Disgrace  (English, Paperback, Coetzee J. M.)

An English professor has been caught having illicit relations with his female students. The scandal has been brought out in the open and the only thing that will save his job is if he apologizes in public for what he has done.

Summary of the Book

When a middle-aged English professor is caught in a scandal where it is revealed that he was having affairs with his female students, he is expected to apologize. However, he does not agree with this as he thinks of it as him being used as a scapegoat by those who are trying to establish a certain political correctness. He manages to deter the authorities and ends up leaving his job and the city. He goes to his lesbian daughter’s remote farm with the intention of staying with her for a while. His stay there is difficult as his relationship with his daughter is one that is strained. There are a lot of things that happened in the past that they need to reconcile. This situation becomes worse when they suffer a violent and horrific attack. The author has used his skills to bring out the post-apartheid culture in ways that are unexpected and revealing. Coetzee has looked into the sexual and political laws that exist in South Africa in the modern times as it attempts to start afresh.

About J. M. Coetzee

John Maxwell Coetzee is a South African novelist, linguist, essayist and translator. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in the year 2003. He later relocated to Australia and lives in Adelaide. In 2006, he became an Australian citizen. He has previously been awarded the CNA Prize, the Prix Femina Etranger, The Irish Times International Fiction Prize and the Booker Prize.