# Read the first page of Waiting for the Barbarians by J. M. Coetzee Read the opening of Waiting for the Barbarians by J. M. Coetzee free, no signup. A frontier magistrate confronts his empire's brutal war on outsiders. - Page: https://uncovered.ink/read/waiting-for-the-barbarians-j-m-coetzee - Genre: Literary fiction - Year: 1980 - ISBN: 9781446424964 - Read it blind (cover and title hidden): https://uncovered.ink/?b=9781446424964&s=read-page - Buy: https://bookshop.org/a/125786/9781446424964 - Borrow: https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=9781446424964 ## The opening I have never seen anything like it: two little discs of glass suspended in front of his eyes in loops of wire. Is he blind? I could understand it if he wanted to hide blind eyes. But he is not blind. The discs are dark, they look opaque from the outside, but he can see through them. He tells me they are a new invention. "They protect one's eyes against the glare of the sun, he says. 'You would find them useful out here in the desert. They save one from squinting all the time. One has fewer headaches. Look' He touches the corners of his eyes lightly. 'No wrinkles! He replaces the glasses. It is true. He has the skin of a younger man. "At home everyone wears them."' We sit in the best room of the inn with a flask between us and a bowl of nuts. We do not discuss the reason for his being here. He is here under the emergency powers, that is enough. Instead we talk about hunting. He tells me about the last great drive he rode in, when thousands of deer, pigs, bears were slain, so many that a mountain of carcases had to be left to rot (‘Which was a pity’). I tell him about the great flocks of geese and ducks that descend on the lake every year in their migrations and about native ways of trapping them. I suggest that I take him out fishing by night in a native boat. ‘That is an experience not to be missed,’ I say; ‘the fishermen carry flaming torches and beat drums over the water to drive the fish towards the nets they have laid.’ He nods. He tells me about a visit he paid elsewhere on the frontier where people eat certain snakes as a delicacy, and about a huge antelope he shot. He picks his way uncertainly among the strange furniture but does not remove the dark glasses. He retires early. He is quartered here at the inn because this is the best accommodation the town provides. I have impressed it on the staff that he is an important visitor. ‘Colonel Joll is from the Third Bureau,’ I tell them. ‘The Third Bureau is the most important division of the Civil Guard nowadays.’ That is what we hear, anyhow, in gossip that reaches us long out of date from the capital. The proprietor nods, the maids duck their heads. ‘We must make a good impression on him.’ I carry my sleeping-mat out on to the ramparts where the night breeze gives some relief from the heat. On the flat roofs of the town I can make out by moonlight the shapes of other sleepers. From under the walnut trees on the square I still hear the murmur of conversation. In the darkness a pipe glows like a firefly, wanes, glows again. Summer is wheeling slowly towards its end. The orchards groan under their burden. I have not seen the capital since I was a young man. I awake before dawn and tiptoe past the sleeping soldiers, who are stirring and sighing, dreaming of mothers and sweethearts, down the steps. From the sky thousands of stars look down on us. Truly we are here on the roof of the world. Waking in the night, in the open, one is dazzled. The sentry at the gate sits cross-legged, fast asleep, cradling his musket. The porter’s alcove is closed, his trolley stands outside. I pass. ‘We do not have facilities for prisoners,’ I explain. ‘There is not much crime here and the penalty is usually a fine or compulsory labour. This hut is simply a storeroom attached to the granary, as you can see.’ Inside it is close and smelly. There are no windows. The two prisoners lie bound on the floor. The smell comes from them, a smell of old urine. I call the guard in: ‘Get these men to clean themselves, and please hurry.’ ## Books with a similar feel - [Roman Stories by Jhumpa Lahiri](https://uncovered.ink/read/roman-stories-jhumpa-lahiri.md) - [The Gathering by Anne Enright](https://uncovered.ink/read/the-gathering-anne-enright.md) - [Real Life by Brandon Taylor](https://uncovered.ink/read/real-life-brandon-taylor.md) - [Whistler by Ann Patchett](https://uncovered.ink/read/whistler-ann-patchett.md) - [Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh](https://uncovered.ink/read/lapvona-ottessa-moshfegh.md) - [The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich](https://uncovered.ink/read/the-mighty-red-louise-erdrich.md) --- Source: Uncovered (https://uncovered.ink). A short sample shown for reading and discovery. Rights holders can request removal at https://uncovered.ink/takedown.