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tsotsi
Tsotsi is a real find, by one of the most affecting and moving writers of our time (Financial Times)-- and the novel is now being reissued to coincide with the release of a feature film, which is already being compared to 2004's runaway hit City of God.
One of the world's pre-eminent playwrights, who could be a primary candidate for either the Nobel Prize in Literature or the Nobel Peace Prize (Mel Gussow, The New Yorker), Athol Fugard is renowned for his relentless explorations of personal and political survival in apartheid South Africa - which include his now classic plays Master Harold . . . and the Boys and The Blood Knot. Fugard has written a single novel, Tsotsi, which director Gavin Hood has made into a feature film that The Times (London) calls a remarkable achievement and is South Africa s official entry for the 2006 Academy Awards.
Set amid the sprawling Johannesburg township of Soweto, where survival is the primary objective, Tsotsi traces six days in the life of a ruthless young gang leader. When we meet Tsotsi, he is a man without a name (tsotsi is Afrikaans for hoodlum ) who has repressed his past and now exists only to stage and execute vicious crimes. When he inadvertently kidnaps a baby, Tsotsi is confronted with memories of his own painful childhood, and this angry young man begins to rediscover his own humanity, dignity, and capacity to love.
One of the world's pre-eminent playwrights, who could be a primary candidate for either the Nobel Prize in Literature or the Nobel Peace Prize (Mel Gussow, The New Yorker), Athol Fugard is renowned for his relentless explorations of personal and political survival in apartheid South Africa - which include his now classic plays Master Harold . . . and the Boys and The Blood Knot. Fugard has written a single novel, Tsotsi, which director Gavin Hood has made into a feature film that The Times (London) calls a remarkable achievement and is South Africa s official entry for the 2006 Academy Awards.
Set amid the sprawling Johannesburg township of Soweto, where survival is the primary objective, Tsotsi traces six days in the life of a ruthless young gang leader. When we meet Tsotsi, he is a man without a name (tsotsi is Afrikaans for hoodlum ) who has repressed his past and now exists only to stage and execute vicious crimes. When he inadvertently kidnaps a baby, Tsotsi is confronted with memories of his own painful childhood, and this angry young man begins to rediscover his own humanity, dignity, and capacity to love.
239 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
135 people are currently reading
2234 people want to read
About the author
Athol Fugard
156 books136 followersAthol Fugard was a South African playwright, novelist, actor, and director widely regarded as South Africa's greatest playwright. Acclaimed in 1985 as "the greatest active playwright in the English-speaking world" by Time, he published more than thirty plays. He was best known for his political and penetrating plays opposing the system of apartheid, some of which have been adapted to film. His novel Tsotsi was adapted as a film of the same name, which won an Academy Award in 2005. It was directed by Gavin Hood.
Fugard also served as an adjunct professor of playwriting, acting and directing in the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of California, San Diego.
Fugard received many awards, honours, and honorary degrees, including the Order of Ikhamanga in Silver from the government of South Africa in 2005 "for his excellent contribution and achievements in the theatre". He was also an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Fugard was honoured in Cape Town with the opening in 2010 of the Fugard Theatre in District Six. He received a Tony Award for lifetime achievement in 2011.
Fugard also served as an adjunct professor of playwriting, acting and directing in the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of California, San Diego.
Fugard received many awards, honours, and honorary degrees, including the Order of Ikhamanga in Silver from the government of South Africa in 2005 "for his excellent contribution and achievements in the theatre". He was also an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Fugard was honoured in Cape Town with the opening in 2010 of the Fugard Theatre in District Six. He received a Tony Award for lifetime achievement in 2011.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 216 reviews
November 18, 2015
Firstly, I'm annoyed that I read this now, because this is my year of reading women. I had to read it, because it was a set text for one of my students. Typical that institutional requirements intervene with strategies of resistance to kyriarchy. Hmph! On the other hand, I'm glad the set text is at least about black people and raises the topic of Apartheid, even if written by a white man.
And, the book could not be more male. Not only are all the central characters male; those who are women are reduced to the functions of having babies or caring for babies. The protagonist, Tsotsi, who is forced to care for a baby, is shown to be utterly, constitutionally inept at the task (though Fugard fails miserably I think to exploit the vast comic potential of the situation), while the young mother Miriam who is forced to help him is shown in scene after scene doing this work of breasteeding, cleaning, doctoring and comforting the kid explicitly as if such tasks are part of her programming, part of the mechanism of her body, rather than skills she acquired through caring for her own infant, who is now being weaned. She imparts some wisdom to Tsotsi, but the overarching impression of her functional place in the plot annoyed the hell out of me. Misogynoir oozes from the drooling description of her; she is described as 'ochre' 'not black like the others' she is 'ripe' (and her own child is 'first fruit') the 'baby had not marked her' (she remains acceptable to male desire)
However, in some ways it is an interesting work. Sophiatown, the setting, was IRL a fairly integrated township demolished to make way for whites-only homes during the Apartheid era. Fugard spent time there and collaborated on play productions with local people, so his evocation of the violent demolition and displacement, including the summary arrest of Tsotsi's mother seems heartfelt, tragic and devastating in its consequences, not least to Tsotsi, who is so damaged he suppresses all emotion and effectively prevents himself from developing his personality any further, leaving him in a befuddled, childlike state when his violent behaviour is finally brought to an end by the return of feeling precipitated by the 'gift' of the baby. I have to admit I found the ending a complete cop out and the religious under and over tones irritating throughout.
The characters are 'uneducated' and this may account for Fugard's writing of them as immature and foolish. The interiority of the narration felt somehow patronising and creepy to me, but perhaps I'm being overly judgemental and some would be impressed by Fugard's imagining his way into the damaged psyches of people he saw around him or imaginary excavation of devastating personal histories. For him, secrets are the key to personality and behaviour, so accordingly the narrative exposes.
Fugard's style is full of imagery and suggestive poetic description. There is much use of pathetic fallacy and sound effects, as you might expect from a playwright. It's all terribly solemn and serious, except right at the end when the ignorance of a black gardener (*sigh*) and the finicky behaviour and physical unattractiveness (*sigh*) of a white homeowner suddenly become material for comedy in a weirdly tacked-on scene. Following this the return to the mood of tragedy and painfully slow emotional/religious awakening is equally jarring and I was left with the impression that Fugard or his editor hadn't been able to decide which bit to cut. Oh well.
And, the book could not be more male. Not only are all the central characters male; those who are women are reduced to the functions of having babies or caring for babies. The protagonist, Tsotsi, who is forced to care for a baby, is shown to be utterly, constitutionally inept at the task (though Fugard fails miserably I think to exploit the vast comic potential of the situation), while the young mother Miriam who is forced to help him is shown in scene after scene doing this work of breasteeding, cleaning, doctoring and comforting the kid explicitly as if such tasks are part of her programming, part of the mechanism of her body, rather than skills she acquired through caring for her own infant, who is now being weaned. She imparts some wisdom to Tsotsi, but the overarching impression of her functional place in the plot annoyed the hell out of me. Misogynoir oozes from the drooling description of her; she is described as 'ochre' 'not black like the others' she is 'ripe' (and her own child is 'first fruit') the 'baby had not marked her' (she remains acceptable to male desire)
However, in some ways it is an interesting work. Sophiatown, the setting, was IRL a fairly integrated township demolished to make way for whites-only homes during the Apartheid era. Fugard spent time there and collaborated on play productions with local people, so his evocation of the violent demolition and displacement, including the summary arrest of Tsotsi's mother seems heartfelt, tragic and devastating in its consequences, not least to Tsotsi, who is so damaged he suppresses all emotion and effectively prevents himself from developing his personality any further, leaving him in a befuddled, childlike state when his violent behaviour is finally brought to an end by the return of feeling precipitated by the 'gift' of the baby. I have to admit I found the ending a complete cop out and the religious under and over tones irritating throughout.
The characters are 'uneducated' and this may account for Fugard's writing of them as immature and foolish. The interiority of the narration felt somehow patronising and creepy to me, but perhaps I'm being overly judgemental and some would be impressed by Fugard's imagining his way into the damaged psyches of people he saw around him or imaginary excavation of devastating personal histories. For him, secrets are the key to personality and behaviour, so accordingly the narrative exposes.
Fugard's style is full of imagery and suggestive poetic description. There is much use of pathetic fallacy and sound effects, as you might expect from a playwright. It's all terribly solemn and serious, except right at the end when the ignorance of a black gardener (*sigh*) and the finicky behaviour and physical unattractiveness (*sigh*) of a white homeowner suddenly become material for comedy in a weirdly tacked-on scene. Following this the return to the mood of tragedy and painfully slow emotional/religious awakening is equally jarring and I was left with the impression that Fugard or his editor hadn't been able to decide which bit to cut. Oh well.
October 24, 2022
No one recommended this to me or even told that this book even existed until i found it hidden in my school library when i was in 5:th grade.So therefore no one even warned me about the content.My view of the world clearly changed after i read this book.
Almost 10 years later i have forgotten the title but never forgot the story until i saw this book on my local library!How relieved i was to finally find this book!
Almost 10 years later i have forgotten the title but never forgot the story until i saw this book on my local library!How relieved i was to finally find this book!
May 1, 2015
As an English teacher, I was excited to be reading this novel with my GCSE students this year, instead of the usual Of Mice and Men. I teach in inner London (mainly boys), and I felt that my students would relate well to this novel and its characters. I was not wrong.
Yes the protagonist is an anti-hero, however it gave the students the opportunity to discuss and write so many different things about him. I admit, in the beginning I hated Tsotsi for his brutality and indifference, but I soon found out why he was this way. More to the point, by the end of this novel, all of my students had changed their feelings on Tsotsi, and admired his compassion and sensitivity.
I liked the way that the ending of the story was rather ambiguous (although some may say it was rather clear cut) this gave students the opportunity to form different interpretations of the novel's ending. Some going down the religious route, and looking at the ending of the story as a form of salvation and redemption.
Fugard writes very well and uses some excellent language devices in his novel to bring his story to life. Admittedly, some of the language is rather hard-going, but this only gives the students more of an opportunity to learn new and fresh vocabulary.
I won't say that I loved this book (it's not my kind of writing, as I'm a romance buff) but I really appreciate the skill and effort it took Fugard to write this type of novel at the time that he did (he couldn't publish it for a few years, due to Apartheid and it's restrictions on free speech). This is especially poignant as Fugard is a white man, writing and speaking through the eyes of a black protagonist.
Not an easy read, but a recommended one.
Yes the protagonist is an anti-hero, however it gave the students the opportunity to discuss and write so many different things about him. I admit, in the beginning I hated Tsotsi for his brutality and indifference, but I soon found out why he was this way. More to the point, by the end of this novel, all of my students had changed their feelings on Tsotsi, and admired his compassion and sensitivity.
I liked the way that the ending of the story was rather ambiguous (although some may say it was rather clear cut) this gave students the opportunity to form different interpretations of the novel's ending. Some going down the religious route, and looking at the ending of the story as a form of salvation and redemption.
