Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee

These past two weeks  I had to read a novel for  Literature class.  I didn't not enjoy the book, but it is a well written with a story line that is hard to predict.  The novel was "Disgrace" by J.M. Coetzee.  

It's about a man named David Lurie who is a professor at a South African University.  After having an affair with a student, Lurie leaves the University to go and visit his daughter Lucy who he hasn't seen in a long time.  The story continues to get complicated when Lurie and his daughter were attacked and her kennel was practically destroyed.  

Lurie is a man who doesn't seem to care about anyone but himself throughout the whole novel.  At the beginning, many students in my class, including myself, thought he was the biggest prick.  He treated women like they were lesser beings.  All he cared about was using them for sex and then moving on with his life.  

As the novel trails along and Lurie is with his daughter, you are able to watch his transformation.  He claims the entire time that he is too old to change and he never will.  You can see him change little by little, but he never admits it to anyone.  

This is a good novel, it only bothered me to read because it brings up some issues that I am uncomfortable reading.  Coetzee did write about them in a manner that did not disgust me.  I was able to read through the horrible events to get to the end where it shows Lurie for who he really is in the end.  I give the novel a 7 in a rating of 1-10.  If you want a good book that requires you to think deeply, this would be a good novel.