Contrary to my thoughts before reading the book, it is hardly about the outcast professor and his student than him and his daughter. In fact the daughter fills at least half the book, because the farm where she lives is where the problem of racism occurs, which I think is the major topic of the book: racial tension in South Africa– the problem between them who are “of this earth” and them the others–ones with Western heritage or the Whites.

As most racism, it usually occurs in more ‘uneducated’ places by ‘uneducated’ people. Not in the city where everybody is supposed to be smart and sophisticated, no. It happens in the corners of the town, in back suburbs, behind bushes and shadows. I should know. I experienced extreme racism for many years of my teenage life — the problem that is unconsciously stuck with you to the bone, the matter of ‘my people’ against ‘your people’ — all too familiar elements that made me queasy.

I can’t remember when I first associated award winner with ‘hard to read’, but Coetzee wrote in straightforward style that is easy to read, though not necessarily easy to digest. I particularly don’t care much about Byron and Teresa, the 18th century British poet and his lover, who are featured often in the book. Coetzee is also fond of symbolism. Stray dogs are used throughout (including the cover), though I sometimes failed to understand the meaning, especially at the very end.

David and his daughter Lucy have many arguments that present most of the opposing ideas in the book: old and new generation, male and female, rural and city, the conflicting races.

“I can’t run my life according to whether or not you like what I do. Not any more. You behave as if everything I do is part of the story of your life. You are the main character, I am a minor character who doesn’t make an appearance until halfway through. Well, contrary to what you think, people are not divided into major and minor. I am not minor. I have a life of my own, just as important to me as yours is to you, and in my life I am the one who makes the decisions.” ~ Lucy, p198

Disgrace is the theme of the book. I think at the end acceptance is the solution.

I would recommend it for people who would like to read thought-provoking book that touches uncomfortable issues. It’s also a pretty short book so it won’t take a lot of your time if you’d like to try Coetzee.

1999, 220 pp

Note: Apparently Coetzee emigrated to Adelaide, Australia in 2002. [source] No wonder he made appearances during previous Writers’ Festival here.

First line
For a man of his age, fifty-two, divorced, he has, to his mind, solved the problem of sex rather well.

Last line
‘Yes, I am giving him up.’

Quote
“That is what whores are for, after all: to put up with the ecstasies of the unlovely.” ~ David Lurie, p44

Awards
1999 The Man Booker Prize
2000 Commonwealth Writer’s Prize – Best Book
2003 Nobel Prize for Literature (the author)

Also reviewed by

Everyday I Write the Book | The Critical Lass | Incurable Logophilia | caribousmom | Out of the Blue | Ink and Vellum | Books for Breakfast

You wouldn’t realize it at the beginning though, because Kambili is so reserved and so in awe of her father, that as the narrator, she doesn’t tell you the story as it is. It feels like she tries to hide the fact that her father isn’t the perfect guy she desperately believes and wants him to be. That’s probably why for the first half of the book, I felt the story was almost static. It was a fine family story, but I wasn’t sure where it’s gonna go.

It peaks in the middle of the book when something terrible happens to Kambili and it is a revelation to everyone. And by everyone, I mean Kambili, her family, and us readers. At this point we’re definitely sure what’s going on and it is not right. That’s when the pace starts to pick up and the storyline runs with full force.

As central characters, apart from Kambili’s immediate family: Jaja her older brother, Papa and Mama, there are Aunty Ifeoma and her three children, and Papa-Nnukwu (Papa and Aunty Ifeoma’s father, Kambili’s grandfather). They play a big part in showing Kambili and Jaja the real world, the other world, just a different world with the one they’ve been living.

I often found myself wanting to shake Kambili to open her eyes, to stop yearning for approvals from her father, to see things as they are. On the other hand, I pity her and probably understand in some ways. Fortunately her character is developing throughout the book and we are left with hopes in the end. For me it doesn’t end up bleak. It ends okay.

The mood and atmosphere of the book reminds me of The Color Purple. Somehow when I started reading I had the impression that there would be politics involved. There are some, but really, it’s a story about family and religion. I love the writing. It’s very accessible and it captures the innocence of a confined 15 year-old.

2003, 302 pp

Awards
2005 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize – Best First Book
Shortlisted for 2004 Orange Prize for Fiction

First line
Things started to fall apart at home when my brother, Jaja, did not go to communion and Papa flung his heavy missal across the room and broke the figurines on the etagere. (inspired by Adichie’s favorite author Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart)

Last line
The new rains will come down soon.

Quotes

“Papa spent some time describing hell, as if God did not know that the flames were eternal and raging and fierce.” ~ p61

“She said ‘teenagers’ as if she were not one, as if teenagers were a brand of people who by not listening to culturally conscious music, were a step beneath her. And she said ‘culturally conscious’ in the proud way that people say a word they never knew they would learn until they do.” ~ p118

Chimamanda Adichie’s Top Ten Favorite Books (I found at the end of this book):

1. Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe
2. Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi
3. The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born by Ayi Kwei Armah
4. Efuru by Flora Nwapa
5. Reef by Romesh Gunesekera
6. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
7. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
8. Reading in the Dark by Seamus Deane (aren’t they Harry Potter’s friends? :P)
9. A Strange and Sublime Address by Amit Chaudhuri
10. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

If You Loved This, You Might Like … (also at the end of this book)

1. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
2. Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangeremgba
3. Joys of Motherhood by Buchi Emecheta
4. Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee
5. In the Heart of the Country by J. M. Coetzee
6. The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing
7. Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid
8. A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi wa Thiong’o
9. Petals of Blood by Ngugi wa Thiong’o

Also reviewed by

1morechapter | caribousmom | The Hidden Side of Leaf | Book Haven | A Striped Armchair | Farm Lane Books Blog | Books for Breakfast | Joystory | Book Maven’s Blog | Out of the Blue | She Treads Softly | Everything Distils Into Reading | things mean a lot

She left the life as a model, became the UN Ambassador, and had campaign against FGM (Female Genital Mutilation). She was circumcized as a child, a tradition that brings unnecessary intense suffering to a lot of girls around the world.

The book is written in such a simplistic way that it took me only around 4 days to finish (1 book usually takes me about 3-4 weeks). But I found it very interesting and insightful. There’s so much to know and learn. The tradition, culture, country, and life in Somalia and Africa. As a life story, it’s simply amazing. It’s a true Cinderella story. A true American Dream (or should I say Europe? She’s after all a British citizen now). From a camel girl to international fashion model? Cool :). Don’t forget that Somalia is one of the five poorest countries in the world. The daily life story in Somalia itself made me stick my eyes to the book till the end.

~ Finished on 28 August 2006

Quotes

“My nomad days prepared me well for this life: Traveling light, moving on when the work did, accepting what life had to offer and making the most of it.” ~ Waris Dirie