Present Books Concering Waiting for the Barbarians
| Original Title: | Waiting for the Barbarians |
| ISBN: | 0140283358 (ISBN13: 9780140283358) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | The Magistrate |
| Literary Awards: | James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction (1980), Philip K. Dick Award Nominee (1983), CNA Literary Award (1980), Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize (1981) |
J.M. Coetzee
Paperback | Pages: 152 pages Rating: 3.93 | 23889 Users | 1715 Reviews
List Containing Books Waiting for the Barbarians
| Title | : | Waiting for the Barbarians |
| Author | : | J.M. Coetzee |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 152 pages |
| Published | : | October 1st 1999 by Penguin Books (first published December 1980) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Cultural. Africa. Classics. Novels. Literature. Southern Africa. South Africa. Historical. Historical Fiction |
Ilustration Conducive To Books Waiting for the Barbarians
For decades the Magistrate has been a loyal servant of the Empire, running the affairs of a tiny frontier settlement and ignoring the impending war with the barbarians. When interrogation experts arrive, however, he witnesses the Empire's cruel and unjust treatment of prisoners of war. Jolted into sympathy for their victims, he commits a quixotic act of rebellion that brands him an enemy of the state.J. M. Coetzee's prize-winning novel is a startling allegory of the war between oppressor and oppressed. The Magistrate is not simply a man living through a crisis of conscience in an obscure place in remote times; his situation is that of all men living in unbearable complicity with regimes that ignore justice and decency.
Rating Containing Books Waiting for the Barbarians
Ratings: 3.93 From 23889 Users | 1715 ReviewsEvaluate Containing Books Waiting for the Barbarians
"I should never have allowed the gates of the town to be opened to people who assert that there are higher considerations than those of decency."Perhaps an epitaph for our world. If you like your Kafka with a large dose of morality in it, step this way. I wonder if there has ever been a period in human history in which this little work would not have its place however particularly apt it may seem right now.This is the third Coetzee I've read now and all of them are economic in terms of paper"From such beginnings grow obsessions: I am warned." pg.79This quote, taken wildly out of context, serves as an accurate description of my first experience reading J.M. Coetzee. Having read this small book in its entirety throughout the last twenty four hours, I now have the urge to read his other works as soon as possible. It is interesting how Mr. Coetzee and this book in particular have become a recurring Goodreads meme of sorts over the last few weeks, so i'm guessing that i'm not alone in
"They do not care that once the ground is cleared the wind begins to eat at the soil and the desert advances. Thus the expeditionary force against the barbarians prepared for its campaign, ravaging the earth, wasting our patrimony."Is this--my 5th one read--THE quintessential Coetzee? (I may or not be nodding my head.)Earlier than "Life & Times of Micheal K.", it is here that we see the true beginnings of Coetzee's motifs, as well as the accomplished writer's poetics. A man whose fortune is
An unnamed empire exists at the edge of nowhere, fabricating itself with its own laws and truths, fearing the unknown threat of oncoming Barbarians. Sadness, loneliness and lack of true connections lie within the walls of the community. Sparse prisoners are brought before the masses to be tortured and slaughtered. Who are the Barbarians? They are us. It is our own disgrace and our future that we must learn to confront.
Im going to write two Waiting for the Barbarians reviews. The first, in italics, is the one that someone seems to expect, the second is the one I would normally write. Take your pick!Waiting for the Barbarians always reminds me of this time I was on a cross-country flight from DC to Oakland. This 400 pound Samoan guy in a black silk suit sat across the aisle from me. He feverishly wrote in his journal the entire flight, whispering things like holy fuck! and yes, shit, Ive got it! to himself over
What a powerful piece of prose! The main character is an anti-hero, a magistrate in an outpost of an Empire; he's been there for twenty years and has elapsed into a kind of routine. But then suddenly an army-kolonel turns up who wants to combat the barbarians at the other side of the frontier. The magistrate registers the sudden indications of torture and injustice, does not understand why simple nomads are declared enemies; his fascination focusses especially on a blind and cripple nomad-girl.
While writing this review the commemoration of the assassination attempt on Hitler is held in Berlin. On this day, 70 years ago, world's history could have taken a turn for the better, but unfortunately the assassination failed. The people involved were executed on that same evening. Needless to say this took place without a charge or trial. But today we remember not only the group of Graf von Stauffenberg, but all resisters and dissidents of the Nazi terror, be they individuals of culture,
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