The Promise by Damon Galgut / Review
Вставка
- Опубліковано 22 жов 2024
- I'm a fan of Damon Galgut's fiction, but it's been a while since he's had a new book out. So I was thrilled to read his novel “The Promise” which is such a unique reading experience about a South African family. Click ‘Show More’ for info & links.
--------------------
Books discussed & purchase links:
Arctic Summer by Damon Galgut
tidd.ly/3gMOENc
The Promise by Damon Galgut
tidd.ly/3gFUBgg
Read my full reviews:
Arctic Summer by Damon Galgut
lonesomereader...
The Promise by Damon Galgut
lonesomereader...
--------------------
Get in touch
Book Blog: lonesomereader....
Twitter: / lonesomereader
Instagram: / lonesomereader
Facebook: tinyurl.com/hfk...
Goodreads: tinyurl.com/h8u...
LetterBoxd: letterboxd.com...
TikTok: / lonesomereader
Email: lonesomereader@gmail.com
I like the way you delicately explained to the woke crowd and the rest of us the reason this author wants us to be uncomfortable.
Having spent 2 years serving in Namibia in the Peace Corps as a white person I had experienced that uncomfortable feeling of privilege amidst the yawning needs of the general population I served.
I will definitely put this book on my reading list.
Wow, that must have been an eye-opening experience working in Namibia.
Such a great novel about guilt, collective and individual. For me, the promise is of forgiveness. Astrid seeks in heaven/confession (Astral, the stars); Anton in money and fulfillment of Desire (Desiree); love/Amor must hide away until the time of reckoning, but perhaps too late. An allegory, verging on the poetic, asking so many questions and giving us the responsibility to answer.
Another thought: Amor seems to be missing something, is damaged in some way (by God, by lightning, by her family/society). This missing element means she doesn't love (not Amore), instead becomes the anagram: roam; she roams about the world looking for people to help and care for. She's estranged from her society and in that sense is saintly.
This gave me goosebumps. This sounds so right! Thank you for this comment!!
Thank you for making this great, in-depth, review video of The Promise, Eric! I loved the book and, just after I finished it, I caught a livestream (Zoom) video interview of Damon Galgut by Peter Cameron (author) and Michael Reynolds (Editor-in-Chief of Europa Books). The interview addressed so many of the things you raise in your excellent video. For example, Galgut said the genesis of the book has to do with:
(a) his preoccupation of the passage of time at this point in his life (hence, the time shifts)
(b) a semi-drunken conversation he had with a friend who related humorous stories about 4 different family funerals (this gave Galgut the idea of telling a story using the funerals as snapshots in time).
Galgut agreed with Cameron that even though Amor is the moral centre of the book, she is also the character who is most 'absent.' He wanted to keep her mysterious as, in real life, the nature of real goodness is mysterious. Cameron feels Amor becomes almost saint-like towards the end of the novel (subsuming all her own desires, even at the cost of her own relationships, to helps AIDS patients, etc.), and Galgut didn't disagree.
Early in the interview, the big question about the lack of black voices/consciousnesses in the novel was raised by the interviewer, and Galgut confirmed what you said, Eric. That is, that the book shows the white S. African psyche. We see the black characters only insofar as white perceptions (and concerns/interests) extend.
Galgut also said that he played with time, wanting his novel to have the logic of a film script (like a camera that moves from character to character). The use of ghosts also let the novel range beyond the realm of the living or of mentally disturbed (homeless man named Bob). (BTW, we never do learn the colour of Bob's skin). Galgut's playfulness with narration and voice (sometimes omniscient, sometimes an anonymous narrator, sometimes addressing the reader) was experimental and there were times during the writing where he worried it wouldn't work. I think it does work, but that's me.
I am so embarrassed that I didn't link this novel with Howards End, which I read for the first time shortly after completing The Promise. Thank you for pointing this out. BTW, after I read The Promise (because I liked it so much) I ordered a copy of Arctic Summer which I recently received but have not yet read. I wish I could send it to you!
I was also really intrigued when you referenced the old movie Imitation of Life, which I saw on t.v. several times when I was a kid. I was thinking of the movie a lot when I was reading The Vanishing Half. I had never, myself, wondered why so many people had turned up at the funeral but, of course, you are right! The selfless and loving black mother was bound to be someone who was very loved in the community.
