Overview
Region
Southern Africa
South Africa
Era
Post-colonial
Language
English
Genre
Fiction
About This Work
A magistrate of an unnamed empire on its frontier becomes complicit in the torture of nomadic 'barbarians' and must confront what he has done. An allegory of colonialism and apartheid that refuses to name itself.
Literary Significance
Considered one of the great political novels of the 20th century; Coetzee won the Nobel Prize in 2003