A Sinless Season

by Damon Galgut

Scott Berry, Raoul Dean, and Joseph Hamilton, three teenage runaways and vandals sent to Bleda Reformatory, come face to face with violence when one of the three is murdered and the surviving two seek the killer

Genres: Fiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Damon Galgut was born in Pretoria in 1963. He wrote his first novel, A Sinless Season, when he was seventeen. His other books include Small Circle of Beings, The Beautiful Screaming of Pigs, The Quarry, The Good Doctor and The Impostor. The Good Doctor was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and the Dublin/IMPAC Award. The Imposter was also shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize. He lives in Cape Town.

Reviews

[Bren · Rating 3 out of 5]

i'm still reeling a bit from this book! he wrote it when he was 17, apparently, and its kind of morbid and hysterical yet gripping and occasionally beautiful. Its about some boys who get sent to a reform school by the ocean, on the edge of a cliff....it's set in south africa, not that the national context seems at all relevant, unless one wants to read the whole thing as being some kind of metaphor for the violence and insanity bubbling under the surface of middle class white life. The school appears to be a well-functioning, liberal establishment, but the boys are up to some nasty things in secret, and its not that hard to start a mutiny. The blurb describes it as being a kind of lord of the flies; but its really about the main character, scott's, feelings for his ruffian friend raoul-who may or may not be a sociopath-and where obsessive homoerotic devotion can lead you...

[Vi · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing was honestly good. I loved how it enabled me to enter that world. The book was philosophical and daunting at the same time. Honestly morbid af. I feel unsettled after reading. What is good?

[Debbie Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think Galgut's later books are much better written - In A Strange Room or The Good Doctor. I wanted to read this book because I like Galgut so much, that I was interested in his earlier writings. There are glimmers of greatness in this book, but plot-wise it just was not that satisfying to me. It is a quick read.

[LeastTorque · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written when the author was a teenager. My goodness. The writing is quite good. The plot is quite good. The ending, the real one after the cliche cinematic denouement, is quite good, and, surprisingly, has a striking similarity to my previous read.

The teenage world of bad parenting, bad influences, and homoeroticism, rendered by a teenager, I repeat, a teenager.