This novel is slim, but jam packed. Once I picked it up, I found it incredibly hard to put down, and finished it in a number of days. It traverses three journeys the protagonist (author?) has experienced, each shared with another person, and each with a disappointing end.
The protagonist, through much of the novel, clearly experiences a sense of displacement and uncertainty. He drifts through life, either through foreign countries, or through the loungerooms of people he knows in various locations of South Africa, his homeland. He seems to have few ties to people or place at home, yet the connection he makes when he travels are prominent and significant. Perhaps this rises out of the thrill of the unfamiliar, perhaps from the distinct possibility of a new relationship. However, he seems unable to achieve what he wants from these relationships, even when he gathers the courage to reach out and act. In the end, there is always a sense of disappointment, either of chances not taken, or of promises of greatness simply not meeting their imagined potential.
Galgut plays with an interesting voice and tense use. He shifts from first person voice, to third person, giving the impression that the events are being narrated from some years afterwards. This at first makes the protagonist a little difficult to connect with, a notion which seems appropriate given the shift in the character by the third journey, which occurs in middle age.
We only have opportunity to witness three journeys in the character's life, yet to me he was entirely easy relate to. The aimlessness of youth, the yearning of later years, and then the resignation and calm of finding your place all resonated as aspects of a life fully lived
No comments:
Post a Comment