Waiting for the Barbarians: A Novel

The beast that lurks within us must only be unleashed upon ourselves
The nameless Magistrate has been a loyal servant of the nameless Empire for many years – he managed affairs in a tiny colonial town somewhere in the Middle East.... The inhabitants of the town live in constant fear: they are so afraid of an invasion by barbarians that at a certain point they decide to take matters into their own hands. The Magistrate, shocked by the brutality of those around him, tries to show humanity, but this only leads to the state machinery turning against him.
The famous novel by Coetzee is a parable about the conflict between man and regime, oppression, and cruelty. The dense and complex text raises eternal questions and disturbs the peace: before you is a brilliant philosophical novel capable of changing the reader.