[Waiting for the Barbarians shows that J.M. Coetzee] has learned much from the masters of the novel of more or less oblique protest—Vargas Lhosa, Asturias, García Márquez. Above all, he has learned not to let crude polemic or propaganda intrude into his essentially humane message. Humanity, as he demonstrates, is not the property of any democratic organization. This book is brilliant, disturbing, dry, ironic, unsensational, deeply moving and above all it acknowledges the weakness of all men in the face of barbarity. It is free of rhetoric, subtle, and ought to be read by all those interested in decency and its perpetuation amongst men. It has much more significance than a thousand polemical pamphlets.

Martin Seymour-Smith, "English Fiction: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'," in British Book News (© British Book News, 1981; courtesy of British Book News), April, 1981, p. 247.