Disgrace
Ratings57
Average rating3.9
At fifty-two, Professor David Lurie is divorced, filled with desire, but lacking in passion. An affair with one of his students leaves him jobless, shunned by his friends, and ridiculed by his ex-wife. He retreats to his daughter Lucy's isolated smallholding, where a brief visit becomes an extended stay as he tries to find meaning from the one remaining relationship. David attempts to relate to Lucy and to a society with new racial complexities are disrupted by an afternoon of violence that shakes all of his beliefs and threatens to destroy his daughter. In this wry, visceral, yet strangely tender novel, Coetzee once again tells "truths [that] cut to the bone" (The New York Times Book Review).
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I can understand why this book might leave people feeling uncomfortable and anxious. But I think a lot of people falsely equate this to alack of quality. This book is utterly brilliant. it is supposed to make you uncomfortable...you are supposed to get angry. the protagonist is deeply flawed by design. I can honestly say that this book will have a lasting impact on my life.
A veces la evaluación de una obra está muy influenciada por las expectativas con las que uno aborda su lectura y creo que este es uno de esos casos.
Esperaba ver en Desgracia una historia que expusiera las complejidades de la Sudáfrica del post fin del apartheid y me encontré con que el autor eligió una historia que no parece la más apta para vehiculizar dicha exposición.
La historia del protagonista, el profesor universitario David Lurie, bien podría suceder en cualquier otro país. Y la historia de Lucy, su hija, a través de la cual Coetzee parece querer exhibir la realidad social sudafricana de la época parece un tanto irreal. En cierta forma, los prejuicios del protagonista incluso aparecerían como justificados ante el carácter extremo de la trama.
I found this book to be extremely compelling. I feel like Coetzee really weaved an interesting, complex tale about gender, neo-colonialism, race, and literature. I'm not sure I really liked this book, or if I just felt really strongly that it is an important book. I'd be interested in reading Waiting for the Barbarians or one of his other works as well.
