The Good Doctor by Damon Galgut
I recently had the pleasure of sampling some of Mr Galgut's work, The Good Doctor. Set in South Africa post apartheid, it is the story of one man's moral journey amid a background of lawlessness and deceit.Perhaps not the writing style so much, but the subject matter, calls to mind Coetzee and his novel Disgrace. Other aspects of the book reminded me of Half a Life by VS Naipaul.
I quite like South African writers and Mr Galgut certainly doesn't disappoint. His ability to draw readers in and his uncanny talent of making his characters seem like someone we know or have met, is very appealing. For me, the medical drama and the doctor's world outside of surgery was very interesting.
It was hard to decide whether or not the "good doctor" was meant to be Frank, the protaganist or his crusading room mate, Laurence. I disliked Laurence from the beginning, finding him to be both naive and tiresome regarding his view of the world and dangerous in the lengths he would go to in order to uphold these beliefs. Frank, on the other hand, endeared himself to me because of his flaws and his willingness to acknowledge in his own inner darkness.
I look forward to more of Galgut's work in the future.
posted by Fiona McNally @ 5/17/2005 03:38:00 pm
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