Customer Reviews

The Good Doctor: A Novel

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Damon Galgut's "The Good Doctor (GD)" is arguably the best among last year's Booker nominees, though sadly its classy but staid and measured qualities may not be what critics look for in prize winners. With GD, those acquainted with the works of South African novelists like Nadine Gordimer and J M Coetzee will find themselves in familiar territory. South Africa in transition is a perspective commonly adopted by these writers.

At its highest level, the brooding tension between Frank and Laurence in their unlikely relationship is symbolic of the struggle for supremacy between the forces of old and new. When Laurence's wide-eyed enthusiasm is pitted against Frank's resigned and cynical indifference, the result is cataclysmic, far beyond the reader's imagination. While Galgut's story is touched by death and regret, his vision isn't entirely bleak. When Laurence and Frank swap beds, deadbeat after a long night out, they feel strangely comfortable in each other's beds. Like yin and yang, are they not twin halves of a pupa society emerging from its chrysalis ? Laurence's stubborn perseverance against the stultifying bureaucracy of Dr Ngema's hospital isn't always altruistic. His callous disregard for Frank's plight as he goes in frenzied pursuit of his vision of setting up a village clinic is delirious if not a little mad. In spite of this, it is Laurence who unleashes the momentum that forces Frank to examine what's wrong in his thwarted life - his failed relationships with his father, his ex-wife, Maria, etc, and who is ultimately the catalyst for Frank's transformation.

There are scenes in GD that are truly memorable, like Frank's and Zanele's unexpected nocturnal encounter with the shadowy figure of the Brigadier, the town's former tinpot dictator. Surely Zanele's schoolgirl-like enchantment with her host is Galgut's sideswipe at the veneer thin and uncomprehending sloganeering of armed chaired liberals from afar. Galgut's characterisation is excellent, sharp and realised throughout. The sullenness of Tehogo, the hospital's sole unqualified male nurse, perfectly encapsulates the corruption, rot and decay of South African society. Only the rehearsed platitudes flowing from the mouth of Dr Ngema comes across as false, stagy and predictable. You know what she will say even before she says it. A minor lapse in otherwise great characterisation.

Galgut's poised, unhurried and reasoned prose is an absolute delight. Its greatest strength lies in its ability to reveal many layered truths of a society at its crossroads without hyperbole or false bravura. A thoroughly confident and assured debut from Galgut, who will no doubt join the ranks of great South African novelists.

Galgut's novel evokes the stark landscape of rural post-apartheid South Africa. But do not let the daunting subject matter scare you away. This is a highly accessible novel written in simple, but eloquent prose. It's told from the point of view of middle-aged Frank Eloff who is an under-achieving doctor that has spent many years of his life at a remote hospital waiting to be promoted. He begins the tale when an enthusiastic young doctor named Laurence joins the hospital as part of a required year of training. The two are required to share a room. A uncomfortable friendship blossoms. Laurence is determined to use his time at the hospital to make some radical changes as part of the new South Africa he welcomes. Frank however isn't so certain that the old South Africa has entirely left. Through the novel they are confronted by unavoidable people and problems from the past which slow the progress Laurence so ardently desires.

It's a literary work that contemplates the dilemma of the new South Africa with the same brevity as Gordimer's None to Accompany Me and Coetzee's Disgrace. Apart from the political connotations, this novel is a powerful and haunting tale about friendship and a man coming to terms with his middle age. It echoes the disturbing quality of Ibsen's Ghosts through its repetition of sexual betrayal. Toward the end of Frank's narrative, his accounts become more hallucinatory and his honesty becomes uncertain. A tremendous guilt overshadows his narrative. There is a desire to shake the complacency of the environment, yet any attempt at progress instantly proves futile. This is a very melancholy novel, but one of captivating beauty and intriguing mystery.

"The Good Doctor" is a quick read - and not just because the prose is clear, spare and well-balanced. You've read this story before. The plot of the disastrous end to a friendship between a middle-aged, sexually-corrupt cynic and a young, meddling idealist is already well-worn ground. Among others, it has been covered by Graham Greene in "The Quiet American" - a book that has received much attention lately due to the movie adaptation with Michael Caine. I am very surprised that no-one has noticed the connection between "The Good Doctor" and "The Quiet American", especially given the similarity in titles, let alone plot and character development. The former, like the later, is filled with beautiful, careful sentences, a confessional tone, an almost surreally ominous setting, and well-paced suspense. Greene's book, however, told us unique and prescient things about Vietnam. Somehow, despite being immediately engaged by the story, I could not convince myself that Galgut was saying anything new or particularly insightful about post-apartheid South Africa. Though I enjoyed his book in a way I have never enjoyed "The Quiet American", I think reading "The Good Doctor" has helped me to develop a greater appreciation for the importance of Greene's novel. Is it the most cynical part of me that believes Galgut is a great writer who, like many of his countrymen and women, is simply trying too hard to write the Great New South African Novel?

