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In a Strange Room

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In a Strange Room
AuthorDamon Galgut
LanguageEnglish
GenreNovel
PublisherAtlantic Books
Publication date
April 2010
Publication placeSouth Africa
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages256 pp (hardback edition)
ISBN978-1848873223 (hardback edition)

In a Strange Room is a 2010 novel by South African writer Damon Galgut. It was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2010, as well as for the Ondaatje Prize.

Plot synopsis

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The novel is divided into three sections, namely "The Follower", "The Lover" and "The Guardian". It concerns Damon, a South African writer who is infected by wanderlust as he goes backpacking abroad and meet different people. In "The Follower", Damon meets a German backpacker named Reiner in Greece, and becomes his travelling companion. Subsequently, in "The Lover", he follows a Frenchman and two Swiss fraternal twins—a man and a woman—travelling through Africa. In both, Damon is aware of a homoerotic feeling which binds him to Reiner and Jerome, one of the twins. The final section takes place in India, where he is minding a female friend Anna with severe psychiatric illness and who is threatening suicide.

Reception

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On The Omnivore, an aggregator of British press reviews, the book received an score of 4.5 out of 5.[1]

References

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  1. ^ "In a Strange Room". The Omnivore. Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 12 July 2024.