Once upon a time, it seemed, there was a kind of script for powerful men who got caught behaving badly around women: vague apologies, crocodile tears, a trip to rehab, some sort of charitable contribution. A withdrawal from the scene. Then a carefully-crafted return. It worked for years. Then came the Me Too movement, and it didn't seem to work anymore. The failure of this established pattern is also at issue in J.M. Coetzee's Booker Prize-winning Disgrace, except in this case it's because the man in question specifically refuses to use it. David Lurie is a white professor at a university in Cape Town in post-apartheid South Africa. A frustrated scholar of the Romantic literary tradition, interest in his classes has dwindled and he finds himself teaching Communications. He's an unhappy man, twice divorced and mostly uninterested in developing actual relationships with other people. On a whim, he decides to pursue a beautiful student in one of his classes. They sleep together a few times, all at David's initiation and at least once when he's aware that she doesn't actually want to. Suddenly her boyfriend shows up in class, and shortly thereafter he finds himself accused of misconduct against her.

He's offered the standard-issue response: an apology, counseling, a break, but an eventual return assured. He refuses, simply capitulating, and leaves Cape Town for the countryside, where his daughter Lucy owns and runs a small farm. No sooner does he get somewhat accustomed to life there, though, than an episode of violence changes things forever. Three young black men attack David and Lucy, attempting to burn him and gang-raping her. The already-strained relationship between father and daughter becomes even more tense as both try to cope with their trauma in different ways.

It's obvious fairly early on that the characters and situations aren't intended to be always read as strictly realistic. There's a lot of allegory going on here about apartheid and the wounds that it left and the violence that was a crucial part of that system continuing to resonate. I found myself wishing I had more background in the history of South Africa, because I felt like there were layers and layers of meaning and some of them were out of my grasp. Disgrace is a fairly short book, not even 250 pages, but there is a lot going on in it because Coetzee is a master of his craft. Every word of this book was obviously carefully, deliberately chosen and he evokes so much by just letting his plot and characters speak for themselves. And speaking of characters, such a sticking point for me as a reader, this was a strange experience in that I didn't find anyone especially compelling but still found the book as a whole to be something that I was invested in.

So what I'm saying is that this is a very good book, but reader be warned: it is bleak. It is a story about a terrible person, who does some awful things. You almost wonder if he deserves it on some level, but even worse things happen to his daughter and she's just trying to live on her little piece of land and doesn't seem at first blush to be culpable. Or is she? Are all of those who benefit from systemic inequality culpable? There is a note of hope at the end with the promise of the birth of a biracial child, clearly meant to be symbolic of the way forward, but the circumstances leading to that hope are extremely cynical. This is a high quality book that I appreciated the experience of reading and am glad I read and have no plans to ever return to because it was hard. I would definitely recommend it, but go in expecting a downer (and be aware that there's violence toward animals/animal death in case you're sensitive to it). ( )

"A los cincuenta y dos años, David Lurie tiene poco de lo que enorgullecerse. Con dos divorcios a sus espaldas, apaciguar el deseo es su única aspiración; sus clases en la universidad son un mero trámite para él y para los estudiantes. Cuando se descubre su relación con una alumna, David, en un acto de soberbia, preferirá renunciar a su puesto antes que disculparse en público. Rechazado por todos, abandona Ciudad del Cabo y va a visitar la granja de su hija Lucy. Allí, David, verá hacerse añicos todas sus creencias en una tarde de violencia implacable. Desgracia, que obtuvo el prestigioso premio Booker, no dejará indiferente al lector". (Descripción editorial).

Professor David Lurie has an affair with a student. Although the act had a consensual aspect, it is seen as an abuse of authority. He accepts the charges without fighting them. Many of his peers try to help him and advise Lurie to make some amends to be able to come back to work. Lurie admits guilt but does not accept the need for amends, thereby not taking the advice of his peers.

Being in disgrace he visits his daughter, Lucy, and stays at her home for some time. Life was decent for a time but then perpetrators violated Lucy, stole items, and burned David. The story being told to the police is only about the stole items and harm to David, nothing about Lucy. David mirrors his prior peers in advising Lucy to tell the whole story so that the perpetrators can be caught. Lucy seems to accept what has happened.

A tragic story with irony. Philosophical lesson are sporadically seen about. The prose makes this book easy to read. ( )

He just doesn't get it!

The He in question is David Lurie a college lecturer in the university of Cape Town in South Africa. A white male of 52 years old who sees himself as a sort of Byronic figure. He readily uses his power and position to satisfy his sexual needs; only now as he gets older his main concern is that he may be losing his appeal. He has always been disgraceful, but when he seduces a 20 year old female student of his, he faces the wrath of an investigating committee, after her family make a formal complaint. He readily admits his guilt, agrees that he has done wrong, but sees no reason why he should apologise or seek help. He will lose his job and his reputation, but sees no reason to change his behaviour. When faced with a more difficult position when his daughter is raped and he is beaten up, he still demonstrates that he has a total inability to see another persons point of view or 'walk in their shoes'. He is selfish, egotistical and remains so until the end of the novel. He just doesn't get it. This is not a bildungsroman.

This novel published in 1999 won Coetzee his second Booker prize and in my opinion it was a very worthy winner, because not only is it a good extremely well written story, it throws up so many themes and issues around post colonial Africa, women's equality and even animal rights in just over 200 pages, that it could keep college lecturers in employment until the end of this century (assuming they could keep their sex in their pants or their knickers, while at work). There have been many fine reviews, analysis and expositions of the story line and so I don't want to add another one to the list, but there have also been many thoughts expressed that I think are wrong headed. In my opinion this is not a book that shows, or even hints at, some sort of redemption for David Lurie. He is clearly a man out of his time. This is important because as a reader we see almost everything through David Luries' eyes, although it is written in the third person. Lucy his daughter cannot explain to him, her fears and concerns after the attack, because she knows he will not be able to grasp the reasons that she behaves the way she does. He will only make it worse. He will not understand. He will not get it. It is best that he keeps himself occupied with his pointless attempts to write an opera on Byron's final years. Just because he shows empathy towards an injured dog in the final paragraph of the book doesn't mean he is on the path towards redemption.

A brilliant novel 5 stars. ( )

A stunning, disturbing novel of a father and daughter and their changing lives in the South Africa of today. ( )