Fugard writes very well and uses some excellent language devices in his novel to bring his story to life. Admittedly, some of the language is rather hard-going, but this only gives the students more of an opportunity to learn new and fresh vocabulary.
I won't say that I loved this book (it's not my kind of writing, as I'm a romance buff) but I really appreciate the skill and effort it took Fugard to write this type of novel at the time that he did (he couldn't publish it for a few years, due to Apartheid and it's restrictions on free speech). This is especially poignant as Fugard is a white man, writing and speaking through the eyes of a black protagonist.
Not an easy read, but a recommended one.
August 26, 2009
Tsotsi
Hari mulai petang ketika kau bertanya kepadaku: benarkah hanya yang paling kejam yang bisa sejahtera? Aku tahu kau sedang bicara tentang Tsotsi…
***
Pencerahan, kau tahu, bisa dimulai dari keadaan yang paling gelap. Begitulah proses hidup yang dialami Tsotsi, tokoh utama novel ini. Tapi maaf saja, pencerahan itu tidak datang dari sebuah buku, seorang ustad, pendeta, atau kitab suci sekali pun. Pencerahan itu hadir melalui sesosok bayi mungil.
Tsotsi sendiri adalah sebutan untuk gangster di kawasan kumuh dan tertindas bernama Sophiatown di kota Johannesburg, Afrika Selatan, di tahun 1940-an. Athol Fugard dengan tajam menyoroti akibat brutal dari rezim apartheid (diskriminasi ras) yang sangat menindas kaum kulit hitam pada masa itu.
UU Pertanahan 1913 menyebabkan 77% wilayah negara dikuasai dan digunakan kaum kulit putih, sementara sisanya warga kulit hitam harus tinggal di perkampungan-perkampungan kumuh dengan tekanan sosial-ekonomi yang tinggi di pinggiran kota. Bahkan Fugard sempat menulis: “Melihat sistem ini beroperasi, mengajari saya bagaimana caranya bekerja dan apa pengaruh sebenarnya pada manusia.”(hlm. xvii)
Puncak-puncaknya di akhir 1950-an, ketika Fugard menulis novel ini, warga kulit hitam dipaksa memasuki kehidupan bawah tanah, kejahatan pun menawarkan peluang hidup: hanya yang paling kejam yang bisa sejahtera. Mereka memangsa sesama orang Afrika, merampok, membunuh, dan memerkosa tanpa dihukum. Menurut Fugard, pengaruh dari rezim pemerintah ini adalah gugurnya harapan dan terdesaknya orang-orang yang tertindas untuk mengincar orang lain yang lebih rendah darinya dalam rantai makanan. Tsotsi adalah produk dari kondisi brutal semacam ini. (hlm. xix)
Seorang mahasiswa kedokteran pernah menggambarkan kekejaman Tsotsi seperti ini:
Tsotsi adalah kaum pemangsa, pembunuh yang sangat memerhatikan detil-detil yang mematikan. Pada tahun-tahun saya menjadi mahasiswa kedokteran, saya melihat korban-korban mereka dikirim kepada kami dengan luka yang sangat rapi. Kami belajar memeriksa pasien pingsan untuk mencari tusukan yang hamper tak terlihat di ketiak, akibat jari-jari sepeda tajam yang dilesakkan di antara tulang iga ke dalam jantung untuk menimbulkan tamponade: semprotan darah ke dalam kantong jantung yang, jika terisi, akan menekan jantung, mencekiknya dengan denyutnya sendiri.
Para dosen kami menganggap para pembunuh ini memiliki kekuatan jahat yang nyaris mistis, pengetahuan hermeneutis tentang anatomi dan fisiologi yang memungkinkan mereka menentukan secara jitu derajat penderitaan yang ingin mereka berikan. Kadang-kadang, alih-alih membunuh, pisau bedah atau tongkat tajam dihunjamkan ke tulang belakang pada tungkai tertentu untuk mencapai hasil tertentu—lumpuh kaki, lumpuh kaki dan tangan, dengan atau tanpa kemampuan untuk mencapai ereksi. (hlm xv)
Dari Hampa ke Makna
Kisah dalam novel ini menggambarkan sesosok Tsotsi yang mengalami kehilangan identitas, seperti terputus dari sejarah, sekaligus menyebabkan dirinya mengalami mati rasa, suatu kehampaan yang mendalam. Setiap kali ia mencabut nyawa korbannya, maka ia berkata dalam hati berulang-ulang,“sama seperti biasa”. Hanya satu hal yang ditakutinya: ketiadaan.
Tsotsi membenci pertanyaan karena alasan yang mendalam tapi sederhana. Dia tak tahu jawabannya..baik namanya, maupun usianya, atau jawaban-jawaban lain yang disusun dan dibentuk manusia menjadi sesuatu yang menyerupai kehidupan. Tsotsi tidak tahu karena dia tak pernah diberi tahu, dan andai dia pernah tahu, dia sudah tak ingat lagi, dan ketidaktahuannya tetang dirinya sendiri memiliki makna yang lebih dalam daripada nama dan usianya.
Bagi matanya sendiri raut wajahnya sama tak bermaknanya dengan segenggam batu yang diraup secara acak di jalan di luar kamarnya. Dia tak mengizinkan dirinya memikirkan dirinya. Dia tak mengingat masa lalu, dan masa depan hanya ada ketika sudah menjadi masa kini yang djalani. Usianya setua saat ini, dan dalam satu hal, namanya adalah nama semua manusia. (hlm. 30)
Hingga di suatu malam yang pekat, dalam kekalutan batinnya Tsotsi bertemu dengan seorang perempuan yang memberinya sebuah kotak sepatu berisi sesosok bayi mungil. Dari situlah ingatan kelam mulai menghantui dirinya. Tsotsi merawat bayi itu, membelikannya susu kaleng, dan mencarikannya pengasuh. Keberadaan bayi itu membuat ia mengingat kembali masa lalunya hingga ia mengerti makna kasih sayang tanpa kata-kata.
***
Terjemahan yang sangat bagus membuat buku ini terasa begitu mencekam dan menghanyutkan. Rangkaian paragraf-paragraf ditulis dengan begitu liris dan gelap. Penggambaran suasana hening, lika-liku batin, emosi, gerak tubuh, bahkan hingga ke syaraf tokoh-tokohnya digambarkan dengan rangkaian paragraf yang luar biasa memukau. Penggambarannya nyaris seperti analisis terhadap situasi dengan rangkaian pilihan kata yang luar biasa menarik. Tak salah lagi, ini memang novel sastra bermutu yang sangat enak dinikmati. (Salut untuk sang pendiri dan moderator GRI Femmy Syahrani yang telah menerjemahkan novel ini)
Setelah novel ini diterbitkan pertama kali di tahun 1980 hampir 25 tahun kemudian seorang sutradara Afrika Selatan Gavin Hood membuat film Tsotsi di tahun 2004-2005. Dan setelah meraih berbagai penghargaan di sejumlah festival film akhirnya Tsotsi berhasil meraih Piala Oscar untuk kategori film asing terbaik di Academy Awards 2006.
Maka bagi mereka yang selalu peduli dan tergetar dengan perkara kemanusiaan sudah selayaknya membaca novel ini.
***
Tsotsi
Hari mulai petang
ketika kau bertanya kepadaku:
benarkah hanya yang paling kejam
yang bisa sejahtera?
Aku tahu kau sedang bicara tentang Tsotsi
Mereka yang hidup di garis ekstrim
hanya dengan 2 pilihan:
Membunuh atau Dibunuh
Mereka yang renungannya adalah kegelapan
Mereka yang akrab dengan kehampaan
"Nyawa itu murah, kawan,
pistol dan pisau berkuasa di malam hari,"
kata Nelson Mandela tentang negerinya
Kukatakan kepadamu
Mereka benar dalam segalanya, dalam apa adanya
dan mereka akan dengan senang hati
menjawab pertanyaanmu dengan darah
"Ya, hanya yang paling kejam yang bisa sejahtera.."
(Pandasurya, Jakarta, Agustus 2009)
Hari mulai petang ketika kau bertanya kepadaku: benarkah hanya yang paling kejam yang bisa sejahtera? Aku tahu kau sedang bicara tentang Tsotsi…
***
Pencerahan, kau tahu, bisa dimulai dari keadaan yang paling gelap. Begitulah proses hidup yang dialami Tsotsi, tokoh utama novel ini. Tapi maaf saja, pencerahan itu tidak datang dari sebuah buku, seorang ustad, pendeta, atau kitab suci sekali pun. Pencerahan itu hadir melalui sesosok bayi mungil.
Tsotsi sendiri adalah sebutan untuk gangster di kawasan kumuh dan tertindas bernama Sophiatown di kota Johannesburg, Afrika Selatan, di tahun 1940-an. Athol Fugard dengan tajam menyoroti akibat brutal dari rezim apartheid (diskriminasi ras) yang sangat menindas kaum kulit hitam pada masa itu.
UU Pertanahan 1913 menyebabkan 77% wilayah negara dikuasai dan digunakan kaum kulit putih, sementara sisanya warga kulit hitam harus tinggal di perkampungan-perkampungan kumuh dengan tekanan sosial-ekonomi yang tinggi di pinggiran kota. Bahkan Fugard sempat menulis: “Melihat sistem ini beroperasi, mengajari saya bagaimana caranya bekerja dan apa pengaruh sebenarnya pada manusia.”(hlm. xvii)
Puncak-puncaknya di akhir 1950-an, ketika Fugard menulis novel ini, warga kulit hitam dipaksa memasuki kehidupan bawah tanah, kejahatan pun menawarkan peluang hidup: hanya yang paling kejam yang bisa sejahtera. Mereka memangsa sesama orang Afrika, merampok, membunuh, dan memerkosa tanpa dihukum. Menurut Fugard, pengaruh dari rezim pemerintah ini adalah gugurnya harapan dan terdesaknya orang-orang yang tertindas untuk mengincar orang lain yang lebih rendah darinya dalam rantai makanan. Tsotsi adalah produk dari kondisi brutal semacam ini. (hlm. xix)
Seorang mahasiswa kedokteran pernah menggambarkan kekejaman Tsotsi seperti ini:
Tsotsi adalah kaum pemangsa, pembunuh yang sangat memerhatikan detil-detil yang mematikan. Pada tahun-tahun saya menjadi mahasiswa kedokteran, saya melihat korban-korban mereka dikirim kepada kami dengan luka yang sangat rapi. Kami belajar memeriksa pasien pingsan untuk mencari tusukan yang hamper tak terlihat di ketiak, akibat jari-jari sepeda tajam yang dilesakkan di antara tulang iga ke dalam jantung untuk menimbulkan tamponade: semprotan darah ke dalam kantong jantung yang, jika terisi, akan menekan jantung, mencekiknya dengan denyutnya sendiri.
