Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Disgrace

Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee

45 reviews

emilystsa's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Disgrace isn't a book I would ever pick up or have any interest to read autonomously; but having read it for my English Lit course, I can understand the book's importance and popularity. Can I say I enjoyed it? No? I'm not sure. It's definitely a tough read, especially for a female reader, but the writing style and plot devices make it a somewhat entertainting story despite the glaring flaws of its narrator.

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littlebinatree's review

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challenging dark reflective sad

Deeply disturbing reflection on sexual violence and power dynamics in post-apartheid South Africa. Prose was well written and readable. I can’t say I enjoyed it and I can’t say I’ll ever read it again, but I suppose it was never meant to be enjoyable.

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saskiahill's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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beancity's review

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dark reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Perhaps more enjoyable for men to read

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sbuto's review

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challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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sanperse's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I don't think I have ever felt so unwell after finishing a book. If there was to be catharsis at some point, I did not find it. In the end it just felt profoundly hopeless to me.

Perhaps it is because I cared more about Lucy than David (who is deliberately unlikable for large parts of the book). Lucy whose destiny, at its most kindest interpretation, is a metaphor, but on an individual level just a horror I did not wish to contemplate in so hopeless a fashion.

This is not to say it is a bad book. On the contrary - there were points, where I could've even seen myself giving it five stars. The relationship between David and his daughter was engaging, with all its struggles and the difficulties of navigating the changes in their positions. I also enjoyed the contemplation of how language is used and the pitfalls of (mis-)communication. Coetzee has a way with words, manages to make his protagonist feel tangible, and forces his readers to confront uncomfortable topics, without necessarily moralising about it. Much of the "work" is left for the reader to do, though this does leave one feeling unmoored at the end.

But I found myself impatient with the diversion to Byron in the latter third of the book, and the passage with Melanie's family grating and hard to believe. Additionally, I felt frustrated by how none of the problems in the story were resolved in the end. It may be realistic in some ways, and maybe emblematic also of the struggle of a contemporary South Africa to contend with its past, but on a personal level it left me wishing for something else.

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celaeno's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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guardachuva's review

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challenging reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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swaggypsyduck's review

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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surdiablo's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Where do I even begin... It's one of the most disturbing books I have read so far, which didn't even enter the gratuitous territory. As dark as it was, I was also intrigued by the premise, a cautious curiosity that turned into excruciating misery as the plot progressed, leaving me emotionally exhausted and numb by the end. The writing is simple but effective with good pacing, and there's a permanent sense of dread throughout the book which was well done. This book evoked such an abundance of discussions in our read-along, and I simply can't talk further about it without getting into spoilers, so it's best to stop reading here if you haven't read it.

We follow the POV of

David Lurie, an English professor in his 50s who loves seducing young women, especially his students, which sets the unsettling tone right from the beginning. We get to see his thought process in detail and also his fall from grace, how he keeps digging a hole for himself constantly with his actions. How he abuses that position of power over others and remains egotistic until there's a change of environment that puts him in a helpless spot, a rather severe reverse of his old circumstances theme-wise, which you may or may not sympathize with. The book also delves into post-apartheid South Africa so it offers a rather bleak insight into the social environment back then. David always felt like an outsider because of his interests and upbringing in general, which made him feel alienated in the city, and even more in the countryside. We see him struggle to deal with the injustices and his daughter Lucy's choices, which the reader may also have trouble accepting at first, but by the end, I found the entire arc of Lucy to be tragic. She's a traumatized woman who thinks she has no choices left or simply doesn't want to leave the place she loves. She submits to her fate just like the dogs that David held onto during their dying breath. As for David, he seeks solace in the poems he teaches and there are moments where we see the humanity in him come out. With the way the book ends, you can say he's on the road to redemption, although I couldn't bring myself to root for him regardless of his choices

.

Ultimately, it's indeed a disgrace. The MC, the situation, and the society itself that normalized this moment, all of them are terrible. This book pulls no punches, wastes no words, and shows you the dark reality of life. It makes you question your values and leaves you very conflicted about what to feel regarding the MC, although I felt plenty of empathy for his daughter. I don't have more to say, it's just one of those books that leaves you broken. You can expect several triggering events like animal cruelty as well, so don't bother reading this if you are easily affected by such things.

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