In A Strange Room by Damon Galgut

Posted on | August 12, 2010 | 12 Comments

Damon Galgut was a writer I had not encountered before In a Strange Room was longlisted for this year’s Man Booker prize. He has been previously shortlisted and the blurb on the front of this book alludes to him being “a kindred spirit of the great Coetzee”; as a recent yet ardent fan of Coetzee, I was most intrigued. I also read that In a Strange Room would be liked this year by those who enjoyed Summertime last year; I was impressed and wowed by the latter novel so was excited by the comparison. Regrettably, the similarities between Galgut and Coetzee did not really extend for me beyond their shared South African heritage and the similar front covers of In a Strange Room and Summertime; both attempt to do something different with autobiography but Galgut is not in the same league as Coeztee and his In a Strange Room is the poorer writer’s Summertime.

In a Strange Room has a tripartite structure; the book is divided into three separate stories – the Follower, the Lover, the Guardian- each following the protagonist/narrator in his travels. The protagonist is Damon, a South African and a writer looking back on three memorable travel experiences; like John in Summertime, Damon is Galgut and Galgut approaches writing autobiography in a different form. The narration shifts between first and third-person, with passages often changing between “he” and “I” pronouns mid-line; these shifts increase in frequency as the book progresses and as Galgut asserts himself as the protagonist. I found this an incredibly off-putting device and did not entirely see any point to it other than experimentation; I think it was supposed to act as a means to distinguish between older and fresher memories and their strength but it was not effective for me and distanced me from the story, such as it was.

There is not much of an over-arching plot to In a Strange Room and the three sections lacked any cohesion together other than their travel and traveller connection. In the Follower Damon‘s travels take him through Greece where he meets Reiner, a fellow traveller, who he connects and disconnects with; in the Lover Damon travels through Africa in a small group that includes Jerome, who is never in actuality his lover but who he does share an intense attraction with; in the Guardian Damon is in India with his friend Anna who is suffering from mental illness. The Guardian was the section that had the most emotional resonance for me, was fast-paced and had a plot; I wish Galgut had developed this memory -the one closer to him in time and depth of feeling- into a novel-length work; I would have loved to have discovered more about Anna and Caroline and think the Guardian section would have worked exceptionally well stand-alone.

In a Strange Room ended powerfully but a book should be judged on its overall strengths and this one did not have a beginning, middle and an end but three disconnected stories, one of which I loved and two that bored me. In a Strange Room is a journey novel, one of those where a journey -or three- act as a metaphor for a journey of self-discovery; the motif itself is old-hat and I don’t think that Galgut said anything more profound on travel than Paul Coelho has in the past. Each section appeared in The Paris Review as a separate piece and I think they should have remained that way, with the Guardian piece reworked and developed.

This book has garnered much appreciation in less-pedestrian quarters and I think it may very well be shortlisted for the Booker but I did not care for it very much.

Comments

12 Responses to “In A Strange Room by Damon Galgut”

The Book Whisperer
August 12th, 2010 @ 5:11 pm

Oh that’s a shame – I had thought that I may enjoy this one. Great review though Claire.
KevinfromCanada
August 12th, 2010 @ 5:47 pm

Thanks for the link, Claire. My impression is that those of us who like this book find a story line that flows through all three sections — and those who find it wanting don’t make that connect (let me amend that to: the author fails to make that connect) and it ends up reading as three stories. As much as I like it, I can understand why others don’t think it succeeds.
Jackie (Farm Lane Books)
August 12th, 2010 @ 6:32 pm

Oh dear! It doesn’t sound as though this is the sort of thing I’ll enjoy. I’ll give it a try and hope I’m pleasantly surprised.
Stujallen
August 13th, 2010 @ 12:31 am

having not read this galgut hard to say have read conflicting reviews I have read his first novel and enjoyed it a lot his books tend to be auto biographical like coetzee’s in a way ,all the best stu
Jenny
August 13th, 2010 @ 12:33 am

Oh, God, the point of view switches sound unbelievably annoying. Reading your description of the switches between “he” and “I” grated on me, so I can only imagine how I’d feel if I read the actual book! :p
Verity
August 13th, 2010 @ 8:50 am

I have to admit to not having yet engaged with the Booker list at all, so I’m glad you’re telling us about these books! i was a little disappointed by the Coetzee last year, it was by no means my favourite of his. But, I would be interesting to see how htis compared, but like Jenny trhink I’d struggle with following the he/I!
Rachel
August 13th, 2010 @ 10:36 am

Well you know I’m not really into all these lists but I am in awe of those of you who can slog your way through them! I do find these sorts of prizewinning novels irritatingly pretentious. I can’t be bothered with narrative technique now I’m not at university! I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy this, though.

Are you going to read the entire shortlist, Claire?
nomadreader (Carrie)
August 13th, 2010 @ 4:25 pm

I had not read any Galgut before this one, which was my first longlist read this year. I seem to have liked it more than you did, as I loved both the first two stories and was rather ambivalent about the third, which didn’t seem to fit well for me. I enjoyed his writing in the first two because it was something a little different. I have a hard time evaluating it as a whole because it didn’t feel like a novel to me. The stories could have appeared in almost any order with little change in meaning. For me, there was more good than bad, but I can’t say it’s stuck with me much. I will have to get to the Coetzee’s soon though. I’m glad to hear you loved them!
anothercookiecrumbles
August 21st, 2010 @ 11:12 pm

I’ve fleetingly heard the comparison between Coetzee’s Summertime, and this book, but to be honest, I didn’t pay much heed to it. Rightly so, apparently, by the sound of your review!

I’m not, by any means, planning on reading the entire longlist, but I have requested my library to reserve this book for me, so I might end up reading it. Like Jackie, I hope I’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Ladytink_534
August 22nd, 2010 @ 10:05 am

I’ve never heard of this author before… then again, I’ve never read a Man Booker winner either…
In a Strange Room – Damon Galgut – Farm Lane Books Blog
September 4th, 2010 @ 8:47 am

[...] I did not care for it very much. Paperback Reader [...]
Mark David
September 10th, 2010 @ 12:48 am

Ok, now you make we wonder if I should buy the book. I’ve been interested about it ever since I heard about it from the Booker Prize short list. I guess I’ll just put it at the bottom of my shopping list, hehe. Thanks.