Book 39 - Damon Galgut "The Quarry"

[jazzy_dave]

Damon Galgut "The Quarry" (Atlantic Books)



The focus of the novel is a nameless man, who appears to be on the run from an unspecified crime. He is picked up in the rural high veld by a minister, Frans Niemand, on his way to a new posting in a township church. In the grip of drink, he kills the minister and hides the body in a quarry, stripping it of its vestments and assuming Niemand's identity.

Arriving in the township, the man is unquestioningly assumed to be the new minister, and proves to be surprisingly good at his job. Only the local police captain, Mong, suspects the new minister is not what he seems, especially when the body is recovered from the quarry. The crime is initially, however, pinned on two local brothers, Valentine and Small, who are tried while the circus is in town (rather heavy handed imagery there!). Valentine, however, manages to escape before a verdict is reached and, his conscience getting the better of him, the fake minister also confesses and leaves, pursued by the policeman during a solar eclipse.

As I hope you can tell from that precis "The Quarry" is not a naturalistic novel. Images such as the bloodstain on the man's shirt and the fact the case is tried in the church suggest the author's primary concern is to give the story a mythic quality. However, description is kept to a minimum - this is tough, lean prose with page long chapters. Even so, I was able to imagine filmic images in my head for this book more strongly than for many I read, a testament to the power of Galgut's writing to do a lot with a little.

Galgut handles the legacy of apartheid in an elliptical way; it hangs over his novels without being their central focus necessarily. Here, the colour of most of the characters is not made explicit; it is easy to assume the murderer and the police captain are white and that Valentine and Small are black but the brothers' speech is peppered with phrases in Afrikaans, where the murderer and the captain speak only English.

Galgut's approach reminded me strongly of Cormac McCarthy's most recent work, in terms of the setting in stifling rural heat similar to "No Country for Old Men", the punctuation (Galgut uses more than McCarthy did in "The Road" but seems to have an aversion to commas in particular), the dark, almost apocolyptic tone and the elemental simplicity of his story. If you have read McCarthy's two books you'll find "The Quarry" a satisfying, powerful read.

Comments

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

Ohhh...may have to check this one out...

[nineteen68.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a great book! *adds to Leaning Tower of TBR*

[thespian15.livejournal.com]

It sounds like a very dark book, but interesting all the same. :)
Hugs, Jon

[kabuldur.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a gripping, if dark, read. Yes, like McCormac. He, too, is the master of saying a lot with a little. While it sounds like an attractive read, I'm not sure I could cope with the negativity. I'm trying to keep my life and subconscious bright and cheerful!

Thanks for the review, btw.