End

by Barbara Adair

Set amidst erupting violence and an edgy, war-torn Johannesburg, South Africa, in the 1980s, this brutally witty and unnervingly erotic postmodern novel explores destiny’s uncertainties.

168 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2008

Reviews

[Mish Middelmann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Harsh view of some aspects of life - centered around the conviction that love is a lie. A valiant attempt at a post-modern novel, where the author and the characters talk to each other as they play out depressing lives within a bleak shell of violence and loss scattered across Maputo and Johannesburg. Not that the harshness of life is not true; just that the author chooses to place her focus only on those aspects of truth.

One of the things that attracted me to read the book was that it was described as "erotic." I was disappointed that although erotic stirrings were occasionally evoked, the absence of love killed those stirrings quite quickly for me. Again, the choice to focus on some aspects of the truth about sex - in this case quite a lot of the "just gotta do it" variety.

[Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the idea of the narrator/ writer conversing with the characters throughout, but the execution was not done well enough. The plot was loosely put together and somewhat disconnected throughout the book.

[Chrissie]

This is the first book of current South African fiction that I'm reading.