Comments on: J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace

By: Megan

Megan — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 02:27:22 +0000

Coetzee’s Disgrace was a compelling read – so many layers of complexity.
I kept thinking back to my uni / teacher’s college days, of male lecturers in the Psych Dept screwing students – still unsure whether they we ‘enriching’ themselves as men or whether the females were knowingly ensuring their semester’s HD grade…
Lurie frustrated me – I note an earlier reviewer stated that he was intospective – I thought he was shallow, self engrossed and arrogant. I was however surprised he didn’t challenge his daughter more. Perhaps it was in fear of losing the ONLY person he needed – who grounded him.
It was his later interaction with the dogs facing certain death, that he began to show signs of understanding situations or making decisons in the best interests of others.
That he was able to ‘give up’ the young dog (who likes music and is innocent – it doesn’t realise what happens in Losung) for the dog’s sake, rather than his own needs, that one begins to think there’s any hope of him having a real relationship with his daughter – or indeed anyone.

By: LiteraryMinded

LiteraryMinded — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:58:37 +0000

That’s always the difficulty I have with film adaps – the characters just can’t possibly be as rich. There have been a couple of films, though, where the mood and acting did enough – but with a book as layered as this (and a character like Lurie) it would be very difficult.

By: NotDarkYet

NotDarkYet — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:53:09 +0000

I think that film and stage adaptations are always worth seeing, simply for the comparison, and to better your own understanding of the book. I saw Disgrace last week after gnawing through the book in two days; I was disappointed by the film, but had half expected to be. Coetzee’s Lurie is wonderfully introspective, and a film can never fully grasp that sort of inner dialogue that is one of the strongest points of the novel.

From a male perspective, Lurie is magic. Every time I felt I didn’t understand one of his actions or his thoughts, a part inside of me piped up “Yes you do – here I am.” Scarily truthful.

PS. Thanks for teaching me a new term, Ange – ‘aboutness’ – i’ll have to nonchalantly drop it into a couple of articles/essays/conversations, really ramp up the wank factor.

By: Grog

Grog — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:15:26 +0000

And that cover…

Agreed – great photo, captures the book perfectly.

By: Grog

Grog — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:38:03 +0000

Challening is a nice way of putting it. Whew. Couldn’t read it again. But it was worthwhile reading it once (though it’s been a while so I can’t quite recall what I liked about it)!

Not sure I’d bother with the film either a friend of mine saw it and said it was “pretty hard going”.

By: LiteraryMinded

LiteraryMinded — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 05:20:29 +0000

Thanks for your comments, Damon and John.

By: John Newton

John Newton — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 04:52:11 +0000

Recently re-read this remarakble book prior to seeing the film – which I recommend for any who loved the book. And pondered again some of what your reviewer calls Lucy’s ‘unexplained motivations’ – why does she stay for example? I met a (white) South African woman journalist at a conference in Mauritius who told me she had been held up, robbed, almost been raped but would not leave. “It’s my country” was her only explanation. And you will remember Lucy saying, of the men who raped her, maybe they’re debt collectors. apart fromy any personal motivations, she appears to have taken on the whole history of white South Africa. A wonderful book, one that will stay with readers for a long time

By: Damon

Damon — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 01:31:12 +0000

Yes, it’s a tough novel. My stomach churned as I read it. It takes a brave, skillful writer to sustain that kind of human suffering – without being clumsy, contrived or preachy.

And that cover…