WAITING FOR THE BARBARIANS by J.M. Coetzee

Finished Th 3/21/13

My post on Good Reads-

Although WAITING FOR THE BARBARIANS was published in 1980, this novel's dominant themes of incarceration without due process and the efficacy of torture provide insight into our current international 'War On Terror'. The novel is set in a frontier town ruled by 'The Empire', and the story is the first person account of the local magistrate's growing unwillingness to support the imperialistic approach to a dubious or doubtful threat to the state by an ethnic group known as, 'The Barbarians'. The novel documents his relationship with a Barbarian servant girl, and his imprisonment and torture by Colonel Joll who represents the power of the state. The writing style of the novel is bit dated, but effectively manages to cover similar subjects and themes found in such classic dystopian novels as,  BRAVE NEW WORLD and 1984.