The Quarry

Reviews / Votes

An extremely atmospheric book in a hazy, raw and entirely realistic sense.... Galgut's story suggests that such points on the map, despite their ghostly quiet, are seething with repressed violence, ready to explode.... A compelling read about guilt and evasion of truth * The Spectator * In a bleak morality tale about a fugitive from justice, Galgut again demonstrates his flair for charting the vicissitudes of human despair in modern-day South Africa * Publisher's Weekly * An...uncompromising journey into the heart of South Africa's darkness, written in prose that is at once stark and striking. The Quarry is Galgut's homage to Dostoevsky * Literary Review * A remarkable achievement...Galgut's prose has a spare beauty, suggesting volcanic emotions held rigorously in check * Kirkus Reviews * This taut existential thriller...divulges little but manages to suggest volumes... Stark, almost brutal minimalism * Boston Globe * The Quarry has [a] dry, feral quality... Galgut's landscape reminds a reader of Breyten Breytenbach's South Africa...roads leading to some vanishing point, the feeling of pursuit... The issues of guilt, injustice and redemption give the novel a biblical feel. The writing shines in its peripheral vision, in the backdrops and corners of its scenes * Los Angeles Times * One of South Africa's great literary voices * The Economist * [Galgut's] prose feels as if it's been fired through a crucible, burning away all the comfortable excess until only a hard, concentrated purity remains.... There are thrilling images here, powerful themes and almost scarily precise writing... Galgut is at the leading edge of what is turning out to be a brilliant documentation of South Africa's post-apartheid transition * Daily Telegraph * Beautifully written * Guardian * A minimalist, almost allegorical story... Its tension is almost unbearable * Library Journal *