Point of View

In his novel, "In a Strange Room," Damon Galgut abandons traditional storytelling by creating a dual point of view—he uses both first and third narratives. In this work, Galgut uses a post-modern, experimental style of writing. The main character, Damon is referred to by the narrator as "he" and "him" but is also referred to by the narrator as "I" and "me." Noticing that the author's first name is Damon further confounds the point of view and adds a mystique to the tale. The reader wonders whether the author's story is partially autobiographical.

Also unusual in this novel is that it is told entirely in the present tense, despite the fact that it obviously covers many years in Damon's life. Paraphrasing the writing, the author writes lines in third person like, "He is walking down the path," immediately followed by a switch to third...