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Book Reviews Title Disgrace Fiction-Net
Rating Buy It
From Amazon.co.uk - BUY
NOW! Cover
Story 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 pressure
to repent publicly, he resigns and retreats to his
daughter Lucy's isolated smallholding. For a time, his
daughter's influence and the 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. We
Say I knew that I was
in for a hard time with this one. Based on past
experience, Booker Prize winning novels can be very
difficult to get to grips with and often
disappoint. Disgrace was no exception in the former
but I can't claim to feel let down by it as a major
prize winning book. The difficulty
lies in the book's subtlety - the writer uses a
very direct style but it is also very gentle. It is
slow, as if every movement is savoured as events
unfold, "He unlocks the security gate, unlocks the
door, ushers the girl in. He switches on lights,
takes her bag. There are raindrops on her hair. He
stares, frankly ravished." At times, the tone
belies the dramatic or horrific nature of events.
When the brutal attack occurs, it is like being
shook out of a lyrical trance as you realise that
though the writing is beautiful, all else has
turned ugly very quickly. It's a shock and a
testament to the skill of Coetzee that it works so
well. The relationship
between David and his daughter, Lucy is explored in
similarly complex ways. Both try to come to terms
with their own experience of "disgrace" and find
that they are too different and cannot help each
other. It's heartbreaking to see the slowly charted
breakdown in communication between the two of them.
Coetzee does not make it easy to "take sides" -
there are no comfortable stereotypes to latch onto
here. Disgrace is
written with immense skill and devotion - a
beautiful but disturbing book. Review by: Rachel
Taylor |
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