Novel Review : Damon Galgut (In a Strange Room)

“ A journey is a gesture inscribed in space, it vanishes even as it’s made. You go from one place to another place, and on to somewhere else again, and already behind you there is no trace that you were ever there.”

-          Damon Galgut, In a Strange Room

In a Strange Room is a 2010 novel by South African writer Damon Galgut, he is such a brilliant author. The book was shorlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2010, as well as for the Ondaatje Prize. His previous novel such The Good Doctor was a finalist for the Booker Prize and the commonwealth Writer’s Prize. Unfortunately his novel The Impostor wasn’t longlisted for the Booker Prize. 

At first page, this novel seemed so boring to me. I argued this novel told about a flat story of a traveler who travel to one place to another place, or perhaps a traveler who found something incredible in his journey. Then i kept reading until i find something different from the story. In a Strange Room don’t tell us about a cool trip a traveler travels through, This novel tells about a desire, latent hope, anger, and mercy. How a traveler decides to travel as far as possible and forget his painful past. There he faced many obstacles and the journey was not easy until he finally understood the meaning of life.  In a Strange Room is a beautiful and unforgettable resurrection for a man who looking for love and a place called home.

   

Nevertheless, It is a very intense, beautiful and heartbreaking book  i’ve ever read. Even the simplicity is artful and the reader is undistracted.

 

Plot

The story is about a young loner who travels across eastern Africa, France, Greece, and India. He travels casually, as it is. He follows the paths of travelers he meets along the way. For those who travel with him and the people he meets on the way – including foreigner with good looks and unique character, a group of careless backpacker, and a woman wrestling with her life- he is a follower, lover, and guardian. Eventhough the man was well intentioned, every journey ends with a disaster. Traversing the stillness of wilderness and the frenzy of border crossings, every new direction is tinged with surmounting mourning.  A combination of these three trips will change his life.

Therefore, i really recommend this novel to read, especially for you who likes reading. I’m sure, if you read this novel you won’t miss every page.