This is a tense, terse account of post Apartheid South Africa. The main character
flees his `first world' life in urban South Africa, and works in a dilapidated and
under-used hospital in a rural area. This being South Africa the legacy of racist rule is mixed with the present day rich/poor divide and the (white) author confronts politically inspired waste of resources and poor planning. However the main thrust of the book is the characterisation of the main players, and this is done supremely well. The spare style of the book echoes the ultimately futile fate of all the characters, all have something to hide and nothing, ultimately, to strive for. It is a wonderful read.
The book has been criticized as the work of yet another white author predicting the inevitable descent into chaos of a newly independent black African State. I believe this is not the objective of the book, there are however extremely bleak
views which can be taken about South Africa, its basic poverty and its mounting health crisis and the inevitable inefficiency and corruption of government. This book offers this bleakness as a backdrop to a clear-eyed tail of human
aspirations and disappointments

I came away from this book with that feeling you get leaving a restaurant where the portions just haven't been big enough, and you're hoping no one will see you slip into the fast-food place round the corner. The Good Doctor is strong on characterisation and the tension between the two doctors kept me hooked till the end. However, the whole political backdrop to events is too obliquely rendered. 'Backdrop' is hardly the word; politics has intruded so completely into the lives and personalities of these people that I felt a more detailed description of the social situation and relationships was required to help me fully understand why these characters feel compelled to do the things they do. Perhaps Galgut was writing for a South African audience who could complete his implications by themselves. Perhaps it was the opposite; he kept things deliberately vague to add a universality and timelessness to the appeal of the book. Either way, it doesn't work for me. In summary, a good enough read but lacking a certain something.

Laurence Waters is working in a rundown hospital in the capital of what used to be one of the homelands of South Africa. These areas of land are impoverished and underdeveloped, set aside by the apartheid government for the self determination of its various black nations. As Frank Eloff joins the staff of five for a one year training, he soon discovers that there is virtually no activity at the hospital. Most of the people living in the abandoned town - built once by what Laurence terms as "a puppet dictator" - aren't even aware of the presence of the facility! The equipment is so flimsy that most cases have to be referred to a hospital in a town an hour away.
Nevertheless, Mr Galgut masterfully describes the relationships between the staff members, at times showing harmony, at times tension and discord. Laurence's thoughts are busy with his failed marriage, with his father resenting him for being what one may call a loser - he ironically talks about "such wonderful work you do up there amongst the rural blacks" - or with his memories of the two years he spent in the army.
An altogether impressive read, atmospheric with the heavy heat of South Africa, its political and racial issues and the permanent threat of violence which many authors associate with their country in their novels - J.M. Coetzee, André Brink, Nadine Gordimer or Doris Lessing to name but a few.

"The Good Doctor" is an amazing tale of friendship, self-discovery, and dealing with the everyday struggles of a downtrodden place. This book follows Frank Eloff, a dissatisfied man who is desperately searching for change, and Laurence Waters, a young idealistic man who believes he can single handily change the world. When these two Characters meet, things begin to change for both men. Galgut shows just how much each of the men have changed the other man. In describing this relationship, Galgut holds interest by the wonderful description of the barren earth surrounding them. Galgut keeps you guessing at every twist and turn, in this impossible relationship. If you are looking to find more information on South Africa, or you just love the tale of a star-crossed friendship, then this book is most certainly for you.

very bare in its story telling. i believe this was short listed for the Booker Prize. This book really didn't do anything for me. Its like one of those books you read and then they become part of those untitled stream of books you've read but vaguely remember-kind of like going to a movie that you can barely recall seeing from 2-3 years ago.

Its not badly written but if it had not been assigned reading for class, i would have preferred to read something else. If yu want to read good South African literature, try Gordimer, or Coetzee. Both of whom won the Nobel Prize in literature in recent years. There is no reason why you should or should not read it. It may resonate for those who are south african more.

The characterization is particularly strong so that the characters seem indelible. There is a subtlety to the meaning of the story and the analogy or metaphor it paints of all south africa- young white idealism, blacks who can't forget apartheid, old cynical views, etc. i think this may be the sort of book that touches people differently. SO while i may read it and feel unaffected, it may do something quite different to another.

Laurence Waters, a newly qualified Doctor, comes to do his years community service at a run down and under used hospital in a former South African homeland. He wants to make a difference, to be part of creating a new and better society and has a naivete that leaves him ill equipped for lifes harsher realities. He shares a room with the narrator of the tale, Frank, a cynical doctor who has lost focus and meaning in his life. Like South Africa itself he is looking for direction,
This book really moves South African literature into a new era. Worthy as they were and are, the South Africa of Nadine Gordimer, Andre Brink, Breyten Breytenbach and to a lesser extent Coetzee is over along with their fights. A new nation has come into being and Galgut is describing the birth pains; how everyone has to live with a shameful past and come to terms.Galgut gives you a country that has yet to decide its fate.
It is so important that South Africa succeeds. If it fails then there is no hope, no role model of success, no great melting pot for Africa to model itself on. Uganda was prosperous, but destroyed by Amin (no doubt with the aid of outside parties)Closer to home, the bread basket and once wealthy Zimbabwe has been totally destroyed by Mugabe;Zimbabwe's past leading to hatereds, inverted racism,divisions and a road to ruin. South Africa could follow suit, unless the ideals of "The Good Doctor" take seed.
A truly thought provoking book, and an important new direction and era for South African literature.

Tense and involving ? No. An absorbing story? No. A brilliant literary thriller ? No. Life-altering? Absolutely not!

I had expected this to be reasonably good however, given its MAN Booker Prize nomination, instead it left me wondering about the standard of writing of the books that DIDN`T get nominated - they must have been pretty bad ! This is just passable pulp, a paper-thin story involving mostly uninteresting characters and with dark undertones of post-apartheid that I'm guessing may only really be understood by those who have lived and experienced that way of life. The central character (not the Good Doctor by the way) was, to me, a man of little character at all and the only time I found myself interested in anything to do with him was during his brief visit to his rich and powerful father. As for the Good Doctor himself, well, he was initially portrayed as something of an enigma but as the story progressed he became more and more ordinary and his idealistic attempts at nobility proved anti-climactic at best. I believe that the real message of this book, assuming there is one, will only be appreciated by anyone who lives (or has lived) in or near to South Africa.