Reviews

• A classic story

  Waiting for the Barbarians is a fascinating story about a magistrate working for a dysfunctional and corrupt colonial empire that borders on the outskirts of the modern world.. With deep political undertones Coetzee's tale of man against a corrupting society where rebellion and personal redemption are inevitable is what makes this story so full of enlightenment and secured its place as one of the greatest classic stories of the twentieth century. Not easy to relate to, this story nevertheless succinctly confronts the conflicts of positive and negative traits which we all have to confront to become really human in life . This conflict in our souls which are man's unavoidable dilemmas has perhaps been best exposed Coetzee and Dostoyevsky. A highly recommended book. Also recommended are THE USURPER AND OTHER STORIES, DISCIPLES OF FORTUNE, THE UNION MOUJIK, THE IDIOT

• We live in a world of the second-best.

  A main character is a magistrate of a tiny frontier of the Empire. He has enjoyed peace for decades by sharing mutual support tacitly with barbarians, but one day a military group comes from the city center to vanquish barbarians who it thinks are getting more hazardous to the Empire. He cannot contain his resentment when he sees the captured barbarians who are totally innocent in his eyes get merciless torture and he finally ... This storyline suggests that a civilized world is a world of law and the law changes to suit convenience of those in power, thus law is not necessarily justice but we have to uphold it to keep order. Torturing barbarians is in accord with law of Empire but the author insinuates there seems no justice in it from a moral viewpoint. In this way the author skillfully implies the inevitable setback of our modernized world, namely, the second-best world. However, I found a hope in the magistrate's words that 'all creatures come into the world bringing with them the memory of justice'.

• この本をたくさんの人が読んだら世界は平和になるのに

  ローマ帝国が頻繁な「蛮族」の侵入を受け、崩壊の道を辿っていった時代の、アフリカのある国境の町に舞台が置かれている。そこの一地方官僚の男の苦悩・葛藤そして勇気・願いを通して、国境の平和が変貌していく様子を描き出している。 この本は十年以上も前に書かれているが、今、2003年に読んでみて、現在の国際情勢に重ねあわされるものが非常に多いと感じた。帝国の内なる問題から生まれてくる恐れ・不安を外に向けて、蛮族の侵入が近々あると人々の心をあおる中央の支配者・官僚・軍の残虐さと愚かさ。実際、攻撃的蛮族の姿は全く見えない、逆に軍が到着するまで、国境は平和そのものだったという人々のパラノイアから引き起こされる錯覚。異文化に対する無理解。なにか身近に感じるものはない？ この時代を語る上で通常不可欠とされる宗教という問題を全く持ち出さずに、これだけ人間性・異文化接触というものを深く描き出しているのは特筆すべきである。キリスト教のキの字も出てこなかった。 ただ、女性に対する視線というのは、やはり、男性の作家が書いたものだなあと思った。この点が唯一、気に入らなかった。 しかし全体的に、表現・文体もすばらしいの一言で、ペンギンの「20世紀の偉大な本」シリーズに入るだけのことはあるなと思う。

• A deep and thought provoking story

  This is one of the deepest and mind seacrhing books I have read. The author touched the soul of man in today's world where good is always in conflict with evil, starting with ourselves and the general society in which we live.It reminded me of Disciples of Fortune by janvier Tisi Also recommended: THE UNION MOUJIK, AGE OF IRON, BOYHOOD

• Coetzee is a great writer.

  The novel is an allegory. It is perhaps as much about the generic problems of living with others and oneself in a social order as it is about colonial subjugation. There is a great deal of suffering and the reader suffers vicariously. The main character, the town's magistrate, is a relatively benign subjugator and is also himself the object of intense oppression. This a very good novel, better than Foe by far; however; the Coetzee writings in the 1990s and thereafter are much better. He is for my money the greatest living author.

• School book

  Hard to find book for my son at SFU perfect

• Correcto

  Ha llegado en buenas condiciones

• Coetzee überrascht

  Coetzee ist immer für Überraschungen gut

• Parfait

  Le produit est arrivé en très bon état et dans les délais annoncés. Je suis très satisfaite, d’autant que le prix était vraiment bas !

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