Like much of Coetzee's work Disgrace is unusual and requires thought and investment to get something out. Satisfying, but not for everyone.
My only previous experience with J. M. Coetzee is The Life
and Times of Michael K, a book I picked up for dirt cheap at an Exclusive Books
sale (sales which I tend to frequent). At the time, all I knew of Coetzee was that he was considered one of
South Africa’s greatest writers and is a Nobel Prize Winner. Michael K introduced
me to a new kind of writing, something I'm still becoming familiar with but am
presently finding strangely fascinating. Disgrace I ran into in Joburg earlier
this year and took straight off the shelf (My reading strategy at present is
pretty much to read books from great authors at random).
From what I've gathered from Disgrace and Michael K, Coetzee
writes in a very different style to what I've read for most of my life. For
starters there’s really no ‘plot’ or ‘central premise’ to the book; no pressing
issue that needs to be resolved. I could say that it’s about a 52-year old
twice-divorced lecturer who has an affair with one of his students but, to be
fair, that’s only really what happens in the first 30 pages. Further on, it’s
about different things and further yet it keeps developing organically. The result is that it’s hard to predict where the story is heading next
but, at the same time, it’s not really out to surprise you, it’s just the way
it’s written. For most part, I enjoyed it.
The only thing I found ‘disappointing’ in any sense was the ending. There wasn't any climax or conclusion in the sense that I'm used to but I wasn't left wanting either because I felt that the story had run its course. I suppose this kind of story is still new to me. If I have to describe the book in a term, I’d say it’s something of a ‘slice of life’ of the main character.
The only thing I found ‘disappointing’ in any sense was the ending. There wasn't any climax or conclusion in the sense that I'm used to but I wasn't left wanting either because I felt that the story had run its course. I suppose this kind of story is still new to me. If I have to describe the book in a term, I’d say it’s something of a ‘slice of life’ of the main character.
And perhaps this is why I found it so interesting. I'm a
sucker for minimalist prose and I really admire the way Coetzee could string
complex characters and complex relationships together in only a short chapter
or two. I also felt myself constantly thinking as I read through each short
chapter, always evaluating but being unsure what my response to some of the events.
With the two books that I've read of Coetzee I've felt like there’s something subtle going on beneath the surface and I've yet to reach that ‘aha’ moment when I can say that I've figured it out. For now, I suppose, I feel really strongly about wanting to read more of Coetzee. Even after finishing the book, I still feel like it’s running through my head while I try to work out what I make of everything. I've heard Waiting for the Barbarians is quite good. Maybe I’ll get that one next.
With the two books that I've read of Coetzee I've felt like there’s something subtle going on beneath the surface and I've yet to reach that ‘aha’ moment when I can say that I've figured it out. For now, I suppose, I feel really strongly about wanting to read more of Coetzee. Even after finishing the book, I still feel like it’s running through my head while I try to work out what I make of everything. I've heard Waiting for the Barbarians is quite good. Maybe I’ll get that one next.
Like much of Coetzee's work Disgrace is unusual and requires thought and investment to get something out. Satisfying, but not for everyone.
See you next week
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