In a Strange Room

South African writer Damon Galgut’s novel, In A Strange Room, provides the reader with a protagonist, Damon, traveling around the world. Initially he is trying to get over a former lover, but by the end he feels that he is trying to escape from his own nature and repeated past failures. Galgut points out that he considers memory to be the real subject of the book. He elucidates the truth that none of us remember the same events in the same way, and with that, casts a beguiling spell on the reader as he describes three different journeys he took, one where he was in the role of the follower, one the lover and one the guardian. Certain themes resurface throughout Damon’s wanderings, including his unceasing drive to keep moving and his inability to form lasting relationships.