Anyway, I'm so happy I read The Promise as, I said, I loved it and was thrilled to watch your thoughtful, intelligent video today!
Thank you so much for the long response. Peter Cameron is a really interesting author as well. I've been meaning to get a copy of his most recent book. Those are good points about Amor and I can see how she's a kind of saintly figure and part of that is her humility as she isn't self righteous about how honourable it is to insist the house go to its promised owner; it's simply the right thing to do.
And that's so interesting about the narrative like a film script as I see this makes sense with its structure but because it's a novel it delves into the characters' minds and hearts in a way that you can't wanting a film.
Yeah, it felt to me so striking how he replicates the major plot drive of Howard's End but makes it wholly appropriate for S Africa.
Yeah, I was reminded of the film Imitation of Life when reading The Vanishing Half as well and Larsen's book Passing. I've not seen the new film that came out recently of Larsen's story as I've heard some critical things about it.
Thanks for watching my video! 📚
@@EricKarlAnderson It's my pleasure, as always, to watch your great videos. Thanks for your Reply!
Really like this format focusing on a single book. I have never read anything by this author, but your review is so insightful; this book and others by Galgut sound like something I need to read.
Yeah, it's been something I've been wanting to do more of though it's more time consuming but for books I'm really eager to talk about I enjoy doing a kind of "deep dive". I hope you get a chance to pick up a book of his. His novel The Good Doctor is also excellent.
Great review. One aspect of the book that need’s mentioning: the changing political situation in South Africa. The subtle references to this are important to the development of the plot and characters. I read the author teaches film. The book is very filmic in its style, dissolves, jump cuts etc. Definitely one of my top ten 2021 books.
Brilliant book, both in structure and character development.
Thank you so much for this. I finished this book yesterday and have to say I am now rooting for it to be the Booker Prize winner. I was amazed how the ever shifting narrative view point pulled me into this family. Yes,I did feel guilty when asked why I had not considered the details of Salome’s life and house, for me this was just brilliant writing. I found your review really inspiring, I really must join a Book Club here in Teddington in order to be able to sort out my thoughts on books like this.
I read each book on the Booker long-list each summer ( the joys of early retirement) and try and pre-empt the list by reading the hotly tipped books. Consequently I have been devouring books in the last few weeks, this is the one that has been really consuming me.
You have “body issues”, well spare a thought for the rest of us, I am sure I am not the only one who goes phwarrrrrr every time you appear 😜
Thanks Eric I am eager to read this book. I am a white South African and grew up in the Apartheid era.It sounds like it is dealing with some of the awful entrenched attitudes from colonialism and apartheid that the white privileged are battling to change we call it “recovering racism “ This is sadly a process that takes time and work both individually and collectively which seems crazy.The young people are leading the way and look at the older generation in disbelief and horror.
Yes, I can see how it's something so firmly entrenched in the culture that it takes a long time for the sensibility of a nation as a whole to change along with the laws. I meant to say, the book made me think of Wilkerson's book Caste as well for this reason. I'd love to know what you think of the novel when you get a chance to read it.
Really appreciated your thoughtful review Eric and am definitely interested in this one as well as Arctic Summer being a big Forster fan.
I hope you get a chance to read them. I think you'll really appreciate his writing.
Thank you for this insightful review! I've just finished this book and had so many mixed emotions afterwards. I grappled with how limiting it is in its perspective, but it being this way by design is a strength, and not a weakness. It highlights how non-white South Africans were pushed to the periphery of society, so I think you hit the nail on the head. I don't know if this is something the author thought about, or if I'm way off the mark but the notion of a broken promise which reverberates throughout decades is eerily depictive of, and asks wider questions about modern-day South Africa. I've been to Cape Town a couple of times and it's impossible to look away from the shanty towns as you drive into the city. In a country where the majority of wealth and land is still held by white South Africans, the legacies of apartheid are still very much present.
Color me tantalized! I haven’t read anything by him other than The Good Doctor, which I loved. What an intriguing review!
I *think* you’d like Arctic Summer and this new one. 🤔😅📚
Swart is a common Afrikaans family name in South Africa. It literally means Black. I am sure Galgut used this deliberately. I'm looking forward to reading my copy, thank you for the sensitive review (I stopped listening halfway as didn't want spoilers). As a white South African we all need this (uncomfortable) mirror to plumb the depth of our historical racism and its ongoing legacy
That’s interesting. Thanks and hope you enjoy the novel.