Para dosen kami menganggap para pembunuh ini memiliki kekuatan jahat yang nyaris mistis, pengetahuan hermeneutis tentang anatomi dan fisiologi yang memungkinkan mereka menentukan secara jitu derajat penderitaan yang ingin mereka berikan. Kadang-kadang, alih-alih membunuh, pisau bedah atau tongkat tajam dihunjamkan ke tulang belakang pada tungkai tertentu untuk mencapai hasil tertentu—lumpuh kaki, lumpuh kaki dan tangan, dengan atau tanpa kemampuan untuk mencapai ereksi. (hlm xv)
Dari Hampa ke Makna
Kisah dalam novel ini menggambarkan sesosok Tsotsi yang mengalami kehilangan identitas, seperti terputus dari sejarah, sekaligus menyebabkan dirinya mengalami mati rasa, suatu kehampaan yang mendalam. Setiap kali ia mencabut nyawa korbannya, maka ia berkata dalam hati berulang-ulang,“sama seperti biasa”. Hanya satu hal yang ditakutinya: ketiadaan.
Tsotsi membenci pertanyaan karena alasan yang mendalam tapi sederhana. Dia tak tahu jawabannya..baik namanya, maupun usianya, atau jawaban-jawaban lain yang disusun dan dibentuk manusia menjadi sesuatu yang menyerupai kehidupan. Tsotsi tidak tahu karena dia tak pernah diberi tahu, dan andai dia pernah tahu, dia sudah tak ingat lagi, dan ketidaktahuannya tetang dirinya sendiri memiliki makna yang lebih dalam daripada nama dan usianya.
Bagi matanya sendiri raut wajahnya sama tak bermaknanya dengan segenggam batu yang diraup secara acak di jalan di luar kamarnya. Dia tak mengizinkan dirinya memikirkan dirinya. Dia tak mengingat masa lalu, dan masa depan hanya ada ketika sudah menjadi masa kini yang djalani. Usianya setua saat ini, dan dalam satu hal, namanya adalah nama semua manusia. (hlm. 30)
Hingga di suatu malam yang pekat, dalam kekalutan batinnya Tsotsi bertemu dengan seorang perempuan yang memberinya sebuah kotak sepatu berisi sesosok bayi mungil. Dari situlah ingatan kelam mulai menghantui dirinya. Tsotsi merawat bayi itu, membelikannya susu kaleng, dan mencarikannya pengasuh. Keberadaan bayi itu membuat ia mengingat kembali masa lalunya hingga ia mengerti makna kasih sayang tanpa kata-kata.
***
Terjemahan yang sangat bagus membuat buku ini terasa begitu mencekam dan menghanyutkan. Rangkaian paragraf-paragraf ditulis dengan begitu liris dan gelap. Penggambaran suasana hening, lika-liku batin, emosi, gerak tubuh, bahkan hingga ke syaraf tokoh-tokohnya digambarkan dengan rangkaian paragraf yang luar biasa memukau. Penggambarannya nyaris seperti analisis terhadap situasi dengan rangkaian pilihan kata yang luar biasa menarik. Tak salah lagi, ini memang novel sastra bermutu yang sangat enak dinikmati. (Salut untuk sang pendiri dan moderator GRI Femmy Syahrani yang telah menerjemahkan novel ini)
Setelah novel ini diterbitkan pertama kali di tahun 1980 hampir 25 tahun kemudian seorang sutradara Afrika Selatan Gavin Hood membuat film Tsotsi di tahun 2004-2005. Dan setelah meraih berbagai penghargaan di sejumlah festival film akhirnya Tsotsi berhasil meraih Piala Oscar untuk kategori film asing terbaik di Academy Awards 2006.
Maka bagi mereka yang selalu peduli dan tergetar dengan perkara kemanusiaan sudah selayaknya membaca novel ini.
***
Tsotsi
Hari mulai petang
ketika kau bertanya kepadaku:
benarkah hanya yang paling kejam
yang bisa sejahtera?
Aku tahu kau sedang bicara tentang Tsotsi
Mereka yang hidup di garis ekstrim
hanya dengan 2 pilihan:
Membunuh atau Dibunuh
Mereka yang renungannya adalah kegelapan
Mereka yang akrab dengan kehampaan
"Nyawa itu murah, kawan,
pistol dan pisau berkuasa di malam hari,"
kata Nelson Mandela tentang negerinya
Kukatakan kepadamu
Mereka benar dalam segalanya, dalam apa adanya
dan mereka akan dengan senang hati
menjawab pertanyaanmu dengan darah
"Ya, hanya yang paling kejam yang bisa sejahtera.."
(Pandasurya, Jakarta, Agustus 2009)
August 1, 2022
I'm going to share one sentence from the book that sums up Fugard's brilliance.
"At the bottom of the street, not far from Tsosti's room - you could lean out of his window and see the spot - there where the road managed to steal extra inches of land from the shacks and hovels that crowded the side in a warped frontage of corrugated iron, biscuit tins, packaging-case wood, sacking and anything else that could be nailed or tied together in the basic design of a few walls and a roof; there in this widening of the street, littered with stones because feet, thousands of them, to be numbered in generations of coming and going, had worked away the loose sand and tramped down the remainder hard and firm; there in the middle of all of this, snaking out of the earth in a length of grey piping, and this firm on a three-foot beam of wood, buried deep on the day when the ground had been soft and easy on the spade, there, solitary, important, indispensable, hated at times, enjoyed at others, stood the communal tap." - Pg. 128
Most of us don't have to think this deeply about our taps. We just walk into our bathrooms and kitchens and turn them on. For so many people living in South Africa (maybe for most? still?), the tap is a thing loaded with time and frustration and stories. My taps have always only ever been for drinking water. Taps in South Africa are sometimes places where people are born and people die, as fugard writes.
What makes Tsosti additionally frustrating and sad is that although it was written in the late 1950's early 1960's a lot of it is still very relevant today. Most of it is for so many South African's. One of the biggest ideas that Fugard explores is the ability to make choices, is this idea that changing your mind is a kind of privilege. I'm a South African, but I grew up comfortable and loved, I had a home, still do, and parents; I'm white; I'm privileged. I could make choices, I could change my mind, I could take things for granted (like taps). Tsosti encounters the idea that he can change his mind as an utter revelation, he encounters mercy, ("Why do you have to kill me Tsosti?" pg. 114) as a choice, as a truly astounding concept. There are many children in South Africa that grow up living lives most of us could never understand. "Grow up" isn't right, survive is a better word. Many children survive their childhoods. Tsosti had to make choices, yes, but by the time he becomes the man we meet in the book he is bound to a way of living, bound so tightly with violence, that brutality and pain and hatred are the only things that guide the choices he feels he can make. In fact, he is the one in the gang that makes all the choices, he decides who their targets are going to be. But until the baby is thrust into his life, Tsosti's choice to thrive on violence was never scrutinised, for him it was never really a choice, it just is what he did. In this way choice operates like this for most of us, or not? We all become bound to some series of choices. And for all of us, whatever it is, catalysts of change can be either blessings or trauma inducing. For Tsosti the baby isn't only a turning point that sends him off in another direction, it is a catalyst that opens his mind and sends him on an internal quest in search of what he had lost.
It’s this loss that is at the core of Tsosti. This is essentially what oppression does to the people it subjugates, it dismantles them both physically (like Sophiatown) and psychologically. The truly oppressed are not allowed their own memories or a past. Tsosti, in order to survive his loss of home and family had to strip himself of who he was entirely in order to go on living. What I think is interesting with the adaptation of Tsosti into a film that removes the apartheid story is the treatment of this integral theme. 21st century South Africa still undergoes memory past identity disintegrating systems. Neglect, greed, corruption, - to name a few -these are the oppressive forces that strip people of the ability to make choices and create versatile identities and have solid formative pasts and memories in South Africa today.
"At the bottom of the street, not far from Tsosti's room - you could lean out of his window and see the spot - there where the road managed to steal extra inches of land from the shacks and hovels that crowded the side in a warped frontage of corrugated iron, biscuit tins, packaging-case wood, sacking and anything else that could be nailed or tied together in the basic design of a few walls and a roof; there in this widening of the street, littered with stones because feet, thousands of them, to be numbered in generations of coming and going, had worked away the loose sand and tramped down the remainder hard and firm; there in the middle of all of this, snaking out of the earth in a length of grey piping, and this firm on a three-foot beam of wood, buried deep on the day when the ground had been soft and easy on the spade, there, solitary, important, indispensable, hated at times, enjoyed at others, stood the communal tap." - Pg. 128
Most of us don't have to think this deeply about our taps. We just walk into our bathrooms and kitchens and turn them on. For so many people living in South Africa (maybe for most? still?), the tap is a thing loaded with time and frustration and stories. My taps have always only ever been for drinking water. Taps in South Africa are sometimes places where people are born and people die, as fugard writes.
What makes Tsosti additionally frustrating and sad is that although it was written in the late 1950's early 1960's a lot of it is still very relevant today. Most of it is for so many South African's. One of the biggest ideas that Fugard explores is the ability to make choices, is this idea that changing your mind is a kind of privilege. I'm a South African, but I grew up comfortable and loved, I had a home, still do, and parents; I'm white; I'm privileged. I could make choices, I could change my mind, I could take things for granted (like taps). Tsosti encounters the idea that he can change his mind as an utter revelation, he encounters mercy, ("Why do you have to kill me Tsosti?" pg. 114) as a choice, as a truly astounding concept. There are many children in South Africa that grow up living lives most of us could never understand. "Grow up" isn't right, survive is a better word. Many children survive their childhoods. Tsosti had to make choices, yes, but by the time he becomes the man we meet in the book he is bound to a way of living, bound so tightly with violence, that brutality and pain and hatred are the only things that guide the choices he feels he can make. In fact, he is the one in the gang that makes all the choices, he decides who their targets are going to be. But until the baby is thrust into his life, Tsosti's choice to thrive on violence was never scrutinised, for him it was never really a choice, it just is what he did. In this way choice operates like this for most of us, or not? We all become bound to some series of choices. And for all of us, whatever it is, catalysts of change can be either blessings or trauma inducing. For Tsosti the baby isn't only a turning point that sends him off in another direction, it is a catalyst that opens his mind and sends him on an internal quest in search of what he had lost.
It’s this loss that is at the core of Tsosti. This is essentially what oppression does to the people it subjugates, it dismantles them both physically (like Sophiatown) and psychologically. The truly oppressed are not allowed their own memories or a past. Tsosti, in order to survive his loss of home and family had to strip himself of who he was entirely in order to go on living. What I think is interesting with the adaptation of Tsosti into a film that removes the apartheid story is the treatment of this integral theme. 21st century South Africa still undergoes memory past identity disintegrating systems. Neglect, greed, corruption, - to name a few -these are the oppressive forces that strip people of the ability to make choices and create versatile identities and have solid formative pasts and memories in South Africa today.
