In a Strange Room
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| Author | Damon Galgut |
|---|---|
| Country | South Africa |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Novel |
| Publisher | Atlantic Books |
Publication date | April 2010 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 256 pp (hardback edition) |
| ISBN | 978-1848873223 (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
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.