@@EricKarlAnderson I've just started and am struck by the fact that the English narrative voice would be a translation of Afrikaans, which accounts for some of its style. If you get to interview Galgut, it would be interesting to know how this impacted upon his English text (he doesnt write in Afrikaans).
Great review Eric. I thought this book was phenomenal. The highly mobile 'fluid narrator' was superbly done. This could win the Booker in my view.
Thank you, Eric I just read this a couple of weeks ago, and here I am to offer some opinions. I have many similar feelings as you.I loved this book, and I loved the way it was structured. I thought Galgut did a great job of showing the different ideas the characters had about apartheid and its fall as well as the changing ideas around race, sexuality, marriage, class, and religion. I had read a small handful of books set in South Africa, but nothing set in the post-apartheid world. I was in my 20s watching from America as the South African government started negotiations with the ANC, as Mandela was released from prison, as apartheid was repealed. Seeing a much closer first-hand account was emotional on so many levels. There was nothing lovable about the Swart family, but it was fascinating to read their saga. Thank you for a thoughtful video about a book that really made me think and re-think.
Thanks so much for your thoughts on the book and how it relates to your own experience of the events depicted.
i loved hearing all your thoughts on this book and how you explained your journey with its themes and ideas. i like confrontational narrative voices! it makes the reading experience much more like a conversation if that makes sense. like the book intends to start a discussion. thank you for bringing this book to my attention!
Yeah, it's a bold thing to do and really wakes the reader up to think about these issues of who is this narrator and who is the audience reading it and what is it really trying to say. Much more interesting than a passive reading experience. I'd love to know what you think of it if you get a chance to read it.
about the Salome's background it is answered through the wonderful narrative (as you noticed) near the end when the author mentions that she will return to her original village to retire .....and he answers that it wasn't mentioned before "because we didn't ask"! proving our oblivion to the maid’s life details.
I borrowed this from the library and it’s due back today and has been reserved by another borrower. So I was torn between whether to be good and return it, or whether to keep it past it’s due date and pay the fines. After watching your review, I am keeping it and paying the fines! I really liked your in depth look at this book, thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Pay the fines! It’ll be worth it! 😜📚💕
@@EricKarlAnderson well I can report back that it cost me 80p but it was totally worth it! What a book - your review was spot on, especially the points you made about the narrative voice. I am still thinking about the book even though I finished it a few days ago. I'll definitely seek out more of his books in the future.
@@kathrynhalton6782 Ah, I'm so glad you held onto it and read it! Such a fascinating novel. Thanks for letting me know.
This was such a nuanced review. I thoroughly enjoyed your deep dive into your conflicted feelings about this book and it’s portrayal of South African attitudes about race and class. The Imitation of Life analogy was unexpectedly apt.
It's definitely a novel that was intended to provoke mixed feelings and discussion and I admire it for doing that.
I didn't read this book but the “smell of poor people” reminds me of “Parasite” movie.
Yes.
That's such an amazing film! I've been meaning to rewatch it.
I have just finished this book and there are many uncomfortable parts (for white people in South Africa - not for me personally) however, I think I agree with every point you've made. As a POC from a colonised country, there were many parts which gave me moments to reflect. The casual and overt racism is unfortunately still very much present in colonised countries. I found so many of the characters unlikeable but I would have loved more from Salome about her life but then Damon's representation of her is really how the help are viewed - present but invisible.
I appreciated your thorough review. Thank you.
Thank you for your perceptive and sensitive review. Yes, The Promise is uncomfortable and bleak, especially for us white South Africans. I don't think Galgut intended to represent 'typical' white South Africans, but rather those attitudes, prejudices and lack of empathy with the plight of the black majority that persist even 28 years after the end of apartheid. The promise made but not fulfilled for so long is not just that of the fictional Swart family but also the implied promise of a better life for black South Africans that came with our first democratic vote in 1994. Unfortunately, this is largely an unfulfilled promise. One also has to see this novel within the context of South African literature. Characters like those described by Galgut feel familiar from encounters within this genre. One example which raises similar issues as The Promise is J.M. Coetzee's novel Disgrace which gives an unsparingly bleak picture of both white and black South Africans in the post-apartheid era.