November 16, 2010
Hugely disappointing based on the plaudits that come with it. We are led to believe this is a story about redemption but to be honest the protagonist does not change all that much and can't even take credit in my opinion for the main act of for which he is applauded. Tsotsi is scum - simple as! Stylistically the book is also a bit of a mess particularly towards the end where Fugard appears to have crowbarred in a) a conversation in achurchyard that comes totally out of nowhere and b)an unremarkable ending that I had to read twice to "get" - even reading the "helpful" notes made by the author didn't help much. For me this comes across as the type of book that well-meaning white liberals would approve of...and given that I'm usually in that category something must have gone wrong. What would I feel if I were a young black South African? Not sure - possibly patronised by the writer or maybe have some feeling of gratitude that he, at least, tried to put something of the township experience in novel form.
May 26, 2017
A novel of redemption, written by Athol Fugard, one of the greatest writers of the 20th Century. Set in
Sophiatown (could also be Soweto) in South Africa, the novel revolves around the main character Tsotsi (sot-see). The word tsotsi means "thug", and that is exactly what Tsotsi is. He is a thug and a leader of a gang who nightly prowl looking for victims, enjoying the kill as much as the money they steal.
The language is rich and filled with symbolism as Tsotsi grows and changes in the story. It's a masterpiece, truly.
I don't want to spoil it for anyone, so just know that I highly recommend the book; the characters are rich and deep, the images of the slums three dimensional (I can hear the sounds, smell, the sour and the sweet, can visualize the prowling youth's shadows in the night and feel the pain of victims and perpetrators.
Sophiatown (could also be Soweto) in South Africa, the novel revolves around the main character Tsotsi (sot-see). The word tsotsi means "thug", and that is exactly what Tsotsi is. He is a thug and a leader of a gang who nightly prowl looking for victims, enjoying the kill as much as the money they steal.
The language is rich and filled with symbolism as Tsotsi grows and changes in the story. It's a masterpiece, truly.
I don't want to spoil it for anyone, so just know that I highly recommend the book; the characters are rich and deep, the images of the slums three dimensional (I can hear the sounds, smell, the sour and the sweet, can visualize the prowling youth's shadows in the night and feel the pain of victims and perpetrators.
July 2, 2020
I did not finish this book. I tried to read it when first came out. Tried 10+ years later and couldn't finish. Sadly not for me.
February 1, 2008
THUG. Hoodlum. Lowlife. Murderer. Robber. “Tsotsi” is the Afrikaans word for young thugs who rule the township streets of South Africa. This is the “name” of Athol Fugard’s young protagonist. He is mysterious, shadowy, has no name; has no past, family, or friends, or at least no recollections of every belonging anywhere or to anyone. So he chooses to rename himself “Tsotsi” and he embodies all the qualities of the worst.
In apartheid-era South Africa, where Blacks are forced to live in poverty and under oppressive laws, young men morph into ruthless gangs, emulating the 1940s period “gangstas” of American film, even adopting their style of dress. These cold-hearted young men prey on their people by night; robbing and murdering innocents for the little money that they work hard to earn.
In Soweto, Tsotsi is the leader of his pack and the novel opens as he and his comrades plan the night’s “job.” The youngest and most ruthless of them all, he never says much— just observes his surroundings quickly and thoroughly; hawk-eyed and quick-tempered; he makes it a rule to never answer questions about himself. When one of his companions make the mistake of asking him his name, he beats him to a pulp and runs wildly out into the night and ends up on the other side of town; the White side that’s heavily patrolled by the South African Police specifically to keep “unwanted” people out.
Tsotsi encounters a young woman who shoves a package into his hand and runs away—this signifies the beginning of the transformation of Tsotsi’s heart. The package contains a baby, a baby whom he chooses to care for and slowly regains his ability to feel.
He starts to make sense of the fragments of memories that the float on the precipices of his psyche. He starts regain the memories of who he once was…His name, his past, his family, all begin to float back into his memory as the ice around his heart begins to melt.
Fugard’s symbolism coincides with the political backdrop of Soweto. As Tsotsi’s mental and emotional walls begin to crumble, so does the township of Soweto. The South African government is tearing down the township with its people in it; The White minority feels that the Black townships are edging too close to their homes and the government comes in with bull dozers to mow them down, forcing the people to move from the their homes or to perish under the wreckage.
More than a story of a reformed thug, “Tsotsi” delves into apartheid, and gives faces to the people who became victims of the system itself. Emotional and moving, questioning and psychological, and guaranteed to stir the soul yet it transcends its genre and becomes more than a political or historical novel; it becomes a story of humanity.
In apartheid-era South Africa, where Blacks are forced to live in poverty and under oppressive laws, young men morph into ruthless gangs, emulating the 1940s period “gangstas” of American film, even adopting their style of dress. These cold-hearted young men prey on their people by night; robbing and murdering innocents for the little money that they work hard to earn.
In Soweto, Tsotsi is the leader of his pack and the novel opens as he and his comrades plan the night’s “job.” The youngest and most ruthless of them all, he never says much— just observes his surroundings quickly and thoroughly; hawk-eyed and quick-tempered; he makes it a rule to never answer questions about himself. When one of his companions make the mistake of asking him his name, he beats him to a pulp and runs wildly out into the night and ends up on the other side of town; the White side that’s heavily patrolled by the South African Police specifically to keep “unwanted” people out.
Tsotsi encounters a young woman who shoves a package into his hand and runs away—this signifies the beginning of the transformation of Tsotsi’s heart. The package contains a baby, a baby whom he chooses to care for and slowly regains his ability to feel.
He starts to make sense of the fragments of memories that the float on the precipices of his psyche. He starts regain the memories of who he once was…His name, his past, his family, all begin to float back into his memory as the ice around his heart begins to melt.
Fugard’s symbolism coincides with the political backdrop of Soweto. As Tsotsi’s mental and emotional walls begin to crumble, so does the township of Soweto. The South African government is tearing down the township with its people in it; The White minority feels that the Black townships are edging too close to their homes and the government comes in with bull dozers to mow them down, forcing the people to move from the their homes or to perish under the wreckage.
More than a story of a reformed thug, “Tsotsi” delves into apartheid, and gives faces to the people who became victims of the system itself. Emotional and moving, questioning and psychological, and guaranteed to stir the soul yet it transcends its genre and becomes more than a political or historical novel; it becomes a story of humanity.
April 19, 2012
Finished reading this now, waiting for students at school to catch up! If only some damn fool of a teacher just let them read it instead of teaching it and making them do work on it! Oh well!
This is an outstanding book! The quality of the writing literally glitters on the page and the novel reads more as a poem than a novel: I have never read such a lyrical piece of writing.
The novel revolves around the character of Tsotsi, a young man who is the leader of a gang of four thugs in Sophiatown, Johannesburg, South Africa in the 1950s. The name Tsotsi itself means "thug" or "gangster" and we are told in chapter one that it is a nickname: he has no recollection of almost any part of his past including his own name. Identity is a huge part of this novel: Tsotsi's lack of identity, his inability to construct his features in the mirror into a man with meaning; and his gradual realisation of who he is and how he came to be where he is by the end.
Tsotsi and his gang a clearly very shallow, violent characters lacking empathy with the people around them. Within three chapters, they have stabbed a man on a train, raped a woman in a shebeen, Tsotsi has beaten and "broken" another member of his gang and attempted to rape another woman. He is only stopped in the rape attempt when the woman thrusts a shoebox into his hands which contains a baby.
A word here about the Gavin Hood film of this book. The film updates the novel to the 21st century and seems to make Tsotsi younger and less hard than I had expected: he seems to stab the man on the train almost as a mistake, regretfully, when he starts to complain; he acquires the baby in the film by hijacking a car in the film and shoots the baby's mother and, again, seems to be an accident. In the book, Tsotsi is utterly remorseless: the murder on the train was a deliberate and calculated murder, not an unfortunate escalation of a robbery. He is shown as not simply accepting violence or being violent but as defining himself through violence and the hurt he deals to others.
I felt that the second half of the book was slightly less tightly structured and written than the first half. The section in the Church and the explicit Christian message seemed unnecessary to me; and the abruptness and ambiguity at the end if the book frustrated me.
In addition to the lyricism, which I mentioned before, what I did relish in the book were the minor characters: Gumboot Dhlamini, the victim on the train; Morris, whom he stalks in the middle of the book; and Miriam whom he forces to feed the baby. The power of these minor characters, inhabiting the furthest outskirts of society, is extraordinary. Their desperate perseverance to keep hold of their lives, whether toiling in the mines or crippled on the streets or waiting for a husband who will never return home, is genuine and authentic and utterly convincing.
13th February
Need to reread this for work and already blown away by the lyricism of the prose. This is a hugely character driven story and, from what I recall, Fugard makes them more than mere ciphers. The small moments of challenge between Tsotsi and Boston in Chapter One reveal Fugard's theatrical background.
Very lucky to have a job where reading books like this is "work"!
29th Feb
Reading the section in the book where Tsotsi runs from the slums of Sophiatown into the no man's land between the black and white areas, a liminal space in which the colours became bleached in the moonlight leaving "a prismatic, polished, gleaming world of white surfaces... A glacial white" in which the sounds become "hard, leaping, crystal" and the moonlight "lay around him in pools... Mobile as quicksilver". An absolutely stunning otherworldly (perhaps drug induced) description. And a moment later, Tsotsi will have the baby that will change his life thrust into his hands. Fabulous!
This is an outstanding book! The quality of the writing literally glitters on the page and the novel reads more as a poem than a novel: I have never read such a lyrical piece of writing.
The novel revolves around the character of Tsotsi, a young man who is the leader of a gang of four thugs in Sophiatown, Johannesburg, South Africa in the 1950s. The name Tsotsi itself means "thug" or "gangster" and we are told in chapter one that it is a nickname: he has no recollection of almost any part of his past including his own name. Identity is a huge part of this novel: Tsotsi's lack of identity, his inability to construct his features in the mirror into a man with meaning; and his gradual realisation of who he is and how he came to be where he is by the end.
Tsotsi and his gang a clearly very shallow, violent characters lacking empathy with the people around them. Within three chapters, they have stabbed a man on a train, raped a woman in a shebeen, Tsotsi has beaten and "broken" another member of his gang and attempted to rape another woman. He is only stopped in the rape attempt when the woman thrusts a shoebox into his hands which contains a baby.
A word here about the Gavin Hood film of this book. The film updates the novel to the 21st century and seems to make Tsotsi younger and less hard than I had expected: he seems to stab the man on the train almost as a mistake, regretfully, when he starts to complain; he acquires the baby in the film by hijacking a car in the film and shoots the baby's mother and, again, seems to be an accident. In the book, Tsotsi is utterly remorseless: the murder on the train was a deliberate and calculated murder, not an unfortunate escalation of a robbery. He is shown as not simply accepting violence or being violent but as defining himself through violence and the hurt he deals to others.
I felt that the second half of the book was slightly less tightly structured and written than the first half. The section in the Church and the explicit Christian message seemed unnecessary to me; and the abruptness and ambiguity at the end if the book frustrated me.
In addition to the lyricism, which I mentioned before, what I did relish in the book were the minor characters: Gumboot Dhlamini, the victim on the train; Morris, whom he stalks in the middle of the book; and Miriam whom he forces to feed the baby. The power of these minor characters, inhabiting the furthest outskirts of society, is extraordinary. Their desperate perseverance to keep hold of their lives, whether toiling in the mines or crippled on the streets or waiting for a husband who will never return home, is genuine and authentic and utterly convincing.
