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2 internautes sur 2 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
5.0étoiles sur 5
Like a dog, Juil 13 2007
Set in the early days of post-apartheid South Africa, this short yet intense novel explores shifting power and race relationships and white middle class insecurities that were an important facet of that period. Coetzee exemplifies the new conditions by concentrating on a few memorable individuals. He places his characters into complex situations with sparse sentences, exposing the main character's thought processes and interactions with great precision. The beauty and peacefulness of the landscape provides a contrasting frame to the human turmoil. It is not a book the reader will put down easily or forget quickly afterwards. The story was awarded the Booker Prize in 1999.
Communications professor David Lurie, the main protagonist, has been expelled from his university following a sexual harassment charge. Not willing to apologize and explain himself adequately, he prefers to leave in disgrace. He also hopes to find time to pursue his great ambition: to write an opera on the romantic life of Byron. His affection for the Romantics and his Byron project in particular exposes David's wish to escape the realities of the day. Twice divorced and alone, he finds refuge at his daughter's small remote homestead. What does his visit mean - will he stay? How will he adjust to Lucy's rather unusual, though simple, lifestyle, running a kennel for dogs and selling flowers in the market?
Until now, David's contacts with his daughter have been sporadic and communication remains uneasy. He is suspicious of her friends and neighbours as well as of Petrus, former farm assistant, turned co-proprietor since the political change. While father and daughter adjust to their temporarily shared life, a vicious criminal attack leaves them both deeply wounded, physically and emotionally. What initially appears random, may in fact not be so. David is devastated and demands investigation by police and prosecution against the perpetrators. Lucy disagrees. It is better, she argues, to keep the events, however shattering, private. The political environment is not conducive to responding to his attempts at justice. His pain and despair only increase as does the distance from Lucy. She adjusts more willingly to the new conditions that see, among other things, Petrus demanding an ever bigger share of the farm and hold over Lucy's life. In the face of growing insecurity and dependency, her perspective is that they need restart with nothing: "No cards, no weapons, no property, no rights, no dignity ... Like a dog."
Coetzee's picture of post-apartheid South Africa is grim and its reality conflictual. He sees the situation for the white middle class challenged at every turn. His exclusive use of present tense in this novel, creates immediacy and continuity. The reader lives through the moments with the protagonists. At the end, after falling from grace and as deep as humanly possible, there may a glimmer of hope to rebuild for people like David and Lucy. A novel not to be missed. [Friederike Knabe]
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2 internautes sur 2 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
5.0étoiles sur 5
Marvelous, Fév 6 2005
DISGRACE is an incredibly insightful story. With its and deep exploration of the relationship between father and daughter, Coetzee successfully brought out a story that is difficult to forget. The characters are rich and portray deep, though extreme emotions, rationale and impulse. Though quite understated and subtle, the writing is nevertheless rich in so meaning. There is everything to learn from this book. Coetzee's writing style is superb, the setting is ingenious and the pace of the novel is fast and absorbing.
In this novel, J.M Coetzee's brilliantly tells the story of the 52 David Lurie, a professor of communications at a Cape Town University, who is twice divorced and went around with the notion that having a woman is no problem. But when he realest that he is no longer alluring, he sought the convenient service of a prostitute, an arrangement that eventually came to an end, leaving him with no outlet for his virility. David Lurie finally convinced himself that an affair with a young female student was not bad after all and went for it. But then the complaint of sexual harassment turned his academic life upside down as he is fired. The unwritten rules of the society ensured that he longer found a place amongst them.
With that realization, David Lurie travels to the country side to a dangerous and isolated farm to write and spend some time with her daughter who ran an animal refuge and sold produce and flowers. Lucy as she is called is violated by thugs and with that David's disgrace became complete. David suddenly finds himself re-evaluating his life, his ties to people, his relationship with his only daughter, as well as his relationships with women. In all of those, he learnt that love is two-sided, a matter of give and take. In this novel one makes sense of the universally acknowledged fact that a man can understand who he is only when he comes to terms with his past. USURPER AND OTHERS, HOUSEBOY are similar titles that are hard to put aside after you start reading. Also found Triple Agent Double Cross to be a beautiful African piece.
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5.0étoiles sur 5
Gripping Book, Oct. 3 2003
Par Un client
This is a terrific book. Beautifully written. Great character development, and also very insightful cultural analysis. If I may recommend another book it is "HE NEVER CALLED AGAIN." These two books belong on everyone's bookshelf. Happy Reading!
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