Without giving away too much of the plot "Waiting for the Barbarians" describes the life of a magistrate living on the fringe of an empire. His peaceful life here is soon disturbed when the empire sends troops to the frontiers to fight the "barbarians". J.M. Coetzee who is the South African author never comes out and actually names the empire as South Africa but throughout the novel the allusions and similarities are undeniable. The magistrate experiences internal turmoil as he slowly comes to grips with the barbarity within his own "civilized" heritage.
He concludes that barbarity is less a result of external actors and more of internal fear; essentially that xenophobia reveals the barbarity within "civilized" society.
Overall, a very intriguing and thought provoking book that I highly recommend.
2 comments:
sounds very interesting..i cant wait to steal this from you and read it as well. :) i love you!
Is Coetzee the apologetic voice of the white South African intellectuals?
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