13th February
Need to reread this for work and already blown away by the lyricism of the prose. This is a hugely character driven story and, from what I recall, Fugard makes them more than mere ciphers. The small moments of challenge between Tsotsi and Boston in Chapter One reveal Fugard's theatrical background.
Very lucky to have a job where reading books like this is "work"!
29th Feb
Reading the section in the book where Tsotsi runs from the slums of Sophiatown into the no man's land between the black and white areas, a liminal space in which the colours became bleached in the moonlight leaving "a prismatic, polished, gleaming world of white surfaces... A glacial white" in which the sounds become "hard, leaping, crystal" and the moonlight "lay around him in pools... Mobile as quicksilver". An absolutely stunning otherworldly (perhaps drug induced) description. And a moment later, Tsotsi will have the baby that will change his life thrust into his hands. Fabulous!
July 1, 2022
This was probably one of the worst books I have ever read, and I do not say that lightly. It was (of course) a set book that we were forced into reading so that we could ‘understand’ the writing in order to get good grades at the end of the year.
Tsotsi, as he is known, is a young thief. Forced into the streets after the death of his mother, he has been pushed into killing to stay alive. He doesn’t have feelings, he threw out his past and he refuses to go back there. He is ruthless, even his best friend can’t mess with him without falling into a raging fight. But then all his plans fall away when a young lady thrusts her baby into his arms and flees into the nights, and all his worst fears start to play out before him.
I need a medal for finishing this, seriously. It was way too drawn out. Instead of saying, ‘He lost his legs.’ They end up saying, ‘The sky fell’ or something like that. Everything is dragged out to the maximum, like Fugard was trying to make the word count but didn’t have enough words. It made it extremely tedious to read and had me falling asleep (seriously).
I was talking to my friends yesterday when we went to the apartheid museum and they were also complaining that it was just too boring. Yes, apartheid plays a part but an extremely minor part of the book, which makes me question why we were FORCED into reading this if we could have chosen another set book. The book was more about killing and stealing. Yes, it highlights black peoples struggles and how hard it was (Gumboot) but it also doesn’t explicitly say that.
That brings me to another point, the author barely ever explicitly says something. How the hell am I supposed to know that you are a cripple if they just say ‘The sky fell’? What about that says that the character is cripple??
There is also a lot of very descriptive language regarding private parts and peeing…for some reason. There is also mention of rape (but the author did not say it clearly so I missed that point a bit). The issues were not dealt with properly.
Now, onto the main points (because this is going to be a long rant). The character are so one dimensional.
Did I root for anyone? No.
Were there too many characters? Yes.
Did I see the need to add in all those characters? No.
The gang (A. K. A. Die Aap, Boston and Butcher) were horrid. They killed, raped and stole from innocent people and we never get to see what happens to them in the end. Boston got beat up by Tsotsi, did he die? We have no idea. He was supposed to be the good, caring character but he just annoyed the living daylight out of me. Also, we’re he and Tsotsi a thing?? Was Tsotsi gay? Like why does no one tell us these things?? 😭
Tsotsi had such a bad life, I get it but he is also a bad person. When he meets the baby, he changes instantly into a kind, loving, more caring person. The baby forces him to face his past and accept it. Hahahaha, funny, like he wouldn’t just kill the baby. He left it in a ruin and did not even clean it properly. The descriptions of the baby were nasty and not great at all. He also forces a woman to feed his baby and just rips her shirt and stuff, like that is harassment and even though it depicts her not to mind. THAT IS NOT RIGHT.
God, this book infuriated me.
The ending is weird and did not phase me. People do bad things and bad things happen to them. Fugard tries to make Tsotsi look like a hero but in actual fact he is not. It honestly felt like a lazy excuse to make the book end. OH HOW SAD, read it and weep (spoiler, I did not weep, just stared at the page indifferently).
One star for Cassim and his farts. 🙄💕
Tsotsi, as he is known, is a young thief. Forced into the streets after the death of his mother, he has been pushed into killing to stay alive. He doesn’t have feelings, he threw out his past and he refuses to go back there. He is ruthless, even his best friend can’t mess with him without falling into a raging fight. But then all his plans fall away when a young lady thrusts her baby into his arms and flees into the nights, and all his worst fears start to play out before him.
I need a medal for finishing this, seriously. It was way too drawn out. Instead of saying, ‘He lost his legs.’ They end up saying, ‘The sky fell’ or something like that. Everything is dragged out to the maximum, like Fugard was trying to make the word count but didn’t have enough words. It made it extremely tedious to read and had me falling asleep (seriously).
I was talking to my friends yesterday when we went to the apartheid museum and they were also complaining that it was just too boring. Yes, apartheid plays a part but an extremely minor part of the book, which makes me question why we were FORCED into reading this if we could have chosen another set book. The book was more about killing and stealing. Yes, it highlights black peoples struggles and how hard it was (Gumboot) but it also doesn’t explicitly say that.
That brings me to another point, the author barely ever explicitly says something. How the hell am I supposed to know that you are a cripple if they just say ‘The sky fell’? What about that says that the character is cripple??
There is also a lot of very descriptive language regarding private parts and peeing…for some reason. There is also mention of rape (but the author did not say it clearly so I missed that point a bit). The issues were not dealt with properly.
Now, onto the main points (because this is going to be a long rant). The character are so one dimensional.
Did I root for anyone? No.
Were there too many characters? Yes.
Did I see the need to add in all those characters? No.
The gang (A. K. A. Die Aap, Boston and Butcher) were horrid. They killed, raped and stole from innocent people and we never get to see what happens to them in the end. Boston got beat up by Tsotsi, did he die? We have no idea. He was supposed to be the good, caring character but he just annoyed the living daylight out of me. Also, we’re he and Tsotsi a thing?? Was Tsotsi gay? Like why does no one tell us these things?? 😭
Tsotsi had such a bad life, I get it but he is also a bad person. When he meets the baby, he changes instantly into a kind, loving, more caring person. The baby forces him to face his past and accept it. Hahahaha, funny, like he wouldn’t just kill the baby. He left it in a ruin and did not even clean it properly. The descriptions of the baby were nasty and not great at all. He also forces a woman to feed his baby and just rips her shirt and stuff, like that is harassment and even though it depicts her not to mind. THAT IS NOT RIGHT.
God, this book infuriated me.
The ending is weird and did not phase me. People do bad things and bad things happen to them. Fugard tries to make Tsotsi look like a hero but in actual fact he is not. It honestly felt like a lazy excuse to make the book end. OH HOW SAD, read it and weep (spoiler, I did not weep, just stared at the page indifferently).
One star for Cassim and his farts. 🙄💕
February 20, 2017
Der Mensch ist zu unglaublichen Taten fähig, im Guten wie auch im Schlechten. Ob sich Jemand jedoch in seinem Leben ändern oder läutern kann ist je nach Ansicht umstritten. Athol Fugard glaubt jedoch an die Besserung und zeigt mit "Tsotsi" ein extremes Beispiel aus den schlimmen Zeiten der Apartheid. In seiner Geschichte, welche in den Sechzigerjahren geschrieben aber erst 1980 veröffentlicht wurde, lässt er uns am brutalen und dreckigen Alltag der Townships in Südafrika teilnehmen. Man lernt Mörder und Die Tsotsi und seine Gang kennen und spürt das Unrecht förmlich in den Knochen.
Durch einen eher bizarren Umstand bringt Fugard aber einen Gesinnungswechsel in den Roman und macht aus seinem schlimmen Jungen einen bewussten und positiv agierenden Charakter. Sicherlich, "Tsotsi" will aufzeigen, dass der Mensch auch in schlimmsten Situationen zu positiven Handlungen bereit ist. Allerdings wird dies hier in solch überspitzter Weise dargestellt, dass ich die Geschichte zu unrealistisch finde. Zu viele Dinge passieren einfach, ohne gross logisch zu sein. Trotzdem, das Buch lohnt sich und ist ein wichtiges Zeitzeugnis aus einer dunklen Phase.
Durch einen eher bizarren Umstand bringt Fugard aber einen Gesinnungswechsel in den Roman und macht aus seinem schlimmen Jungen einen bewussten und positiv agierenden Charakter. Sicherlich, "Tsotsi" will aufzeigen, dass der Mensch auch in schlimmsten Situationen zu positiven Handlungen bereit ist. Allerdings wird dies hier in solch überspitzter Weise dargestellt, dass ich die Geschichte zu unrealistisch finde. Zu viele Dinge passieren einfach, ohne gross logisch zu sein. Trotzdem, das Buch lohnt sich und ist ein wichtiges Zeitzeugnis aus einer dunklen Phase.
July 27, 2018
Author Athol Fugard has captured the true essence of disenfranchised criminal African youth in the townships of South Africa during the Apartheid era. The descriptions of the daily life of Tsotsi, the leader of a small criminal gang and his compatriots is, in many ways, similar to Steinbeck's "Tortilla Flat." It is also similar to the stories of the "Garri Boys" of West African cities; Young men who lost their tribal customs and values when they were abandoned in or migrated to the cities. The book also reminds this writer of Golding's "Lord of the Flies."
The members of the gang under Tsotsi's leadership act as his conscience, planners, and executors of daily robberies and murders in the African township. There is no conscience involved in the acts, only the necessity of doing them on a daily basis in order to perpetuate the flow of money needed for food and drink. In robbing and murdering the members of their own township, the gang members revel in seeking out the weak, less fortunate or unsuspecting members of their own kind. In so doing, the gang helps perpetuate their own miserable lifestyle. Instead of directing this anger towards their white oppressors, the gang, by its violence, gives the white population its justification for continuing the oppression of Apartheid. The lack of any social conscience in Tsotsi, and the shutting out of his own memories of family and feelings for others leads to a crisis within the gang that changes everything.
In one violent outburst, Tsotsi vents his anger on the most educated and likable member of his gang. When he realizes what he has done, a twinkle of conscience creeps into Tsotsi's mind and keeps popping up despite all his efforts to push it back into a comfortable corner of his brain and ignore it. With this awakening comes a desire to seek out any remnants of his earlier life prior to running away and joining a gang. He begins a quest to reestablish contact with his past. In a cascade of new conscience driven actions, Tsotsi adopts an abandoned child, finds that he has taken on responsibility and pays the price for caring about other human beings.
A chapter a night is enough to cogitate on with this book. Read it slowly and think about how it relates to our lives today.
The members of the gang under Tsotsi's leadership act as his conscience, planners, and executors of daily robberies and murders in the African township. There is no conscience involved in the acts, only the necessity of doing them on a daily basis in order to perpetuate the flow of money needed for food and drink. In robbing and murdering the members of their own township, the gang members revel in seeking out the weak, less fortunate or unsuspecting members of their own kind. In so doing, the gang helps perpetuate their own miserable lifestyle. Instead of directing this anger towards their white oppressors, the gang, by its violence, gives the white population its justification for continuing the oppression of Apartheid. The lack of any social conscience in Tsotsi, and the shutting out of his own memories of family and feelings for others leads to a crisis within the gang that changes everything.
