Damon Galgut’s In a Strange Room

I’m always on the quest to read more international literature, and as such, I rely a great deal on Europa Editions, who specialize in publishing and translating literary bestsellers from around the world. I especially gained a significant amount of respect for them when I heard Muriel Barbery, the author of The Elegance of the Hedgehog (and one of my favorite books), speak at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books about what a collaborative translation process went through with Europa Editions. Even though In a Strange Room is not a translation, I still consider the Europa Editions insignia as a stamp of literary approval, and Damon Galgut’s book was no exception—especially as a finalist for the Man Booker Prize.

What I liked most about this book was the way it captured the tension—that comes with traveling—between experience and the feeling of being removed from that experience. In my humble opinion, true traveling is not only a journey between one geographic point and another, it is also a personal journey dependent on deep internal reflection on one's self and one's culture. Often, there is little distance between having the experience and reflecting on the experience. Galgut captures this two-state experience with shifts between the first and third pronouns as he refers to himself. Switches between “I” and “he” parallel the experience of traveling and knowing you are having experiences, but also feeling as if you are looking at yourself as part of a story or narrative. His shifts also serve to echo his transitions between feelings of connectedness and feelings of isolation and loneliness. It was easy to identify with his moments of deep connection with strangers he met as he lets change and companionship dictate his travels, which quickly changed to moments of isolation and loneliness upon the consideration of the unarticulated relationships with his companions. 

Galgut, Damon. In a Strange Room: Three Journeys. New York: Europa Editions, 2010.