I think when Galgut writes about Lucas early on in the book (body odor) he is referencing that he is in adolescence. Think about how in the same part of the book Amor has her first period. I think you have misread Galgut's intention in terms of why he includes Lucas' smell
I agree with you. I think the author essentially wanted to highlight their adolescence. He did write a few sentences on their changing bodies.
That cover. I was watching this as I'm getting ready for work and didn't have my glasses on and I was wondering why you would vandalise the cover before filming, then I looked at it closer and realised. 🤭
This sounds really interesting. I don't think I've ever picked up a current with African novel, and I must do it now.
Haha, yeah I'd never turn down pages like that!
I enjoyed this novel. I like how lightly done the unusual narrator was done. Sometimes I find books that play with form can be too focused on the form or can just go over my head and feel too opaque, whereas I feel like the the narrative voice in The Promise was that it was balanced so well with a sort of sardonic humour and engaging writing that I could engage with the things it was saying. it wasn't disconnected or alienating for me..
The Promise was released in April here in the States. I haven't read this author so thanks for introducing him. Will definitely pick up a copy.
Oh I hadn't realised it's been out there for a few months already. I hope you find it as engaging as I did.
Ahh, I love the sound of this book! I *adored* his book ‘In A Strange Room’, and I’ve been meaning to check out more of his work!
He's such a fascinating author and I can't help thinking that this new one must be a sure thing for this year's Booker list.
@@EricKarlAnderson He really is! And yes, fingers crossed! I need to check this out (and more of his others) regardless, so thanks for the nudge!
Your comments have made the book sound like it has been told from many different perspectives and messages to the reader. I will try it myself and let you know my thoughts.
I must say it does sound dark though.
It is quite dark - especially since the main characters it follows are unlikeable. I'd love to know what you think when you get a chance to read it.
I love Galgut, he always makes one think deeply.
Definitely.
very nice review. I was wondering whose speech patterns you reminded me of and I remember it was Mark Weins, who grew up in SA I believe.
The cruelty of apartheid has given birth to impassioned writing over decades. Nadine Gordimer, Andre Brink, J.M. Coetzee are three longtime favorites and now I can add Damon Galgut. I would like to find more black South African authors. Thank you for this thoughtful review of the book I think should win the Booker this year. The link to Imitation of Life is striking--a tragic theme, however oversentimentslized. The Promise, with its narrowed almost taciturn prose does not sentimentalize.
just finished this, he's an amazing writer, great review Eric :-)
Great! I’m so glad you read it and enjoyed it!
Lol! Yeah, “stranger danger.” The world can be scary. Most of the time we don’t even know ourselves from day to day or why we do what we do. It’s interesting. I’ve not read any South African books that I can think of. Have you watched the movie “Blood Diamond” with Leo DiCaprio? It’s an older movie and I believe it’s set in South Africa if my memory is serving me correctly. Trigger warning for violence. It’s a really good movie. I recommend it.
Yeah, I did see that film when it came out and I remember thinking it was good but I can't remember many details about it.
This sounds very interesting! I live in South Africa and am curious to read this book and assess how accurate the portrayals are. While racism was a defining factor of the past, it doesn’t sound like the perspectives shared in the book are reflective of the general South African living in the present. The biggest issues we are dealing with, regarding race, are land ownership and income inequality. The government is trying to address this via its agenda of “expropriation without compensation” (taking land from private owners and giving it to the less privileged to redress apartheid and colonial dispossession).
Thank you. It’s so good to hear your point of view, especially as a South African. To be fair to Galgut, it’s mostly a historical novel and in later sections closer to the present it does discuss a form of that government agenda and legal disputes over land for reparations. So it does represent an evolving society.
I am halfway through this book and think it's brilliantly written. Its style is reminiscent of Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, if written by someone from South Africa in contemporary times.
I'm ex-South African (emigrated to Australia in 1987). Sadly, racism is alive and well for a far-too-large segment of white South Africans still. I haven't read The Promise but will - Damon Galgut has been on my radar even since A Sinless Season (plus I was at uni with his cousin and worked with a woman who was a family friend of his)
I was already intrigued by this book, and after watching this video even more. Do you think it would work as an audiobook or could the shifting perspectives be confusing?
That's an interesting question. It might be a bit confusing as it does flit between points of view so much.
