Search
    Search FictionDB
      Tap cover to enlarge

      Waiting for the Barbarians

      by J.M. Coetzee
      Published
      May 1982
      Main Genre
      Literary Literary
      Rating
      Pages
      192
      Buy on Amazon Book

      About This Book

      NOW A FILM STARRING MARK RYLANCE, JOHNNY DEPP, AND ROBERT PATTINSON

      A modern classic by Nobel Laureate J.M. Coetzee. His latest novel, The Schooldays of Jesus, is now available from Viking. Late Essays: 2006-2016 will be available January 2018.

      For decades the Magistrate has been a loyal servant of the Empire, running the affairs of a tiny frontier settlement and ignoring the impending war with the barbarians. When interrogation experts arrive, however, he witnesses the Empire's cruel and unjust treatment of prisoners of war. Jolted into sympathy for their victims, he commits a quixotic act of rebellion that brands him an enemy of the state.

      J. M. Coetzee's prize-winning novel is a startling allegory of the war between opressor and opressed. The Magistrate is not simply a man living through a crisis of conscience in an obscure place in remote times; his situation is that of all men living in unbearable complicity with regimes that ignore justice and decency.

      Genres & Themes

      Genres

      General Fiction

      Subgenres

      Literary

      Buy This Book

      Amazon Physical Book | Kindle
      Barnes & Noble Physical Book | Nook
      Bookshop.org Physical Book Books-A-Million Physical Book Apple Books eBook Google Play eBook Kobo eBook eBooks.com eBook Audible Audiobook

      Formats & Editions

      Browse the different covers, formats, and publication history for this title.

      Paperback

      Paperback edition cover
      Trade Paperback
      First Edition May 1982 Penguin ISBN13 9780140061109 ISBN10 014006110X
      Buy
      Paperback edition cover
      Paperback
      Apr 1982 Penguin ISBN13 9780147797384 ISBN10 0147797381
      Buy
      Paperback edition cover
      Trade Paperback
      Oct 1999 Penguin ISBN13 9780140283358 ISBN10 0140283358
      Buy
      Paperback edition cover
      Paperback
      Sep 2004 Vintage (UK) ISBN13 9780099465935 ISBN10 0099465930
      Buy
      Paperback edition cover
      Trade Paperback
      Jul 2010 Penguin ISBN13 9780143116929 ISBN10 0143116924
      Buy

      Hardcover

      Hardcover edition cover
      Hardcover
      Apr 2013 Perfection Learning ISBN13 9781613834695 ISBN10 1613834691
      Buy

      eBook

      eBook edition cover
      eBook
      Jan 2017 Penguin ISBN13 9781524705473 ISBN10 1524705470
      Buy
      eBook edition cover
      eBook
      Jan 2017 Vintage ISBN13 9781446424964 ISBN10 1446424960
      Buy
      eBook edition cover
      eBook
      Jan 2017 Penguin Books ISBN10 B01M9ICTC0
      Buy
      eBook edition cover
      eBook
      Jan 2017 Text Publishing ISBN13 9781925774634 ISBN10 1925774635
      Buy

      Audio

      Audio edition cover
      Audible
      Dec 2019 -- Not Selected ISBN10 B082VHFQVC
      Buy
      Audio edition cover
      Audio CD
      May 2020 Brilliance Audio ISBN13 9781713524250 ISBN10 1713524252
      Buy
      Audio edition cover
      Audio CD
      Mar 2021 Brilliance Audio ISBN13 9781713540137 ISBN10 1713540134
      Buy