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Journal Entry 2 by  gypsysmom from Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada on Friday, July 03, 2009
 Well, I must say that this book was much better than the other Coetzee that I read. In fact, it was quite profound. I think it will be one of those books that I will think about for a long time. So, thanks marko for the suggestion.
The magistrate of a small outpost in an unnamed empire is quite happy in his life. Nothing much happens but he has his friends and interests and an amenable girl to visit when the urge strikes him. Then Colonel Joll from the Third Bureau in the empire's Civil Guard arrives from the capital. He has captured an old man and a young boy along the way and he tortures them to learn what he can about the barbarians' plans. The magistrate is upset by the torture which results in the old man's death. Colonel Joll heads out into the plains and brings back some more prisoners who are also tortured. One of these is a young girl for whom the magistrate feels pity and remorse and perhaps love, as well. He starts by massaging her feet, which were broken at the ankle and healed improperly, and continues to clean and massage her and have her sleep in her bed. However, they do not have intercourse. After a year the magistrate decides to return the girl to her people. It is a long and difficult journey and when he returns Colonel Joll is at the outpost. There is a rumour that the magistrate has been giving the barbarians information and he is thrown in jail. He is left there for months while Joll leads a war party to deal with the barbarians. Terror about the barbarian attack mounts although there is no evidence that the barbarians have any plan to attack. A few soldiers and Colonel Joll eventually make it back just before winter sets in. They were never attacked but the barbarians led them into the desert and then disappeared. The armed men could not survive in the desert. Meanwhile, in the town, the soldiers that were left have terrorized the citizens and then abandoned them. Any private citizen who could manage it has also abandoned the town. Food supplies are diminished and it is doubtful that those who remain can survive the winter. However, the magistrate takes charge again to make what preparations can be made.
So, the question is: just who are the barbarians in this story? Is it the nomadic people who just seem to want to live life as they always have? Or is it the "civilized" people from the empire who torture, kill, maim, lie, cheat, rape etc.? The parallels between this story and the European treatment of aboriginals whether in North America, or in Australia or Africa are obvious. My feeling is that the barbarians are all around us. Some people are worse and some people are better. The magistrate in this book at least had a conscience and thought about his role. After reading this book I think I now believe that Coetzee has a conscience, which is more than I would have given him credit for after reading Disgrace.
This following passage was one that resonated with me:
I think of a young peasant who was once brought before me in the days when I had jurisdiction over the garrison. He had been committed to the army for three years by a magistrate in a far-off town for stealing chickens. After a month here he tried to desert. He was caught and brought before me. He wanted to see his mother and his sisters again, he said. "We cannot just do as we wish," I lectured him. "We are all subject to the law, which is greater than any of us. The magistrate who sent you here, I myself, you--we are all subject to the law." He looked at me with dull eyes, waiting to hear the punishment, his two stolid escorts behind him, his hands manacled behind his back. "You feel that it is unjust, I know, that you should be punished for having the feelings of a good son. You think you know what is just and what is not. I understand. We all think we know." I had no doubt, myself, then that at each moment each one of us, man, woman, child, perhaps even the poor old horse turning the mill-wheel, knew what was just: all creatures come into the world bringing with them the memory of justice. "But we live in a world of laws," I said to my poor prisoner, "a world of the second-best. There is nothing we can do about that. We are fallen creatures. All we can do is to uphold the laws, all of us without allowing the memory of justice to fade." After lecturing him I sentenced him. He accepted the sentence without murmur and his escort marched him away. I remember the uneasy shame I felt on days like that. I would leave the courtroom and return to my apartment and sit in the rocking-chair in the dark all evening, without appetite, until it was time to go to bed. (p. 136)
When I was attending law school I took jurisprudence which is the study of the philosophy of law and the question of what is justice is one that we discussed frequently. Laws are not always just. In fact, depending on your position and point of view, they are often not just. I don't know that I believe we can only uphold the laws. Sometimes I think we have to challenge them. But certainly we can't allow "the memory of justice to fade".
The is read #152 for me on the 1001 Books to Read Before you Die list.
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Journal Entry 6 by  Cassiopaeia from Cardiff, Wales United Kingdom on Sunday, September 27, 2009
Superbly told by the old magistrate, a deeply unsetteling narrative that should make us question our motives again and again. I also thought Disgrace was an excellent read, although not everyone who read it thought so. Having now read two of Coetzee's books it seems to me that part of his skill as well as his expert use of language is his need to examine life in all its rawness and lead us with him to the microscope and make us examine aspects of humanity we would rather not see.
Many thanks for this gypsysmom, hopefully it will move again soon.
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Journal Entry 8 by Cassiopaeia at Cardiff, Wales United Kingdom on Friday, May 07, 2010
Released 2 yrs ago (5/8/2010 UTC) at Cardiff, Wales United Kingdom CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
On the way to ajsmom in Canada. Hope it doesn't take too long, sent surface mail.
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Journal Entry 10 by ajsmom from Quesnel, British Columbia Canada on Monday, May 24, 2010
Another excellent Coetzee read. I agree with Cassiopeaia; I think that he is a great moralizer who dips into those parts of us we would rather not consider. Upon finishing this book, I lay in bed wondering whether I would fall into a mob similar to the ones described here - I would hope I would never send AJ forward to help torture another human being, but I've also never found myself in such a situation. I can only hope I would act as the magistrate did and risk my own life for Justice.
Thank you for sending it my way, Cassiopeaia - back to the 1001 shelf until next demand!
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Waiting for the Barbarians
