South African author J. M. Coetzee was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 2003. Now, more than two decades later, the Folio Society has pushed only one of his novels—their 2011 edition of Disgrace. Hopefully, we will one day see new Coetzee editions but until then I’ll be taking a look at the one book we have.
Within a standard Folio Society black slipcase is a volume bound in orange buckram and printed in red and black with a graphic design inspired by some motifs from the novel. This design wraps around onto the spine, which also bears the title and author’s name. It’s a simple design, but a tasteful, modern, and suitably edgy one. The hard-wearing buckram will also be appreciated by many readers. The sewn binding has black end bands.
The text of this edition is set in Dante and printed on 224 pages of Folio’s standard Abbey Wove paper. This paper will be familiar to regular readers, but for the uninitiated it is a smooth, matte acid-free stock with decent opacity. While not a truly fine artisanal paper, it still represents a clear upgrade over a typical trade book.
The book contains a complement of eight full-page illustrations by Andrew Gibson (including the frontispiece). I believe that Gibson’s work is digitally produced, but it has the appearance of an ink and wash sketch with a muted colour palette and a slightly grungy graphic appearance. This is a matter of taste, of course, but the images appealed to me both aesthetically and also as a fine complement to the text, which has a similar rawness about it.
The book includes an introduction by Christopher Hope. The intro is erudite and analytical but contains fairly detailed spoilers that are not labelled. To repeat a reasonably frequent suggestion, I wish Folio Society would publish spoiler-laden analyses as afterwords at the end of the book rather than introductions at the beginning. Failing that, a clear spoiler warning would be helpful. I do like to read introductions first if they will help me to understand the book without spoiling the plot, but I need a clear signal whether it’s safe to do so or not. I regard this as a matter for Folio Society to fix; Christopher Hope’s introduction itself was excellent.
Reading Disgrace, I found it easy to recognise why Coetzee was awarded the Nobel prize. This is a book of rich but economical prose that achieves much in just a few words. The same economy is carried through to plot and character development. I liken it to a master landscape artist who, with a single brush stroke and a simple flick of the wrist, can insert a figure with more dynamism and life than the most intricate and attempt at figurative painting by a fussy amateur. Thus, while Coetzee’s characters are often loosely sketched, they are full of vitality and personality. Lastly, the book manages to deal with some incredibly serious and dark themes without itself becoming too oppressive—even managing some dark humour in its early stages. Overall, this was one of my top reads of the year and it would be wonderful to see Folio Society publishing more of Coetzee’s work in the future. Meanwhile, I was able to buy my copy of Disgrace for a modest £15, so it’s easy to recommend. Purchase links can be found below. ■
Where to buy
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