In one violent outburst, Tsotsi vents his anger on the most educated and likable member of his gang. When he realizes what he has done, a twinkle of conscience creeps into Tsotsi's mind and keeps popping up despite all his efforts to push it back into a comfortable corner of his brain and ignore it. With this awakening comes a desire to seek out any remnants of his earlier life prior to running away and joining a gang. He begins a quest to reestablish contact with his past. In a cascade of new conscience driven actions, Tsotsi adopts an abandoned child, finds that he has taken on responsibility and pays the price for caring about other human beings.
A chapter a night is enough to cogitate on with this book. Read it slowly and think about how it relates to our lives today.
July 17, 2020
Kelam...mungkin adalah kata yg cocok menggambarkan novel ini.Tak terbayangkan negara yang begitu jahiliah berhasil menumbangkan pemerintahan apartheid dan berhasil pada tahun lalu menjadi tuan rumah Piala Dunia,bandingkan dengan Indonesia yang saat ini masih ribut soal ketua umum federasi sepakbola...halaaah..Buku ini membuat kita merenung akan manusia yang bisa menjadi lebih jahat dari binatang atau bahkan setan sekali pun.
Pengalaman hidup memang akan membentuk jiwa seseorang,tapi pada dasarnya setiap manusia memiliki hati nurani disadari atau tidak.Tsotsi,anak yg kehilangan ibunya dari tempat tidur diwaktu malam,telah ditinggal ayahnya bertahun-tahun tanpa kabar,hanya dengan harapan dari kata-kata ibunya "suatu hari nanti.."jika ia bertanya kapan ayahnya pulang.
Melarikan diri dari ketakutan,bergabung dengan geng anak jalanan,membunuh hanya utk sekeping penny atau karena sudah memutuskan utk membunuh tanpa alasan apapun.Tsotsi tidak ingat siapa dirinya,siapa namanya,sampai pada satu titik dimana ia menemukan dirinya kembali,mengingat namanya, kemampuannya untuk mengampuni,merasa iba dan bahkan memutuskan merawat seorang bayi yg tanpa sengaja diserahkan padanya.Selain tsotsi,kisah2 orang2 kulit hitam lainnya tak kurang perihnya,ada Boston yg juga terhempas kehidupan.Boston sang bintang kelas,juara,penerima beasiswa,dikeluarkan dari sekolah krn memerkosa seorg mahasiswa hanya krn ketidaktahuan cara bergaul antara pria dan wanita.Morris Tshabalala,pengemis cacat tanpa kaki,setengah manusia,little man,target pembunuhan tsotsi.Morris bertanya pada tsotsi "mengapa kau memilihku tsotsi?"..tsotsi menjwb:"karena kau jelek,pengemis,kau orang terjelek yang pernah kulihat"...Cuma itu?..Tsotsi membatalkan niatnya untuk membunuh.
Pengalaman hidup memang akan membentuk jiwa seseorang,tapi pada dasarnya setiap manusia memiliki hati nurani disadari atau tidak.Tsotsi,anak yg kehilangan ibunya dari tempat tidur diwaktu malam,telah ditinggal ayahnya bertahun-tahun tanpa kabar,hanya dengan harapan dari kata-kata ibunya "suatu hari nanti.."jika ia bertanya kapan ayahnya pulang.
Melarikan diri dari ketakutan,bergabung dengan geng anak jalanan,membunuh hanya utk sekeping penny atau karena sudah memutuskan utk membunuh tanpa alasan apapun.Tsotsi tidak ingat siapa dirinya,siapa namanya,sampai pada satu titik dimana ia menemukan dirinya kembali,mengingat namanya, kemampuannya untuk mengampuni,merasa iba dan bahkan memutuskan merawat seorang bayi yg tanpa sengaja diserahkan padanya.Selain tsotsi,kisah2 orang2 kulit hitam lainnya tak kurang perihnya,ada Boston yg juga terhempas kehidupan.Boston sang bintang kelas,juara,penerima beasiswa,dikeluarkan dari sekolah krn memerkosa seorg mahasiswa hanya krn ketidaktahuan cara bergaul antara pria dan wanita.Morris Tshabalala,pengemis cacat tanpa kaki,setengah manusia,little man,target pembunuhan tsotsi.Morris bertanya pada tsotsi "mengapa kau memilihku tsotsi?"..tsotsi menjwb:"karena kau jelek,pengemis,kau orang terjelek yang pernah kulihat"...Cuma itu?..Tsotsi membatalkan niatnya untuk membunuh.
April 14, 2019
An interesting read, with a great insight into life in South Africa in the 1950’s. This is written in such a honest way, but adding a strange beauty to it through Fugard’s writing style.
You can definitely tell he’s a playwright due to the way dialogue is sometimes thrown in unnecessarily or how he will launch off at a tangent in the middle of a scene as if the character were given their own monologue to tell their story.
Because of this, I actually found the story didn’t flow as much as I would have liked- it’s definitely not as gripping as I thought especially due to the murderous nature of tsotsi’s in the townships.
I still think this is a beautiful and important read all the same, worth picking up but I’ll be moving this along now I’ve read it.
You can definitely tell he’s a playwright due to the way dialogue is sometimes thrown in unnecessarily or how he will launch off at a tangent in the middle of a scene as if the character were given their own monologue to tell their story.
Because of this, I actually found the story didn’t flow as much as I would have liked- it’s definitely not as gripping as I thought especially due to the murderous nature of tsotsi’s in the townships.
I still think this is a beautiful and important read all the same, worth picking up but I’ll be moving this along now I’ve read it.
May 15, 2010
Oh this book made me so damn mad! Official book reviews talk about a lost and angry young man rediscovering his humanity and compassion. Oh really? The 'hero' is murdering decent people for fun and striking terror into his community,then he tries to rape a young woman who is unlucky enough to encounter him and she escapes by shoving her baby in his arms and running for her life.
So he tries to look after the baby for a few days and that suddenly makes him a reformed character? We're meant to applaud him for being a wonderful human being because he didn't just kill the baby? Oh please! He is a murdering rapist scum who deserves the death penalty for his crimes! I hated this book for glossing over horrific crimes and making this character out to be a bloody hero when he was just plain evil. One good deed does not erase the unspeakable things he did.
Hated this book with a vengeance!
So he tries to look after the baby for a few days and that suddenly makes him a reformed character? We're meant to applaud him for being a wonderful human being because he didn't just kill the baby? Oh please! He is a murdering rapist scum who deserves the death penalty for his crimes! I hated this book for glossing over horrific crimes and making this character out to be a bloody hero when he was just plain evil. One good deed does not erase the unspeakable things he did.
Hated this book with a vengeance!
March 29, 2017
I really enjoyed this book. It provided a really interesting perspective into the Tsotsi lifestyle. Once I started reading, it was hard to put the book down. Quick, but really good read.
July 2, 2022
If you have read my review on Mother to Mother from last year, you would know I hate set books and this book was no exception and perhaps worse than Mother to Mother. I’m honestly not even sure if this book deserves a one star. It was a bore to read and an absolute DNF. The only reason I did actually end up finishing this was because it was my set book. I don’t know why anyone would recommend this to me but apparently the school did. I hate set books period, but that is not the only reason I hated this book.
Tsotsi is a thief. Under apartheid he has lived his entire life alone after his mother was taken away. He turned to the streets as a petty thief and turned into a monster. Now he kills people for a living and is the leader of a gang. One night under the blue gum trees, he tries to rob a lady of her belongings. The contents of her package is not what it seemed and Tsotsi’s life is set in disarray. It leads to a journey of self discovery and self introspection. Does this brutal thief really have a soft heart under all that heard exterior?
This book is about a black man living under the apartheid laws in South Africa. I recently visited the apartheid museum and it is rich in history of the going ons in apartheid. It’s eye opening and if you get a chance to visit it, I would highly recommend it (but this is not a paid promotion or a review of the museum, so I shall move on swiftly.) THIS BOOK IS WRITTEN BY A WHITE MAN WHO HAD WHITE PRIVILEGE IN SOUTH AFRICA IN APARTHEID!! HOW WOULD HE UNDERSTAND WHAT BLACK
PEOPLE WENT THROUGH!! You could see his inexperience and it was annoying. The book didn’t even mention apartheid that much and did not mention the brutality of white police like it should have. It was all sort of romanticised and hidden and if he had described it better I would have found it easier to sympathise with Tsotsi.
The characters bored me to no avail. Tsotsi was like a slug going about his daily doings. He was heartless and brutal and didn’t consider the consequences of his actions. I couldn’t stand him and then one day he just changes. That is not realistic. Not realistic at all. The way he ditched his gang was annoying and petty (just like he was) and the way he beat up Boston for no reason was unacceptable. He was also weirdly interested in Boston, perhaps he was attracted to him. It was confusing and I would like some clarity please. It made me uncomfortable because Tsotsi did some weird things to Boston while he was unconscious (I will not go into detail, but so be it.)
The plot was as sluggish as Tsotsi. The plot would drag on and on and we would read two chapters about a silly person doing normal things like eating and walking. Then the plot would speed and up and then people would be dying and things just happened at an odd pace that made the story unbearable. It was like “just getting the point” and then suddenly “what just happened there? Why is the storyline so fast?” Like get a grip and decide what you really want.
The ending was so lame and it was uninspiring. It was just an excuse to end the story because Fugard had got tired and had bored himself out so much that he decided that he wanted to disappoint the readers and give them a headache. He definitely gave me one of those and sorrow filled my heart because I wasted so much of my precious time. Now I have to write like ten reviews on it. Wish me luck.
Tsotsi is a thief. Under apartheid he has lived his entire life alone after his mother was taken away. He turned to the streets as a petty thief and turned into a monster. Now he kills people for a living and is the leader of a gang. One night under the blue gum trees, he tries to rob a lady of her belongings. The contents of her package is not what it seemed and Tsotsi’s life is set in disarray. It leads to a journey of self discovery and self introspection. Does this brutal thief really have a soft heart under all that heard exterior?
This book is about a black man living under the apartheid laws in South Africa. I recently visited the apartheid museum and it is rich in history of the going ons in apartheid. It’s eye opening and if you get a chance to visit it, I would highly recommend it (but this is not a paid promotion or a review of the museum, so I shall move on swiftly.) THIS BOOK IS WRITTEN BY A WHITE MAN WHO HAD WHITE PRIVILEGE IN SOUTH AFRICA IN APARTHEID!! HOW WOULD HE UNDERSTAND WHAT BLACK
PEOPLE WENT THROUGH!! You could see his inexperience and it was annoying. The book didn’t even mention apartheid that much and did not mention the brutality of white police like it should have. It was all sort of romanticised and hidden and if he had described it better I would have found it easier to sympathise with Tsotsi.
