Disgrace

""The goat, a fullgrown buck, can barely walk. One half of his scrotum, yellow and purple, is swollen like a balloon; the other half is a mass of caked blood and dirt. He has been savaged by dogs, the old woman says. But he seems bright enough, cheery, combative."<br/><br/>This was my first Coetzee book, and I highly enjoyed it. <br/>The story is about lust, Luxuria. A man struggling with his own sexual impulses, double standards, shame and vindication. Filled with symbolism, bodies on fire, the rape of his virgin daughter, goats and dogs, Coetzee brings us to the deep country land of South Africa, where the protagonist is trapped, unsafe, taken advantage of - the life of a young woman in Africa?<br/><br/>Although the prose was beautiful, human connection was lost in the cold and eerie atmosphere. The interpersonal dynamics, especially between father and daughter, were a bit strange, unrealistic (or the African culture is vastly different from the European culture). Furthermore, Coetzee is trying a bit too hard to impress us with weird word choices like "Empathic signs forbid parking in front of the station" and "The letter p, usually so gentle", and snobbish references like Latin quotes, biographic elements of Lord Byron's life and about composing an opera (completely unrealistic: a professor in literature can not write and orchestrate an opera, you need to be trained to be able to do that). I'm hopeful that other books by the author are a bit less pretentious."

"Broken people always make for a better read but this was hard at times. I am glad I read it and want to read more of his work. About a 1/3 of the way in I had this dread that it was going to be about how the main character would find meaning in his life by living the simple country life. I think the actual outcome was more realistic and therefore more satisfying even if quite depressing."