Waiting for the Barbarians

by J.M. Coetzee

But like a fool, instead of giving her a good time I oppressed her with gloom.

from the oppression of such freedom who would not welcome the liberation of confinement?

This is not the scene I dreamed of. Like much else nowadays I leave it feeling stupid, like a man who lost his way long ago but presses on along a road that may lead nowhere.