Reading 1001 discussion

0. This is a spot to share your impressions while reading Waiting for the Barbarians.

There is a lot to this book: there is a lot of evolving- the Empire and the people change their attitudes about the nomads, who become Barbarians, in both perception and in reality. Even the magistrate, at the end, believes them to be feared, though he's not sure which Barbarians are scarier: the nomads, or the Empire's soldiers.
There is also a timeless quality to this book, unfortunately. Leaders tell their people that another group is bad, the people believe it, and war and barbaric behaviors ensue, usually on both sides, and fear rules the day. For such a slim book, this is a full one.,

I read this book long ago, but I remember vividly my distaste in reading it. Part of that was the subject matter, but more of it was Coetzee's way of dealing with his colonial guilt.

Enjoy is the wrong word for this book but the narrative intrigued I liked the way the Magistrate ran the settlement but his personal life was a complete mess.

I like Coetzee's writing but it is not enjoyable subject. If he writes out of colonial guilt then at least he has some guilt but he may just be writing to capitalize on the guilt. And what writer doesn't write to capitalize.

I did not like the magistrate because he was basically a womanizer, stayed out of things rather than took and interest in governing and liked collecting what probably should have been respected.

What I liked in the writing was the the look at how government, politics disregards the rights of people for the Empire to the point of harming not only the people but also the land.

That is the best Coetzee I read so far, yet I am not becoming a dedicated fan.

Patrick wrote: "That is the best Coetzee I read so far, yet I am not becoming a dedicated fan."

I agree.