Goodreads | Yulia's review

Yulia's review

[close]

blog this review

Copy/paste the text below into your blog.

<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/409449.Disgrace?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Disgrace" border="0" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1174506628m/409449.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/409449.Disgrace?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Disgrace</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4128.J_M_Coetzee">J.M. Coetzee</a><br/><br/>
  <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2964716?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
  rating: 5 of 5 stars<br/>Every time someone tells me I may change my mind about a book in a few years, that I'm just not at the right stage in my life to appreciate it, I shake my head and insist my opinion will never change.  I do not like green eggs and ham.  I do not like them, Sam I am!  But then, I have this book as a glaring reminder that sometimes, well, I do see things differently with time.  When I first tried this in college, I stopped after 60 pages, repelled by the lack of affect and humanity in David Lurie.  But just a year later, I tried it again and saw Coetzee's brilliance in making the reader come to sympathize with and love a man who pretends to be jaded but does indeed open himself to his experiences and quietly acknowledge his mistakes, though he can't undo their consequences.  So, yes, I will try <i>American Pastoral</i> in ten years and see how I and it have changed.  And perhaps I will return shyly to other books as well.  
<br/>
<br/>One line I loved was when Lurie, in receiving the suggestion from his daughter that he volunteer at an animal shelter, has the image of kicking a dog.  I found this hilarious somehow, that Coetzee would have the guts to voice his character's most curmudgeonly thoughts, and I, too, have become a dog lover to my surprise.  
  <br/><br/><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/185835?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Yulia's review
rating:
bookshelves: criminal-intent, i-thought-i-hated-you

Every time someone tells me I may change my mind about a book in a few years, that I'm just not at the right stage in my life to appreciate it, I shake my head and insist my opinion will never change. I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam I am! But then, I have this book as a glaring reminder that sometimes, well, I do see things differently with time. When I first tried this in college, I stopped after 60 pages, repelled by the lack of affect and humanity in David Lurie. But just a year later, I tried it again and saw Coetzee's brilliance in making the reader come to sympathize with and love a man who pretends to be jaded but does indeed open himself to his experiences and quietly acknowledge his mistakes, though he can't undo their consequences. So, yes, I will try American Pastoral in ten years and see how I and it have changed. And perhaps I will return shyly to other books as well.

One line I loved was when Lurie, in receiving the suggestion ...more

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it) flag

comments (showing 0-0 of 0)

newest »

date

all Yulia's books »