The characters bored me to no avail. Tsotsi was like a slug going about his daily doings. He was heartless and brutal and didn’t consider the consequences of his actions. I couldn’t stand him and then one day he just changes. That is not realistic. Not realistic at all. The way he ditched his gang was annoying and petty (just like he was) and the way he beat up Boston for no reason was unacceptable. He was also weirdly interested in Boston, perhaps he was attracted to him. It was confusing and I would like some clarity please. It made me uncomfortable because Tsotsi did some weird things to Boston while he was unconscious (I will not go into detail, but so be it.)
The plot was as sluggish as Tsotsi. The plot would drag on and on and we would read two chapters about a silly person doing normal things like eating and walking. Then the plot would speed and up and then people would be dying and things just happened at an odd pace that made the story unbearable. It was like “just getting the point” and then suddenly “what just happened there? Why is the storyline so fast?” Like get a grip and decide what you really want.
The ending was so lame and it was uninspiring. It was just an excuse to end the story because Fugard had got tired and had bored himself out so much that he decided that he wanted to disappoint the readers and give them a headache. He definitely gave me one of those and sorrow filled my heart because I wasted so much of my precious time. Now I have to write like ten reviews on it. Wish me luck.
July 29, 2009
Sophiatown, Afrika Selatan, akhir 1950-an.
Seorang kulit hitam pekerja tambang emas, Gumboot Dhlamini, kedapatan tewas di kereta yang dtumpanginya dalam perjalanan pulang. Lelaki itu tewas secara mengenaskan. Di dadanya, tempat jantungnya bersemayam, menancap sebatang jari-jari sepeda. Ia korban aksi perampokan yang dilakukan sejumlah anak muda berandalan di bawah pimpinan seorang pemuda berjuluk Tsotsi. Dalam bahasa setempat, tsotsi adalah kata yang dipakai untuk menyebut seorang anggota gangster.
Adegan di atas mengawali novel karya Athol Fugard. Pria kelahiran 1932 ini, sepanjang karier kepenulisannya lebih banyak menggarap naskah drama. Drama-drama ciptannya yang cukup terkenal antara lain : The Blood Knot, Boesman and Lena, dll.
Tsotsi ditulis Fugard pada awal 1960-an di atas kapal laut dalam pelayaran menuju Cape, tanah kelahiranya di bumi Afrika. Naskah yang sempat disingkirkan oleh penulisnya ini, akhirnya diterbitkan 20 tahun kemudian (1980) dan menjadi novel satu-satunya. Dua dekade berikutnya, Gavin Hood, seorang sutradara asal Afrika Selatan mengangkat Tsotsi ke layar lebar. Fugard ikut terlibat dalam pengerjaan skenarionya. Hasil kolaborasi yang cantik ini membuahkan Oscar bagi Tsotsi untuk kategori Film Berbahasa Asing Terbaik 2006.
Berkisah ihwal seorang pemuda kulit hitam, kepala gangster di perkampungan kumuh di salah satu sudut kota Sophiatown. Ia dipanggil dengan nama Tsotsi. Nama aslinya ia sendiri pun nyaris lupa. Sampai suatu malam setelah merampok dan menghabisi Gumboot, Tsotsi mengalami sebuah peristiwa yang mengubah seluruh jalan hidupnya.
Malam itu, setelah menghajar Boston - salah satu anggota gengnya - hingga sekarat, di bawah sebatang pohon, seorang perempuan menyerahkan sebuah kotak sepatu pada Tsotsi. Menyerahkannya begitu saja. Tanpa pesan. Tanpa kata-kata. Hanya isak lirihnya terdengar saat berbalik meninggalkan Tsotsi bersama kotak sepatu yang ternyata berisi seorang bayi lelaki.
Tsotsi, berandalan yang hidup dengan sebilah belati di bawah bantalnya, tiba-tiba diserahi seorang bayi. Untuk sejenak, pemuda itu tak tahu mesti berbuat apa. Namun, hari-hari selanjutnya bayi itu membawa perubahan besar dalam hidup Tsotsi. Bayi itu memecahkan kebekuan hatinya; menyentuh relung kalbu paling dalam; menemukan kembali nama yang diberikan ibunya, yaitu David Madondo; mengenalkannya pada satu rasa asing : cinta. Melalui sosok manusia mungil itu, Tuhan mendatangkan hidayahNya.
Kisah yang sebenarnya hanya menceritakan kejadian selama kurang dari 1 minggu itu, menghadirkan suasana pergulatan batin Tsotsi secara mendalam.
Pelan-pelan kita dibawa menyelami perasaan-perasaan Tsotsi, pergumulan hatinya, masa lalunya. Suatu masa paling gelap dalam hidupnya yang tak pernah ingin diingatnya lantaran hanya akan mengguratkan luka dan kepedihan : ibunya ditangkap polisi, ayah yang tak pernah ditemuinya, anjing betina mati beranak di depan hidungnya, pipa-pipa sebagai tempat tidurnya, bantaran sungai, kerangka mobil.... Semuanya membekas menjadi trauma, menyeretnya ke dalam kehidupan jalanan yang keras dan kejam. Perjalanan hidup Tsotsi menemukan Tuhan dan kebaikan hadir mencekam sekaligus mengharukan. Jika ada yang mendaulat novel ini sebagai novel psikologi, rasanya kita bakal sepakat.
Fugard menulis novel ini dengan sangat filmis. Setiap adegan dituturkan sangat teliti dan rinci. Dengan penuh kesabaran ia menampilkan setiap detailnya melalui kalimat-kalimat yang panjang. Seolah tak ingin ada yang terlewat dari pengamatannya : kertas yang melayang terbang, percikan debu, lalat, semut yang berkerumun, lelehan susu di sudut bibir, anjing kencing, klakson mobil, mobil mogok, penjual koran.....
Misalnya ini :
Seorang lelaki sedang duduk di tangga pintu sebuah toko tak jauh dari situ, menggaruki trotoar tanpa minat dengan korek api. di belakangnya, keruwetan Terminal sedang merapikan diri. Kerumunan sudah jauh lebih menipis jika dibandingkan dengan saat dia berangkat. Sekarang trotoar sudah cukup lengang sehingga selembar koran berminyak, yang tadinya membungkus keripik seharga 6 pence, bisa menari-nari di antara kaki. Sesekali tiupan angin yang sama berlarian dari selokan. Awan kecil debu kelabu mengepul, lalu jatuh kelelahan. Benda-benda seperti korek api kosong dan bola remasan koran bergerak tiba-tiba dan tanpa alasan, melompat-lompat melintasi setengah jalan, lalu menggeletak di situ, diam-diam berkedutan selama beberapa detik, sampai dorongan irasional lain membawa mereka menyimpang dari gerakan semula (hlm 119-120).
Kepiawaian Fugard tidak cukup sampai di situ. Diapun mahir menciptakan karakter-karakter kuat yang menghidupkan cerita. Maka di samping Tsotsi lantas ada Boston si mahasiswa drop out; Jagal dan Die Aap para kriminal kelas teri; Morris Tshabalala, pengemis cacat mantan pekerja tambang; serta Miriam, perempuan muda beranak satu yang suaminya lenyap tanpa kabar berita setelah peristiwa pemboikotan bus.
Mereka adalah orang-orang miskin, terpinggirkan di tanah air mereka sendiri. Tanah air kaya-raya yang menyimpan kandungan emas dan berlian di dalam perutnya. Kekayaan yang dikuasai orang-orang asing berkulit putih dengan ideologi apartheidnya. Orang-orang kulit hitam selaku pribumi pemilik negeri, hanya kebagian jatah menjadi kuli kasar di tambang-tambang serta hak menempati 30% wilayah negara untuk ditinggali. Begitupun, mereka masih terus diburu-buru, diusir, digusur oleh aparat pemerintah. Penindasan terhadap kulit hitam berlangsung setiap hari.
Realitas seperti itulah yang disaksikan Harold Athol Lannigan Fugard selama masa kanak-kanaknya yang nantinya ia tuangkan ke dalam Tsotsi. Ia sendiri adalah keturunan campuran dari ayah asal Inggris dan ibu Afrikaner.
Agaknya, Tsotsi ingin menegaskan, bahwa setiap orang - penjahat sekalipun - menyimpan cinta dan mutiara kebaikan dalam dirinya, sebab kita berawal dari, dan kelak akan kembali kepada Sang Cinta itu sendiri.
Seorang kulit hitam pekerja tambang emas, Gumboot Dhlamini, kedapatan tewas di kereta yang dtumpanginya dalam perjalanan pulang. Lelaki itu tewas secara mengenaskan. Di dadanya, tempat jantungnya bersemayam, menancap sebatang jari-jari sepeda. Ia korban aksi perampokan yang dilakukan sejumlah anak muda berandalan di bawah pimpinan seorang pemuda berjuluk Tsotsi. Dalam bahasa setempat, tsotsi adalah kata yang dipakai untuk menyebut seorang anggota gangster.
Adegan di atas mengawali novel karya Athol Fugard. Pria kelahiran 1932 ini, sepanjang karier kepenulisannya lebih banyak menggarap naskah drama. Drama-drama ciptannya yang cukup terkenal antara lain : The Blood Knot, Boesman and Lena, dll.
Tsotsi ditulis Fugard pada awal 1960-an di atas kapal laut dalam pelayaran menuju Cape, tanah kelahiranya di bumi Afrika. Naskah yang sempat disingkirkan oleh penulisnya ini, akhirnya diterbitkan 20 tahun kemudian (1980) dan menjadi novel satu-satunya. Dua dekade berikutnya, Gavin Hood, seorang sutradara asal Afrika Selatan mengangkat Tsotsi ke layar lebar. Fugard ikut terlibat dalam pengerjaan skenarionya. Hasil kolaborasi yang cantik ini membuahkan Oscar bagi Tsotsi untuk kategori Film Berbahasa Asing Terbaik 2006.
Berkisah ihwal seorang pemuda kulit hitam, kepala gangster di perkampungan kumuh di salah satu sudut kota Sophiatown. Ia dipanggil dengan nama Tsotsi. Nama aslinya ia sendiri pun nyaris lupa. Sampai suatu malam setelah merampok dan menghabisi Gumboot, Tsotsi mengalami sebuah peristiwa yang mengubah seluruh jalan hidupnya.
Malam itu, setelah menghajar Boston - salah satu anggota gengnya - hingga sekarat, di bawah sebatang pohon, seorang perempuan menyerahkan sebuah kotak sepatu pada Tsotsi. Menyerahkannya begitu saja. Tanpa pesan. Tanpa kata-kata. Hanya isak lirihnya terdengar saat berbalik meninggalkan Tsotsi bersama kotak sepatu yang ternyata berisi seorang bayi lelaki.
Tsotsi, berandalan yang hidup dengan sebilah belati di bawah bantalnya, tiba-tiba diserahi seorang bayi. Untuk sejenak, pemuda itu tak tahu mesti berbuat apa. Namun, hari-hari selanjutnya bayi itu membawa perubahan besar dalam hidup Tsotsi. Bayi itu memecahkan kebekuan hatinya; menyentuh relung kalbu paling dalam; menemukan kembali nama yang diberikan ibunya, yaitu David Madondo; mengenalkannya pada satu rasa asing : cinta. Melalui sosok manusia mungil itu, Tuhan mendatangkan hidayahNya.
