on my mind. I found the book to be very realistic with excellent dialogue and descriptions. Ultimately, for me, the book wasn't so much about an older man taking advantage of a younger woman (which he openly admits to and which is wrong in and of itself) but more about his lack of understanding of the motivations and longings of his daughter (and women in general) and most importantly, that every girl is someones daughter and should be accorded due respect. ( )

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I am absolutely, positively sure that I do not get all the deep meaning in this Booker Prize winning book from a Nobel laureate. I'm often stymied by the highly lauded material.

It's an odd one, this book. I think Coetzee is trying to unravel the tangled web that is South Africa and its race relations, but I have trouble understanding how the romantic dalliances of the protagonist apply to that. And, as a woman, it's difficult to read scenes of what I consider date rape with no acknowledgment of this from the writer throughout the course of the book. I understand the need to create a character who is complete and, while he does experience personal growth, does not embrace a way of thinking that is alien to him. Nonetheless... it is difficult to read and not shudder thinking about the readers who are young men and might think this is an okay way to live one's life.

But I suppose this is the strength of the novel. It never falls back on cliche. Each character is someone I've never met before in fiction, whether it is Professor Lurie, his daughter, Petrus the "caretaker", even the pet shelter owner. They are beautifully crafted, leading us, with Lurie, into the disgrace of the title. Ultimately, it was difficult for me to see how Lurie could continue on having suffered so much. But... he also performed his own brand of creating suffering in others. Are we meant to understand this as a life balance? As kismet?

I am able to glean some deeper meanings from the novel, but am particularly looking forward to book club this month because I am certain that my compatriots will have alternate and deeper insights. And I'm sure I don't want to have missed them. ( )

Set in modern South Africa, this is a tense picture of post-colonial, post-apartheid society where the previously white owned land is slowly being subsumed by newly powerful farmers. The lone woman on the land, slowly ground down by the neighbouring farmer, leaves a tense, unresolved situation where it feels inevitable that she will have to, in the end, give in. Her father, the main character, never quite understands this and cannot accept that his daughter must be humiliated in this way. Eventually, he sees that he cannot save her, himself, or his new canine friend. ( )

It should be made abundantly clear that Coetzee is not falsely advertising Disgrace. David Lurie's disgrace comes overtly in the form of a scandalous affair with a student that leads to his loss of position at the university in Cape Town.

But this is not a simple story about a teacher/student affair. Coetzee's brilliance in Lurie's character is that we're only given the perspective of a man who has the emotional depth of a puddle. We see this scandal roll out and we know that there is more to the story, but we have to piece together the true nature of it from the occasional flashes our main character gets?

When our main character moves in with his daughter, we're given her life through his filter. So while this might have been a more interesting perspective on post-apartheid South African race relations, it becomes a self-absorbed commentary on how his daughter reflects on him, on how her relationships reflect on him, and how she won't remain attractive if she stays in the country. Is this the disgrace Coetzee refers to? The inability to remain nonjudgmental about your children and their choices?

The attack on David and his daughter is brutal, but we are only given David's perspective. Again, this is the beauty of Coetzee's novel. It is harsh and in watching David try to piece together the events of the afternoon, Coetzee's novel truly shines. This is where one has to remember that we've been given a tale called Disgrace, because we will be pulled emotionally into a number of directions that longs for a tale about anything else. But Coetzee's writing shows us that disgrace can come in many forms, can be self-inflicted, can be a product of environment, can be a product of perspective and can simply be a product of circumstance.

Much has been said of not liking the characters in the novel in other reviews. In reality, every character is seen through David Laurie's vision, and David Lurie is a deeply flawed man. We are seeing every character through this flawed vision. That I wanted to catch the few shards of truth in this vision is a testament to Coetzee as an author. ( )

Above average read. Enjoyed the literary material. The opera was saved by becoming comic. The main character is not a particularly good man, but I identify with him on several levels (albeit not having been as successful in number of lovers). But his age--loosing his job. Felt like he found some redemption with the dogs. ( )