On the way there she dies, leaving him alone in an anarchic world of brutal roving armies. In a South Africa torn by civil war, Michael K sets out to take his ailing mother back to her rural home. This life-affirming novel goes to the center of human experience- the need for an interior, spiritual life; for some connections to the world in which we live; and for purity of vision. Imprisoned, Michael is unable to bear confinement and escapes, determined to live with dignity. 1989