Kisah yang sebenarnya hanya menceritakan kejadian selama kurang dari 1 minggu itu, menghadirkan suasana pergulatan batin Tsotsi secara mendalam.
Pelan-pelan kita dibawa menyelami perasaan-perasaan Tsotsi, pergumulan hatinya, masa lalunya. Suatu masa paling gelap dalam hidupnya yang tak pernah ingin diingatnya lantaran hanya akan mengguratkan luka dan kepedihan : ibunya ditangkap polisi, ayah yang tak pernah ditemuinya, anjing betina mati beranak di depan hidungnya, pipa-pipa sebagai tempat tidurnya, bantaran sungai, kerangka mobil.... Semuanya membekas menjadi trauma, menyeretnya ke dalam kehidupan jalanan yang keras dan kejam. Perjalanan hidup Tsotsi menemukan Tuhan dan kebaikan hadir mencekam sekaligus mengharukan. Jika ada yang mendaulat novel ini sebagai novel psikologi, rasanya kita bakal sepakat.
Fugard menulis novel ini dengan sangat filmis. Setiap adegan dituturkan sangat teliti dan rinci. Dengan penuh kesabaran ia menampilkan setiap detailnya melalui kalimat-kalimat yang panjang. Seolah tak ingin ada yang terlewat dari pengamatannya : kertas yang melayang terbang, percikan debu, lalat, semut yang berkerumun, lelehan susu di sudut bibir, anjing kencing, klakson mobil, mobil mogok, penjual koran.....
Misalnya ini :
Seorang lelaki sedang duduk di tangga pintu sebuah toko tak jauh dari situ, menggaruki trotoar tanpa minat dengan korek api. di belakangnya, keruwetan Terminal sedang merapikan diri. Kerumunan sudah jauh lebih menipis jika dibandingkan dengan saat dia berangkat. Sekarang trotoar sudah cukup lengang sehingga selembar koran berminyak, yang tadinya membungkus keripik seharga 6 pence, bisa menari-nari di antara kaki. Sesekali tiupan angin yang sama berlarian dari selokan. Awan kecil debu kelabu mengepul, lalu jatuh kelelahan. Benda-benda seperti korek api kosong dan bola remasan koran bergerak tiba-tiba dan tanpa alasan, melompat-lompat melintasi setengah jalan, lalu menggeletak di situ, diam-diam berkedutan selama beberapa detik, sampai dorongan irasional lain membawa mereka menyimpang dari gerakan semula (hlm 119-120).
Kepiawaian Fugard tidak cukup sampai di situ. Diapun mahir menciptakan karakter-karakter kuat yang menghidupkan cerita. Maka di samping Tsotsi lantas ada Boston si mahasiswa drop out; Jagal dan Die Aap para kriminal kelas teri; Morris Tshabalala, pengemis cacat mantan pekerja tambang; serta Miriam, perempuan muda beranak satu yang suaminya lenyap tanpa kabar berita setelah peristiwa pemboikotan bus.
Mereka adalah orang-orang miskin, terpinggirkan di tanah air mereka sendiri. Tanah air kaya-raya yang menyimpan kandungan emas dan berlian di dalam perutnya. Kekayaan yang dikuasai orang-orang asing berkulit putih dengan ideologi apartheidnya. Orang-orang kulit hitam selaku pribumi pemilik negeri, hanya kebagian jatah menjadi kuli kasar di tambang-tambang serta hak menempati 30% wilayah negara untuk ditinggali. Begitupun, mereka masih terus diburu-buru, diusir, digusur oleh aparat pemerintah. Penindasan terhadap kulit hitam berlangsung setiap hari.
Realitas seperti itulah yang disaksikan Harold Athol Lannigan Fugard selama masa kanak-kanaknya yang nantinya ia tuangkan ke dalam Tsotsi. Ia sendiri adalah keturunan campuran dari ayah asal Inggris dan ibu Afrikaner.
Agaknya, Tsotsi ingin menegaskan, bahwa setiap orang - penjahat sekalipun - menyimpan cinta dan mutiara kebaikan dalam dirinya, sebab kita berawal dari, dan kelak akan kembali kepada Sang Cinta itu sendiri.
April 5, 2025
I feel as if the recently deceased South African playwright were an acquaintance, because I was lucky enough to see (in New Haven) the world premiere of some of his last plays, with Fugard as an actor in these intense, small-casted plays. When Fugard died, I took down from my shelves his only novel, written not long before I saw my first of his plays, "Master Harold...and the Boys" (1982), in an early Boston production (1983) starring James Earl Jones. Although dated (the novella reads like a late 50's/early 60's African American novel), Tsotsi is a short, painful, powerful work with an omniscient third-person narrative that’s like a rolling stone that manages to pick up the moss of new characters as they appear, while still allowing Tsotsi to be the protagonist.
March 18, 2025
Characters feel dehumanized and one dimensional. It's too extreme in its depiction of violence and sexual and it adds *nothing* to the story whatsoever. No commentary was made on Apartheid and it's effects on its victims in this novel, every black character is literally soulless in the sense that they do not feel human at all, they are either super evil or a woman that's a victim of sexual assault at the hands of the main character. This novel does nothing in terms of giving the reader an insight into the Apartheid era, considering most of the characters are criminals or rapists that harm their own community.
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January 19, 2025Me ha gustado mucho aunque por momentos se me ha hecho difícil entenderlo al estar escrito en inglés y he tenido que releer varias veces pero en general muy guay. Nos habla a modo de novela de cómo por un agente externo puede cambiar una perspectiva de la vida y cómo nos relacionamos con el mundo. Se centra tsotsi, un joven conflictivo que no recuerda muy bien su infancia y que se dedica al asesinato y saqueo hasta que algo le ocurre y conoce la compasión humana... Es ameno porque no deja de ser una historia como otra cualquiera pero esconde mensajes bastante guays a mi parecer y nada complicados
December 14, 2022
Read this for English, was very confused. Plot was interesting but also made no sense and had way too many useless paragraphs. The spelling and grammar was strange at times, and the ending was awful. Still a little lost.
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October 2, 2021Okay so I did have thoughts but at the moment my mind I'd blank😐
Atleast I did actually finish the book and somehow wrote the literature paper on in and I do not look forward to writing another paper at the end of the year😭.
Atleast I did actually finish the book and somehow wrote the literature paper on in and I do not look forward to writing another paper at the end of the year😭.
November 24, 2021
Fantastic read that highlights life for Tsotsi and the realities of South Africa. The ending was a bit abrupt but a thorough good read
July 19, 2023
The diction was absolutely amazing unlike the plot.
November 22, 2023
2 ⭐️.
read it for school & it was not an enjoyable experience🥲.
read it for school & it was not an enjoyable experience🥲.
July 21, 2023
Fugard's use of metaphors cannot spare me of the mental torture this book has given me
December 18, 2012
I personally did not enjoy this book. I was forced to read this for school, and the teacher said that the main character "Tsotsi" was going to change religiously at the end. In my perspective he had barely had changed. The ending seemed pointless. I feel like the smile was a symbol for something but I honestly could not identify what it meant.
I would recommend this book for people who like books with very good imagery. That's probably one of the reasons I didn't like the book, it almost seemed over descriptive.
Another good thing about this book was that it was a fast read, but it was kind of hard to understand. I had to reread many times to fully understand what was going on.
I enjoyed this book from the African words (a.k.a insults mostly) you get to learn :D.
The book was about a guy named Tsoti, which means thug in African. He is in a gang. One of the gang members named Boston always asked Tsotsi about his past and who he was. This pissed Tsotsi off a lot so he ends up beating up Boston. Then he runs tries to rape a lady, who hands him a lovely shoe box. He looks instead and WOAHHHH it's a baby. The baby is another symbol in the book and somehow helps him get flashbacks of who he was. The flashbacks are pretty intense. He remembers his name, and his parents. After finally discovering he was he decides to change, talks to Isaiah in the church yard. Isaiah invites him to church. But later that day Tsoti dies saving the baby.
I feel like I missed the whole point to the book being good because a lot of people seemed to like it.
:) well bye.
I would recommend this book for people who like books with very good imagery. That's probably one of the reasons I didn't like the book, it almost seemed over descriptive.
Another good thing about this book was that it was a fast read, but it was kind of hard to understand. I had to reread many times to fully understand what was going on.
I enjoyed this book from the African words (a.k.a insults mostly) you get to learn :D.
The book was about a guy named Tsoti, which means thug in African. He is in a gang. One of the gang members named Boston always asked Tsotsi about his past and who he was. This pissed Tsotsi off a lot so he ends up beating up Boston. Then he runs tries to rape a lady, who hands him a lovely shoe box. He looks instead and WOAHHHH it's a baby. The baby is another symbol in the book and somehow helps him get flashbacks of who he was. The flashbacks are pretty intense. He remembers his name, and his parents. After finally discovering he was he decides to change, talks to Isaiah in the church yard. Isaiah invites him to church. But later that day Tsoti dies saving the baby.
I feel like I missed the whole point to the book being good because a lot of people seemed to like it.
:) well bye.
February 6, 2019
Brilliant. I know Fugard only as a playwright but this is quite extraordinarily good prose. I had long meant to read it and am really pleased I finally got to it. The depiction of characters across the spectrum, during a strained period of South African social and political intercourse, is perceptive and thoroughly engaging. The writing is economical, moody, penetratingly accurate, and reveals a writer at the threshold of greatness. This kind of writing should be studied by any South African writer trying to write prose, let alone anyone else out there. Fugard observes with uncanny accuracy the rough edges of his milieu, as well as the tenderness that lurks within - sometimes very deep down.
I recently read a collection of South African short stories where there was a depressing lack of what I hesitatingly call a 'South African' sensibility (OK, OK, I know that that formulation has a few problems, but I'll throw it out there for further discussion - space precludes elaboration right now - the main thing is that I value Fugard's ability to listen to the real people around him - at that stage in his career, anyway - and imbibe the nuances of language and social interaction and cultural richness that lies all around, and at the same time I despair when writers try and write characters and plots 'at their desk', as it were, without getting out and into the dust of the society in which they locate their stories).
This kind of writing makes me want to go and re-visit Fugard's plays.
I recently read a collection of South African short stories where there was a depressing lack of what I hesitatingly call a 'South African' sensibility (OK, OK, I know that that formulation has a few problems, but I'll throw it out there for further discussion - space precludes elaboration right now - the main thing is that I value Fugard's ability to listen to the real people around him - at that stage in his career, anyway - and imbibe the nuances of language and social interaction and cultural richness that lies all around, and at the same time I despair when writers try and write characters and plots 'at their desk', as it were, without getting out and into the dust of the society in which they locate their stories).
This kind of writing makes me want to go and re-visit Fugard's plays.
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