Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee

1 review

oddreads_nicolestins's review against another edition

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challenging reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

TL;DR: Not for me.

I'd generally heard great things about Coetzee- so this was a disappointment. Overall the story is not light material. Heavy themes are discussed: sexual assault, consent, traditions/cultural norms surrounding SA as well as the in aftermath.

The MC is a misogynist/classist/predator that gets obsessed easily about the flings he has with everyone but his ex-wife. Because he's the narrator, he explains to us very casually how he stalked the sex worker he frequented, and then how he sexually assaulted one of his students. Creep factor 1000%. So by the time his own daughter gets sexually assaulted, it feels like his karma in a way. (In NO way am I saying that those who've been SA'd deserve it, or that it was "coming to them", but this is how Coetzee has laid out the cards in my opinion. The assailants are at fault, of course. I am not a fan of this narrative.) The rest of the book addresses the narrow-minded MC as he reckons with the situation regarding his daughter, which actually does not amount to much reckoning at all. Other things, like the MC aggressively referring to a female dog as a "bitch" repeatedly in the book (I honestly lost count at the occurrences, 5-10 or more), and describing/comparing his daughter's grown woman body to other women he's known *vomit* really made me want to dnf. I was only invested in his daughter's situation and what happened next.


The writing wasn't bad, but it just wasn't for me. Because it left a bad taste in my mouth, I'm also not interested in reading anymore of Coetzee's work to see what the hubbub is about.
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