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What Members Thought

Karen
Sep 15, 2018 rated it it was ok
David Lurie is a professor in South Africa, twice divorced, looking for quick, uncomplicated relationships, decides to start a relationship with one of his students. Very quickly his life becomes complicated and is forced to resign.

This is the second book I have read by Coetzee, and to be honest, I just don't like his characters.
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Sunflower
May 27, 2009 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Great writing, and actually an easy read, considering some of the issues he is working with. But not a book you can say you enjoyed. I didn't hate Lurie, just thought he was "a great self-deceiver", confirmed later in the book by one of his ex-women. And everybody pays for their mistakes in this book, except the dogs who pay for the humans'. ...more
Joy
Jan 06, 2009 rated it did not like it
Shelves: unfinished
I don't know whether I'm more shocked by the fact that a text can give off such dark, unsettling energy within the first 20 pages, or by the fact that said text has won such acclaim.

Judging from the reviews I have read, I suspect reading this book in its entirety would have temporarily destroyed me. It is the closest thing to what I can only describe as soulless writing that I have ever come across. What a mess of ugliness. An apt title, at least.

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Kristin
Mar 08, 2008 rated it really liked it
Shelves: south-africa
Jasmin
Jun 02, 2008 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Crystal
Oct 27, 2008 rated it really liked it
Sara
Jun 13, 2010 marked it as to-read
Martha
Sep 16, 2010 rated it really liked it
Amy W
Aug 29, 2011 marked it as to-read
Alan
Oct 24, 2011 rated it it was amazing
Anna
Jun 08, 2012 rated it did not like it  ·  review of another edition
Kent Winward
Aug 30, 2012 rated it it was amazing
Daisy
Aug 24, 2013 marked it as to-read
Rebekah
Jan 05, 2014 marked it as to-read
Shelves: 1001-import, e-book
Kara
Jul 30, 2014 rated it liked it
Shelves: own, fiction
Elizabeth
May 26, 2015 marked it as to-read
Sherry
Jun 03, 2015 rated it it was ok
Shelves: intl-african
Devin Murphy
Nov 23, 2016 rated it it was amazing
Aline Ohanesian
Jan 19, 2017 rated it it was amazing
Sadok Rouai
Jan 23, 2017 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: bethesda-md
Rebecca
Mar 17, 2017 marked it as to-read
Lara
Feb 03, 2019 rated it really liked it
Kathy Jo
Jan 16, 2020 marked it as to-read
Wes F
Nov 17, 2021 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
Phoebe
Mar 27, 2023 marked it as to-read
Shelves: on-shelf, list