J. M. Coetzee's Waiting for the Barbarians (1980) | Book Review and Analysis

The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2003 was awarded to J. M. Coetzee. This is a reflection on Waiting for the Barbarians, which was inspired by C. P. Cavafy's 1898 poem of the same title (Περιμένοντας τοὺς Bαρβάρους) and by Dino Buzzati's The Tartar Steppe (Il deserto dei Tartari), also known as The Stronghold (La fortezza), published in 1940.

My thoughts on Dino Buzzati's novel:
   • Dino Buzzati's The Stronghold, aka Th...  

My thoughts on Antonio di Benedetto's Zama (1956):
   • Antonio di Benedetto's Zama (1956) | ...  

"Waiting for the Barbarians," by C. P. Cavafy (Κωνσταντίνος Πέτρου Καβάφης):
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem...

Contents:
00:00 – Happy New Year, my friends! 😃
00:15 – Introduction
00:59 – My experience with J. M. Coetzee and my Nobel Prize project
02:47 – "Waiting for the Barbarians," by C. P. Cavafy
04:05 – Plot
05:38 – Structure
06:16 – Part I
08:02 – Part II
09:40 – Part III
10:38 – Part IV
11:46 – Parts V and VI
13:09 – The novel's main theme, and an unfortunate fact about He-Man
15:58 – Comparison with Dino Buzzati's The Tartar Steppe
17:43 – Another important connection: Antonio di Benedetto's Zama
18:57 – The film adaptation (Ciro Guerra, 2019)
21:57 – Bottom line