Review:

A divorced, middle-aged English professor finds himself increasingly unable to resist affairs with his female students.

When discovered by the college authorities, he is expected to apologise and repent in an effort to save his job, but he refuses to become a scapegoat in what he see as as a show trial designed to reinforce a stringent political correctness. He preempts the authorities and leaves his job, and the city, to spend time with his grown-up lesbian daughter on her remote farm. Things between them are strained - there is much from the past they need to reconcile - and the situation becomes critical when they are the victims of a brutal and horrifying attack. In spectacularly powerful and lucid prose, Coetzee uses all his formidable skills to engage with a post-apartheid culture in unexpected and revealing ways. This examination into the sexual and politcal lawlines of modern South Africa as it tries desperately to start a fresh page in its history is chilling, uncompromising and unforgettable.


about this author:

J.M. Coetzee’s work includes Waiting for the Barbarians, Life & Times of Michael K, Boyhood, Youth, Disgrace, Summertime, The Childhood of Jesus and, most recently, The Schooldays of Jesus. He was the first author to win the Booker Prize twice and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2003.

This Book Will be released at the BC Convention 2019 in Mainz / Germany

So Wünsche ich erst einmal spannende Unterhaltung und / oder viel Spaß beim Freilassen des Buches

---

Liebe/r Finder/in,

bitte mache einen Journaleintrag um mich wissen zu lassen, dass dieses Buch gefunden und das es bei dir ein gutes neues Zuhause gefunden hat. Solltest Du neu bei BookCrossing sein, und Du Lust hast dich hier anzumelden, würde ich mich freuen, wenn Du bei Empfehlungs-Mitglied Physalis74 einträgst (Du kannst natürlich auch ohne dich anzumelden, ganz anonym einen Eintrag über Deinen Fund machen). Ich hoffe Du findest gefallen an dem Buch. Du kannst einen weiteren Eintrag machen, wie es Dir gefallen hat sobald Du es gelesen hast.

Dann, wann immer Du bereit bist es weiter zu geben, mache bitte einen Journaleintrag ob Du dieses Buch an eine Dir bekannte Person weitergegeben oder gesendet hast, oder mache ein Freilasseintrag wenn Du es für Jedermann in die „Wildnis“ freigelassen hast. Verfolge die Weitere reise. Du bekommst eine Emailnachricht, wenn dieses Buch wiedergefunden wird und jemand einen Eintrag macht. Alles ist absolut vertraulich (Du bist nur unter deinem Screenname zu sehen, Deine angegebene Emailadresse ist zu keinem Zeitpunkt für andere sichtbar), alles ist kostenlos und absolut Spamfrei!

Möchtest Du mehr erfahren oder Hilfe benötigen schaue einfach im deutschsprachigem Forum vorbei oder besuche die deutsche Support-Site www.bookcrossers.de

Ich hoffe Du kannst Dich auch für BookCrossing begeistern - Viele Grüße Physalis74

---

Selected from the table at the wonderful BC convention in Mainz to be added to my enormous Mount TBR. It was on my Goodreads wishlist because it's on the 1001 books list. Thank you for bringing it to the convention, Physalis.

On the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list. Booker Prize winner 1999.
This is a profoundly sad novella about ageing and about accepting your fate rather than fighting against inevitabilities. It also contains scenes of pure horror and violence against animals and humans, but mostly animals. The main character, David Lurie, is a deeply flawed misogynist with outdated views on women which he doesn’t try to suppress and feelings about race relations that he does, but often unsuccessfully. The book is easy to read in the sense that the language and plot are straightforward and there aren’t many characters, but what happens to the poor animals is distressing and makes it a more difficult read on that level. I’m not sure what it says about me, but the death of innocent animals was worse than what happens to David and his daughter Lucy; particularly as what happened to her is off-screen, so to speak. David is also made to be an unsympathetic character by his total lack of empathy for the women he casually has sex with (as opposed to having casual sex with).

This is the first Coetzee I’ve read and I would certainly consider reading more. It seems to me that without coming out and saying it overly explicitly, he was writing down the disquiet that white South Africans feel now that apartheid is over and they are no longer in charge. That threat of being overwhelmed, overrun and, in the worst case, being attacked, their possessions ‘redistributed’ and perhaps being murdered means they take extreme measures to protect themselves and keep themselves apart or withdraw to the safer cities. Lucy’s solution is not one that many would take, to be absorbed into Africa. Yet she ends up being the one who seems contented and the old white man stuck dreaming of old Europe is the one left howling at the moon.



View all my reviews

Released during the wonderful Dutch BookCrossing meeting on the beach at Castricum-on-Sea.
This book has been released as part of the following BookCrossing challenges:
- The Ultimate Challenge - read and release books, with extra points for a monthly theme
- Reduce Mount TBR (To Be Read) - read and release books on the TBR list since before the end of the previous year.
- 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die Challenge.
- 666 Books, Countries, Continents Challenge = 36 books

Got this book from the Castricum meeting. Intend to read it so I can release it during a holiday.

I'm not sure what to think of this book. The story is sad especially for Lucy, but I couldn't stand David. He wants to fight to protect his daughter honor after what happend to her, but at the same time he pressured another young girl into an unhealthy relationship and thinks it is just a fun adventure.

This book can be found in the swimming Pool library of hotel Aracan in Luxor, Egypt.

Have fun reading!