Nicole did her book discussion today on Disgrace (She did a great job). That aside, I can honestly say I hated David Lurie's character. He was an egoist, sex-crazed, immoralist. I don't understand him--why he did what he did. Yet somehow it seems the reader is expected to like him, or at least to relate to him, but I can not at all. It bothers me how sex was portrayed in this novel. It was reguarded way too casually, yet a driving force/necessity at the same time. This is one of those books you can not put in a little white box, and that frustrates me. I want to understand it, to interpret it, to say it fits neatly here, and this is its theme, this is what it is trying to tell me. I feel more confused, almost empty after reading it. What was its point, why are people so intrigued with it? What is its allure? I am disturbed by its lack of morality, and even the title--disgrace is a value only if you have a sense of honor and respect to start out with.
If you read the book, we can debate the issues. I do enjoy a good argument!
While I have not read "Disgrace", I find your commentary on the book interesting and a bit narrow, seeing that you are an English major. I think you will find that not all literature fits into a "little white box", which is one of the reasons that literature is so challenging and wonderful. As a voracious reader, I have not agreed with everything I have read either, but I have learned how to appreciate different genres of literature and recognize how they fit into the literary landscape. Remember that some of the most controversial pieces of literature became historical watersheds. Good luck abroad; the year that I spent abroad in high school was the best year of my life.
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