Mixed feelings about this one. The main character is an idiot, but is portrayed in a way that you can somehow walk his shoes. I mean I’m not middle-aged, I’m not even a man… but I could sometimes sympathize with the disgraced-lecturer. As for his daughter: even though she suffers the main blow I simply couldn’t care less for her, I found her so irritating. Interesting to go through the reviews at Amazon.co.uk, some people read a lot into this book… well I’m not one of them. After reading this one I was so surprised to learn Coetzee is a Nobel laureate writer.. I might try another of his novels in the future.