I can tell you it works fabulously as an audiobook. I just finished the Audible version read by Peter Noble and was was mesmerized, immersed, carried along by the poetic reading. Great reader! Truly great book.
I stopped listening to the review at the suggestion that it was wrong to write that Salome’s son smelled unwashed to Amor. Wow! Is it possible that fiction must now be careful not to offend. I had to go away to think about that.
i had not heard of this one but i'm definitely curious now
I feel like he's been out of the public eye for a while since it's been a while since his last book but I think this one has put him firmly back on the map.
Heading an awful lot about this book now on both sides of the pond. I loved Arctic Summer (and Howard’s End) and am eager to read The Promise. Sounds extremely on point.
I suspect it will get a lot of award attention so people will probably continue to discuss it more. I'm sure you'll find it fascinating and enjoy it.
@@EricKarlAnderson I was thinking about the upcoming Booker longlist release while listening to you, actually.
I really enjoyed this in-depth review, thank you Erik.
Thanks for watching!
I've read Coetzee.
I think he describe well some aspects of people in south África
Yes, I've appreciated a few books by Coetzee and I love Nadine Gordimer's writing. Another great recent South African novel was Evening Primrose by Kopano Matlwa.
This reminds me in fragments, of "To kill a mockingbird" where Scout mentions that she " likes to smell him" of Boo Radley. Smell does have a powerful effect on our senses, regardless of its origins. But the story does bear some fractured similarities to the Harper Lee novel. (Imho).
Yes, interesting comparison. I hadn't thought of that.
Galgut's books sound fascinating. I shall add them to my to read list. Thanks
Read Arctic Summer and liked it a lot after you recommended it. This one sounds more difficult subject matter wise but I'm going to read it.
Oh good! I'm glad you enjoyed it. Hope you find this new novel similarly rewarding.
So thoughtfully critiqued. It’s certainly a serious book.
*WINNER*
Booker Prize 2021
Yes!!! 🎉
I just finished this. I am sorry, but every minute reading this was torture. Every character was hateful…..spending time with each one was odious.
I had just finished Cry the Beloved Country before this. That was a beautiful, deeply engrossing, heart wrenching book about South Africa. This was such a disappointment.
It felt like I was reading a manipulative exercise…..not about real characters. And each character’s story seemed pointless.
I appreciate the points you are making…..but this book only made my angry. The limited perspective only frustrated me. I experienced no enlightenment from the style.
But, I am glad I had you to turn to for an analysis and interpretation. I cannot share your positive feelings about the book, but you gave me points to consider.
I don't think Amor noticing Luc's smell is related to any race, social or class issue (Amor isn’t like that all)!
remember she met him after her mother died and we know she had a nosia for few days that ended in that incident during the funeral, so I think that sniff is for his masculinity and her turning into a woman!
This is one of the reasons I like your channel; always so thoughtful. I found your insights very interesting - especially the tie-in re Imitation of Life and Caribbean literature (as a Caribbean writer, book blogger, and Caribbean person born and resident myself). The inner lives of the characters in the margins or written out altogether is, for obvious reasons, a concern of mine. On another note, that conversation overheard in the airport made me laugh as ridiculous things do.
I’m a white South African , lived through the Apartheid era and simply cannot read another book holding up a mirror to the horrors endured by so many millions of Black people . Maybe as the horror of inequity and racism continues to thrive and survive in this new democracy and I continue to live with the pain of it daily . I appreciate your very emotive response and intelligent review - as always !
Thank you so much for watching. Normally I'm much more drawn to books that give voice to people on the margins and even though this book does the opposite the way it's narrated makes such a forceful point.
Such an interesting discussion!
Thanks! It's such a thought-provoking book!
You will be the reason of my bankruptcy and Book Depository should finally give me some serious discount. I've read so many great books because of you so I kind of depend on BD because your recommendations are mostly not translated nor can be found in my country.
Haha, I'm glad you have a way to get them. 📚
Thanks for this review. As always, you introduce new writers that I can explore! The book sounds like 2021 USA. I found it interesting about the man who made a comment about South African Black women, because colonizers did not find the hygiene of Black women so repulsive that it prohibited them from raping them.
But not USA in 2008 and 2012 when Obama was elected President.
Yes, it was just hidden. It has always been there; nothing new. Let's keep hope alive for the future across the diaspora.
*adds to cart
Hope you enjoy it! 📚