Waiting for the Barbarians - J.M. Coetzee

An extraordinarily vivid portrayal of the extremities commited by the oppressors on the oppressed. The rulers are trying to fight a battle against the barbarians but do not realise the perils that lie in their wake. The few barbarians that they do manage to capture are subject to unimaginable atrocities which makes beasts out of ordinary human beings who are only concerned about filling their stomachs and least care about their surroundings/habitat. This novel in a way reminded me of Blindness (reviewed earlier) where human needs are reduced to the very basic requirements of food and water and nothing else matters. This book by Coetzee is definitely not a light read and not for the faint hearted.

Crabwalk - Gunter Grass

An interesting piece of work about a father and son tracing back their origins to a ship carrying refuges that was shot down by a Soviet submarine during the WWII. The twist is that the two are doing their research independently and don't even realize that they're both working on it until later. Grass tries to portray different thought patterns prevailing in different generations of Germans and how they think about the whole WWII episode. He depicts a growing number of youth who are no longer ashamed of their Nazi past as the previous generations probably were and are ready to support and uplift their stance. The novel takes quite an interesting twist when the sons internet research brings him in contact with his counterpart who supports the Jewish standpoint. The book works on various levels and provides the reader with a lot of food for thought. Hope to follow up on Grass with Tin Drum some day!