So long, and thanks for all the zen!

With each topic of discussion, whether it be genre, Marxism, feminism, or colonialism/post-colonialism, the focus seems to keep coming back to literature - What does this have to do with literature? In relation to Coetzee, as it was related to Conrad, what types of rights does an author have? How far is too far? Or, does a “too far” even exist?
I think that it is unfair to want to censor an author. The moment a thought becomes words on a page there is a separation between the author and his/her work, even if there is no separation, if the author is of the opinion he/she portrays in their work.
But, this is also true for the critic. If it is unfair to want to censor the author, that means you can not censor any critic either.
So, anyone can argue to any end that Coetzee’s book is racist, to any degree. That is their choice, their opinion. It is up to the individual to decide whether they agree or not. This is our choice. Read Disgrace and read the criticism and make up your own mind. Actually, take any novel or work of fiction and I’m sure there will be more than one unified opinion on it.
Disgrace “explored the unresolved tensions of the post-apartheid order.” Coetzee wrote with “An unsettling interweaving of realism and allegory, with biblical allusions and Dostoyevskian moral complexity.” Explored unresolved tensions by interweaving realism and allegory. Not “set out to solve” by writing “non-fiction.” He uses literary techniques and devices. Because Coetzee wrote a novel.