J. M. Coetzee
J. M. Coetzee has won a Nobel Prize for literature, and after reading Waiting for the Barbarians, there is no doubt as to his talent. Every single page of the book, every word, simmers with consummate artistry. Coetzee tackles the ever-present struggle between oppressed and oppressor in a mere hundred and fifty pages that feel like an all-consuming epic. The human struggle is encapsulated in this slim volume, which drives home its point on page after brutal, raw page in exquisite and illuminating prose. While some of the plot details are obscure, the novel covers a wide range of territory completely in exploring the struggles of an allegorical Empire to maintain control as the barbarian natives seek to reclaim what's theirs. Focusing on the intellectual and moral struggle of a longtime magistrate, Coetzee explores the divide between oppressed and oppressor, and by the end of the book it is unclear which agent fulfills which role; though the lines between good and evil are drawn quite clearly early in the book, the work gradually becomes as ambiguous as real life as it reaches its crescendo and slowly, quietly descends into a whisper as the fate of the Magistrate and his formerly bustling town hangs in the precarious, pregnant balance. Waiting for the Barbarians is not for the weak of heart; Coetzee deals with the subject of torture openly and with a stunning brutality; he minces no words and describes exactly what he means his readers to see. The effect, strangely, mixes with the poetics and the repeated use of visual imagery to produce, ultimately, a feeling of grace. Waiting for the Barbarians throws no punches and is a moving testament to the oppressed everywhere, slightly difficult in subject matter and obscure on the details but haunting and powerful nonetheless.
Grade: A
Grade: A
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