Disgrace Book

With the South African World Cup in full swing I thought it would be fitting to review a book by arguably the host nation's greatest writer and one of my favourite authors. Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee (pronounced I am informed as "cut-zee-uh") is a complex novel, intricately weaving a soul questioning story line with intuitive undertones of socio-political and racial reflection on post-apartheid South Africa. These factors are coupled with an exploration of sexuality and a moralistic appraisal of middle-age masculinity. Race is obviously one of the key issues in South Africa's turbulent modern history and taking into consideration the other factors explored in the book I think it is worthwhile to note that J. M. Coetzee is a middle-age (at time of publication) white South African male of Afrikaner descent. Born in Cape Town in 1940 Coetzee's childhood and much of his adult existence were spent living in South Africa's apartheid regime. Throughout the book it is clear that Coetzee draws on his intuitive understanding and his own personal experiences of his native South Africa. Gifted with an exceptional literary talent and an arrestingly beautiful eloquence, Coetzee bewitchingly conveys to paper a commentary on the state of a whole country, veiled in the shadow of a Booker Prize winning story...

David Lurie, a 52 year old professor of English at Cape Town University has a penchant for romantic poetry. Unfortunately for his career and his reputation his romantic inclinations consume him when he falls in love (a love all the more alarmingly born of lust) with one of his young students. A lustful creature, his weakness for heart pumping, soul stirring, life engaging romances are interestingly alluded to be conceived of a synchronous acceptance and denial of his own mortality, symbolised by his aging body and his fixed and unchangeable temperament (a mid-life crisis of sorts). Usually David is clinically romantic in the sense that he has his fling and ends it before things get too serious. He cites his two failed marriages as evidence that he is no good at relationships. This time however he is simply unable to stop himself and the romance builds a dangerous momentum, culminating in a sour ending for his life as he knows it. When the girl's parents find out about the relationship they forcibly end their daughter's involvement with David and call for the university to fire him for a gross misuse of his position of power. A tribunal is held and David reluctant to defend his actions and bemused as to why he should have to, pleads guilty to all accusations and puts the whole incident down to unstoppable human nature and the weakness of man. David's refusal to repent combined with a media frenzy forces the university's hand and our protagonist is dismissed in disgrace. Unemployed and his reputation in tatters David travels to the Eastern Cape to stay with his daughter on her small farm. For a while rural life and the company of his daughter suit him and his problems in Cape Town feel a long way away. However the dream like tranquillity of country life is soon transformed into a living nightmare as the pair fall victims of a home invasion by three young black men. His daughter raped and impregnated and himself beaten up and left bald and blistered by burns, David's life dramatically changes course for a second time. For David the horrifying events begin to bring into focus the issue of race and the much changed societal nature of post-apartheid South Africa...

Disgrace is a masterpiece as both a story and a commentary of post-apartheid South Africa, yet the lesson is universal. The book examines the excruciating scenario of a middle-aged man forced to comprehend and adapt to an evolving country at a time in his life where he believes himself too old to change. It questions human nature and the way in which we exploit each other to our own often selfish ends. It challenges our conception of disgrace and our humility in overcoming personal obstacles to forgive ourselves and gain the forgiveness of those we have wronged. Interesting and thought provoking throughout, this is one of the most intelligent yet accessible books I have ever read. Disgrace will enthrall you; challenge your own beliefs and preconceptions; and teach you a little bit about a country which despite its racial divisions of the past, has united together to bring the world a successful and exciting, distinctly African World Cup.

A divorced middle-aged English professor finds himself increasingly unable to resist affairs with his female students. When discovered by the college authorities he is expected to apologise and repent in an effort to save his job but he refuses to become a scapegoat in what he see as as a show trial designed to reinforce a stringent political correctness. He preempts the authorities and leaves his job and the city to spend time with his grown-up lesbian daughter on her remote farm. Things between them are strained - there is much from the past they need to reconcile - and the situation becomes critical when they are the victims of a brutal and horrifying attack. In spectacularly powerful and lucid prose Coetzee uses all his formidable skills to engage with a post-apartheid culture in unexpected and revealing ways. This examination into the sexual and politcal lawlines of modern South Africa as it tries desperately to start a fresh page in its history is chilling uncompromising and unforgettable.