J.M. Coetzee – Disgrace

 

Disgrace is a novel by J. M. Coetzee, published in 1999. It won the Booker Prize. The writer was also awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature four years after its publication. Wikipedia

Originally published: 1999

Author: J. M. Coetzee

Genres: Novel, Domestic Fiction

Awards: Booker Prize (1999)

Pages: 218 pp (first edition, hardback)

Disgrace is a novel by J.M. Coetzee, first published in 1999. The story takes place in post-apartheid South Africa and follows David Lurie, a university professor who faces disgrace and social ostracism after an affair with one of his students, which ends in a scandal. The novel explores themes of power, guilt, justice, and redemption, as Lurie is forced to confront the consequences of his actions.

As the story progresses, Lurie is sent into a kind of self-imposed exile, living on his daughter Lucy's farm in the rural parts of South Africa. The novel delves into issues of race, sexual violence, and the moral complexities of personal and political life in a changing society. Through Lurie's experiences, Coetzee critiques the ways in which individuals and societies deal with shame, transformation, and forgiveness in the wake of both personal and national trauma.

The novel's portrayal of the post-apartheid reality, alongside its complex characters and their moral dilemmas, has been praised for its depth and ambiguity. Disgrace won the Booker Prize in 1999 and is considered one of Coetzee's most significant works.

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