My Reaction to Disgrace

When I first looked at the cover page I was impressed with the fact that this novel won The Booker Prize. After reading the comments on the back page I became even more interested in reading the novel. During the first few chapters, I couldn't put the book down. The chapters were short and the plot was rapidly unfolding. The style of writing is simple and leaves a lot of room for interpretation even though the speaker explains everything going on in his head. One of the things I found irritating though were the small phrases or words in different languages and the allusions referring to the life of Byron. I found myself continuously referring back to the Internet to try to find the meaning of the words and more about the mentioned allusion.

By the time I reached the climax, I began to lose interest in the story. When Lurie goes to live in the country with his daughter, the story becomes dull. The only engrossing event is the climax which is only a few pages long. From that point on there is a lot of repetition. Lurie and his daughter constantly argue about the lurid details of the attack and specifically Lucy's rape. Towards the end of the novel, Lurie becomes more absorbed in his work. For pages, he talks about the life of Lord Byron and his affair with Lady Caroline Lamb.

Finally, I reached the ending. As glad as I was to have finished the novel, I felt that the ending was very abrupt. The author leaves the reader with a sense of uncertainty. Coetzee does not verify whether Lucy marries Petrus or not, and he also hints that Lurie might have cancer.