Poll

This is a hard one for me. If it were another Coetzee book I'd probably have an easier time voting for him instead of Possession, but I'm going to go for Possession now.

Surprised to see Possession taking an early lead, as it doesn't have such good average ratings on GR. As I said on the book selection thread, I think a lot of readers either don't notice, or have little time for, the book's academic & metafictional side, in which it imitates the structure of the texts the characters study, and appears to respond to various strands of feminism that were around at the time. It can be read as both a literary page-turner and a book with a lot more going on.

The only Coetzee I've read was Waiting for the Barbarians, which used few character or place names in an effort to be universal, but also thereby became detached and chilly. It was a very useful book for discussion (I read it for a book group), but one to admire rather than love. (Borrowed this phrase from someone, can't remember who.)

None of his other works have appealed to me, though I sometimes feel ill-read in having read only one Coetzee. Academic-has-affair is perhaps the most tired trope in all of literary fiction, meaning that Disgrace is not the one I'd be inclined to try if I really had to read more Coetzee. Although it does look as if the novel tries to do a lot more, on a larger political scale, than most novels with that theme.

I just love Possession. What a great read!

I would have liked both to progress but Byatt is a favourite and this is one of her best.

Coetzee is going to get battered here...slightly surprised.

For me this is the mismatch of the entire competition. One of my infrequent 5* GR reviews versus one of my rare 1* reviews.

From my review of Possession "this is a brilliant read by someone who is clearly an outstanding author and makes most other novels pale into insignificance with its sweep and ambition and in this case sheer range of narrative styles, devices and voices"

Whereas Disgrace I found "bleak and unappealing with neither good writing, sympathetic characters, any form of narrative or any resonance to anything I knew".

As an aside I also found Schooldays of Jesus one of the bottom 3 or 4 on this year's Booker longlist whereas I loved The Children's Book so this is an author thing for me and not just a choice of novels from the author.

Lee wrote: "Coetzee is going to get battered here...slightly surprised."

Yeah, I thought he was really popular round these parts...

If this were an author thing for me, I'd definitely be shouting for Coetzee. I love so much of his work. But put these two books against each other and I have to go with Possession. It's so much fun and so lovely and mentally stimulating.

I have learned some things from this competition. I think before it I would have put Coetzee ahead without much thought (indeed I think I have Disgrace above Possession in my Booker rankings elsewhere in the group), but having to vote on the books head-to-head made me realize I don't like Disgrace as much as I thought.

I do still like it, though. The professor and the student plot is only part of the story and is what leads to disgrace. It's almost like Coetzee is leading us along with that familiar line with an arrogant man who feels he has power over anyone he chooses. But then Coetzee shows just how wrong that was in rather violent and surprising ways.

I think Coetzee is an exceptional stylist (I thought so much of Schooldays of Jesus was supremely well-done) but then you put Disgrace up against a book such as Possession, which is teeming with life and magic and playful brilliance, and you realise how much Coetzee is mining a samey seam. He's mastered it; but it's not loveable. Nobody is shouting about Disgrace from any rooftops and I can see them doing that about Possession.

Happy to join in the battering. Possession is a wonderful book and while Disgrace wasn't 1 star for me, it was nothing special either.