I had been recommended Disgrace from a number of sources, one of which said Coetzee was the best writer alive. He had told me about the court scene - which sounded very reminiscent of The Outsider, however on reading it I'm not sure whether that's deliberate... surely Coetzee would be familiar with Camus... anyway - : I struggle with books where I can not identify with any of the characters, this is probably one of those cases.
The protagonist, a somewhat washed up lecturer, wants to sleep with his students so endeavours to do so. Everyone's of age, so it's all legitimate, however what makes him dislikeable to everyone else is that he refuses to apologise in the hearing. It's a very Mersault type response, completely admitting the act, but suggesting that it makes no difference whether or not he feels bad about it, because he doesn't agree with their values. What makes the character dislikeable to me at this point, is that he claims to be "in love" with the girls, clearly identifying desire and love as one, which doesn't make him uncommon, I guess, but does make me think he lacks a recognition of the more complex and deeper feelings that constitute love. This is merely the novel's point of departure, the central theme of the novel is reconciliation in South Africa.
Lurie is ostracized and goes to live with his daughter for the sake of everyone and himself. It's not a completely cowardly gesture. His daughter is raped by a group of dark-skinned Africans, and the remainder of the novel looks at the relationship between father and daughter, and their individual responses to the traumatic experience.
To some degree, there is a focus on the difference between the two, Lurie being quite arrogant and righteous when it comes to his privileges, his daughter caring, sensitive and forgiving. What I found most noteworthy was what they shared: a Kafka-type sentence.
Both have been dealt a sentence, one that is to some degree just, and to some degree not. But each accepts this, and is willing to play the hand they have been dealt. Lurie does not agree that he did anything wrong, but he understands his responsibility to deal with it and not proclaim his innocence. His daughter, as she feels, has been punished for the faults of her people. She tries to deal with all the horrors of rape, the hatred and powerlessness, without complaining because she knows that in some ways she is suffering in retribution for the unjust crime committed against the African people during apartheid.
It is an admirable trait of each of them, although I did find myself struggling with the logic of the daughter. Sometimes it might be best to allow yourself to feel the victim, let yourself get angry and project your negativity onto someone else... but i don't know. I can relate to the sense of serving a sentence, just accept the limits now placed on your life and try to do your best in the circumstances. It's somewhat similar to the Kafka sentence - characters are placed in an irrational world, but try to deal with all the nonsense, rather than refuse to accept their predicament.
