After years teaching Romantic poetry at the Technical University of Cape Town, David Lurie, middle-aged and twice divorced, has an impulsive affair with a student. The affair sours; he is denounced and summoned before a committee of inquiry. Willing to admit his guilt, but refusing to yield to pressue to repent publicly, he resigns and retreats to his daughter Lucy's isolated small holding. For a time, his daughter's influence and natural rhythms of the farm promise to harmonise his discordant life. But the balance of power ...
Read More
After years teaching Romantic poetry at the Technical University of Cape Town, David Lurie, middle-aged and twice divorced, has an impulsive affair with a student. The affair sours; he is denounced and summoned before a committee of inquiry. Willing to admit his guilt, but refusing to yield to pressue to repent publicly, he resigns and retreats to his daughter Lucy's isolated small holding. For a time, his daughter's influence and natural rhythms of the farm promise to harmonise his discordant life. But the balance of power in the country is shifting. He and Lucy become victims of a savage and disturbing attack which brings into relief all the faultlines in their relationship.
Read Less
Add this copy of Disgrace: a Bbc Between the Covers Big Jubilee Read to cart. $1.04, good condition, Sold by Stephen White Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Bradford, WEST YORKSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1999 by Vintage.
Add this copy of Disgrace to cart. $2.93, very good condition, Sold by Aardvark Books Ltd rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Bucknell, HEREFORDSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1999 by Secker & Warburg.
Add this copy of Disgrace to cart. $10.30, new condition, Sold by Books2anywhere rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Fairford, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2010 by Reclam Philipp Jun.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book from multilingual publisher. Shipped from UK within 4 to 14 days. Please check language within the description.
Add this copy of Disgrace to cart. $12.27, new condition, Sold by Books2anywhere rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Fairford, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2000 by Random House.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
Add this copy of Disgrace to cart. $57.90, new condition, Sold by Jenhams rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dundee, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2011 by Folio Society.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
New, sealed. This book is in stock now, in our UK premises. Photos of our books are available on request (the pictures you see on Alibris are NOT our own).
Add this copy of Disgrace to cart. $102.93, very good condition, Sold by Rooke Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from BATH, SOMERSET, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1999 by Secker & Warburg.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
None. Near Fine in Near Fine jacket. A very smart first edition of this Booker Prize winning novel by John Maxwell Coetzee. First edition, first impression. A novel following South African professor, David Lurie, as he loses everything from his reputation and job, to his ability to protect his daughter. Written by John Maxwell Coetzee, a South African and Australian novelist, linguist, and translator. He was awarded the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature and is considered one of the most critically acclaimed authors in the English language due to the number of awards he has received. In the original black cloth binding. Externally, excellent. Original unclipped dust wrapper is also excellent with price sticker to the rear board. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are very bright and clean throughout. Near Fine.
Add this copy of Disgrace to cart. $135.89, like new condition, Sold by Rooke Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from BATH, SOMERSET, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1999 by Secker and Warburg.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
None. Fine in Near Fine jacket. A superb first edition copy of this novel by J. M. Coetzee, the Booker Prize winner in 1999. The first edition, first impression stated. With pictorial dustwrapper by Lucy Harmer, a later impression with "winner of The Booker Prize 1999" to front wrap. The story of David Lurie, poetry professor at the Technical University of Cape town, who has an affair with a student and falls into disgrace, leading him to resign and retreat to an isolated smallholding owned by his daughter. A chilling, uncompromising, and unforgettable masterpiece. With unclipped dustwrapper. Â In the original publisher's black cloth binding, with titles stamped in gilt to spine. Externally, excellent with minor shelfwear and slight bumping to head of spine. Dustwrapper is lovely and unclipped, with minor shelfwear only and a small puncture mark to rear flyleaf. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are bright and clean. Fine.
Add this copy of Disgrace to cart. $148.24, like new condition, Sold by Rooke Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from BATH, SOMERSET, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1999 by Secker & Warburg.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
None. Fine in Fine jacket. A fine first edition, first impression, of J. M. Coeztee's immersive novel on the South African apartheid. The winner of the 1999 Man Booker Prize. The first edition, first impression of this work. In the original unclipped dustwrapper, second state dustwrapper with 'Winner of The Booker Prize 1999' to the front wrap. Winner of the 1999 Man Booker Prize. 'Disgrace' is an important novel on the apartheid in South Africa. Â Written by J. M. Coeztee, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature four years after this book was published. In the original publisher's cloth binding, in the original unclipped dustwrapper. Externally, fine. Dustwrapper is fine. Internally firmly bound. Pages are bright and clean. Fine.
Add this copy of Disgrace to cart. $152.73, like new condition, Sold by Rooke Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from BATH, SOMERSET, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1999 by Secker and Warburg.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
None. Fine in Fine jacket. Lovely first edition copy of this novel by J. M. Coetzee, the Booker Prize winner in 1999. The first edition, first impression of this work. Complete with the original pictorial dust wrapper designed by Lucy Harmer, second state with "winner of The Booker Prize 1999" to front wrap. Telling the story of David Lurie, poetry professor at the Technical University of Cape town, who has an affair with a student and falls into disgrace, leading him to resign and retreat to an isolated smallholding owned by his daughter. A chilling masterpiece by J. M. Coetzee.  In the original publisher's black cloth binding. Externally, excellent with minor shelf wear only. Dust wrapper lovely and unclipped, with minor shelf wear only. Internally, firmly bound. Pages bright and clean. Fine.
Add this copy of Disgrace to cart. $0.99, very good condition, Sold by Reuseabook rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Gloucester, GLOS, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2000 by Non Basic Stock Line.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. Though second-hand, the book is still in very good shape. Minimal signs of usage may include very minor creasing on the cover or on the spine. Aged book. Tanned pages and age spots, however, this will not interfere with reading. Grubby book may have mild dirt or some staining, mostly on the edges of pages.
"Disgrace" is an eloquent book about changing and aging, told with thought and with understatement. It ties together two seemingly unrelated stories: the first dealing with the professional and libidinous difficulties of David Lurie, a 52 year old professor of English, the second dealing with the change in South African Society with the end of apartheid.
The story of David Lurie involves his liason with a prostitute, his subsequent seduction of a young student, and his consequent loss of his academic position.
The story of South Africa involves Lurie's daughter who is attempting to establish a life for herself in the rural areas of South Africa and who is brutally raped while her father is visiting her.
The most remarkable aspect of the book is its ability to present volatile issues and persons with a minimum of moralization and criticism. We learn to understand something of David Lurie and of South Africa and to control our predisposition to rush to instant, nonmeasured judgment.
Society and individuals both change and age for reasons internal to themselves. Some things must be learned and understood through time.
I think this is what this difficult book is about and it is beautifully conveyed.
jaime malamud
Jun 18, 2009
Superb fiction, wonderfully written
Coetzee is at the top of English fiction writing today. This a book about losing our path amidst the ruthlessness of class and racial tensions after apartheid. It is gripping yet subtly laid out, the plot depicts the inability of ordinary morality in a new conflicted and resentful world. Flesh tearing, this book is must for those caught up in the riddles of multi-racial communities where moral tenets have yet found a proper place. A must for those who are begining to realize our impotence to overcome social splits and are amenable to spend a sleepless night in fear and wondering....
skyprincess
Dec 16, 2008
Realistic Story Line
The synopsis for this book does a good job of outlining the story. This novel won the 1999 Booker Prize and that is why I chose to read it. The narrator of the story is Professor David Lurie, ousted from his teaching position for having an affair with a student. He goes to live briefly with his daughter on her farm in South Africa. When they are robbed and terrorized, he cannot convince her to leave the farm for a safer location. This book seems to have a theme of making choices despite the consequences. What I liked about the book was the realism of the character and the story. The ending is not a neat little package and the characters were not particularly likeable, nor their motives understandable. It is well-written and compelling, leaving you thinking about the book long after you have finished reading it.
gazinda
Jul 19, 2007
I did not think this book was particularly well written, though the story does a good job of illustrating how South Africa is still very tribal. If you do not have the power, in that you can physically retaliate or socially retaliate, people will look you in the eye and take your stuff.
