Disgrace

Author: J.M. Coetzee

Disgrace is a succint novel that packs a punch on every page. This winner of the Booker Prize deserves all the praise it has received. As one reviewer describes it, "this is a tough, sad, stunning novel." Coetzee is at the top of his game. Much like Vassangi's novel, this tale also deals with the realm of the outsider in a different land that he has adopted as his own. The book explores the balance of power as it exists in South Africa as the tale unfolds. The author is able to use few words to explain the most complex of images which leave the reader stunned - at both the misleading complexity of the charcaters and the overwhelmingpoignancy of his message.

This is a book well worth checking out - easily readable despite some complex references to Wordsworth and Byron. An incredible tour de force that "explores the downfall of one man and dramatizes, with unforgettable, at times almost unbearable, vividness the plight of a country caught in the chaotic aftermath of centuries of racial oppression."