Category - Fiction
Pages - 220
Opinion – fascinating novel with dark undertones
This book won the booker prize in 1999, and as is the case with most books that have been awarded with this coveted honour, it is impossible to understand the subtle layers of this book with a casual first time read. Hence my opinion on the book is more instinctive than analytical in nature. With that caveat, I would definitely recommend this book.
From the first lines of the book, the exploration of the mind of the protagonist Professor David Lurie begins. The depressingly familiar behaviour traits of a middle aged man dealing with his life and his self inflicted wounds are painstakingly etched out. The whole narrative is set such that it is all too easy to imagine standing next to the David while he goes through with the intense turmoil in his life. On an emotional plane, David seems to deserve sympathy and for the audience to start rooting for him, and yet there is a judgemental part of you that disapproves of his behaviour. Set in post apartheid South Africa, the reversal of roles between the oppressor and oppressed is brought out vividly. This is what constitutes the core of the disturbing element of the plot but then again the real world is hardly a tranquil place.
For me, the most haunting moment in the plot comes when David and his daughter are assaulted in their own houses by strangers. Even though the details are only given about the graphic nature of the physical assault on David, the silence in the book about the assault on his daughter conveys the idea in a manner that words could possibly not have done. The historical baggage of guilt hangs over them and colours their perception and responses. David finally manages to put at least some of ghosts in his mind to rest and the story ends with an ostensibly allegorical reference to this. In sum, a book that should definitely be present on your reading list.
Pages - 220
Opinion – fascinating novel with dark undertones
This book won the booker prize in 1999, and as is the case with most books that have been awarded with this coveted honour, it is impossible to understand the subtle layers of this book with a casual first time read. Hence my opinion on the book is more instinctive than analytical in nature. With that caveat, I would definitely recommend this book.
From the first lines of the book, the exploration of the mind of the protagonist Professor David Lurie begins. The depressingly familiar behaviour traits of a middle aged man dealing with his life and his self inflicted wounds are painstakingly etched out. The whole narrative is set such that it is all too easy to imagine standing next to the David while he goes through with the intense turmoil in his life. On an emotional plane, David seems to deserve sympathy and for the audience to start rooting for him, and yet there is a judgemental part of you that disapproves of his behaviour. Set in post apartheid South Africa, the reversal of roles between the oppressor and oppressed is brought out vividly. This is what constitutes the core of the disturbing element of the plot but then again the real world is hardly a tranquil place.
For me, the most haunting moment in the plot comes when David and his daughter are assaulted in their own houses by strangers. Even though the details are only given about the graphic nature of the physical assault on David, the silence in the book about the assault on his daughter conveys the idea in a manner that words could possibly not have done. The historical baggage of guilt hangs over them and colours their perception and responses. David finally manages to put at least some of ghosts in his mind to rest and the story ends with an ostensibly allegorical reference to this. In sum, a book that should definitely be present on your reading list.
