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3.67 AVERAGE
3.67 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The prose is strong. Like a review puts it, each sentence is like a coiled spring - terse and tense. The author broadly explores the theme of old-age, passion, unwantedness and disgrace. But as a whole, I think the book doesn't gel well.
David Lourie is divorced, old, no more attractive, but still has his desires. He manipulates a student of his who is young enough to be his daughter, has an affair, which becomes a scandal. But David is upright and righteous, he will not apologize for his action. If he were young, would it still have been scandalous? Oh the disgrace of getting old! That is an interesting theme to explore. Expect for a small problem - what is called as manipulation here is nothing less than rape. Later there is a much violent incident, committed by a black man. Maybe the author has a dark sense of humour. David is a hypocrite, self deceiver. Through the parallels in the incident, maybe he was poking fun of the civilized crimes of the white man and the uncivilized brutality of the black man. But what I couldn't digest is how the people around David treats it as failed love. Maybe that's part of the dark humour too. And then there are subtle hints from the author that seems to justify what David did. What happened to Lucy was an act of hate and that is what hurts her the most. What David did just lacked the lyrical (!!!). The author then associates a bad boyfriend with the young student. Why? Does it make the violation she suffered any less hideous? It is exactly this hypocritical attitude that is revealed in bits and pieces that I have a problem.
And then there is Lucy. Young, educated, strong with a whole world of possibilities in front of her, willfully choosing a life that puts her in harms way. Throwing away her life, willing to be decimated. Why? There's no clue! (there is some allude to some principle/value she holds true to, but it does not make sense. Maslow's pyramid - you first save your skin before you go for nirvana of the soul). Now here is where the consistency of the novel breaks apart. David is further disgraced because of what happens to his daughter, because of his helplessness. What does it have to do with his own personal disgrace? Nothing. Even if he was an still an esteemed professor, even if he was rich, even if he was the highly respected scholar, there is jackshit he could do to protect Lucy. Where is the continuation? That girl Lucy needs to get her priorities sorted out.
Spoiler
David Lourie is divorced, old, no more attractive, but still has his desires. He manipulates a student of his who is young enough to be his daughter, has an affair, which becomes a scandal. But David is upright and righteous, he will not apologize for his action. If he were young, would it still have been scandalous? Oh the disgrace of getting old! That is an interesting theme to explore. Expect for a small problem - what is called as manipulation here is nothing less than rape. Later there is a much violent incident, committed by a black man. Maybe the author has a dark sense of humour. David is a hypocrite, self deceiver. Through the parallels in the incident, maybe he was poking fun of the civilized crimes of the white man and the uncivilized brutality of the black man. But what I couldn't digest is how the people around David treats it as failed love. Maybe that's part of the dark humour too. And then there are subtle hints from the author that seems to justify what David did. What happened to Lucy was an act of hate and that is what hurts her the most. What David did just lacked the lyrical (!!!). The author then associates a bad boyfriend with the young student. Why? Does it make the violation she suffered any less hideous? It is exactly this hypocritical attitude that is revealed in bits and pieces that I have a problem.
And then there is Lucy. Young, educated, strong with a whole world of possibilities in front of her, willfully choosing a life that puts her in harms way. Throwing away her life, willing to be decimated. Why? There's no clue! (there is some allude to some principle/value she holds true to, but it does not make sense. Maslow's pyramid - you first save your skin before you go for nirvana of the soul). Now here is where the consistency of the novel breaks apart. David is further disgraced because of what happens to his daughter, because of his helplessness. What does it have to do with his own personal disgrace? Nothing. Even if he was an still an esteemed professor, even if he was rich, even if he was the highly respected scholar, there is jackshit he could do to protect Lucy. Where is the continuation? That girl Lucy needs to get her priorities sorted out.
I’m going to be so honest, if there was a message here it is lost upon me. It was excellently written but not necessarily my favorite. I’m going to have read some analyses of this because I didn’t get it.
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A good reminder: Reading books is not about feeling good.
I always find it difficult rating a book where I dislike the main characters so much. Do I dislike the actual piece of literature or is the writing done so well that it invokes these negative feelings?
The story deals with David Laurie, disgraced professor fired from his post after having an affair with a student. He then retreats to an isolated small holding where his daughter farms on her own, and as is every South African’s nightmare, they are savagely attacked by 3 youths.
The aftermath of this event showed how strained the father-daughter relationship really is. The fact that David is one of those people who believe the world revolves around their own dramas, needs and miseries made him highly unlikable and I was completely unable to feel any connection with him. His daughter Lucy was only slightly more palatable however she also lives in a world of her own disillusions and seem to lose the plot with reality and the will to survive completely towards the end.
I do not shy away from hard truths and human suffering but novels that try to highlight only the morbid, depressing and futility of situations are hard to enjoy and recommend.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes