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The Quiet Violence of Dreams
Bound to make waves. In this daring novel, the author gives a startling account of the inner workings of contemporary South African urban culture. In doing so, he ventures into unexplored areas and takes local writing in English to places it hasn't been before.
The Quiet Violence of Dreams is set in Cape Town's cosmopolitan neighbourhoods - Observatory, Mowbray and Sea Point - where subcultures thrive and alternative lifestyles are tolerated. The plot revolves around Tshepo, a student at Rhodes, who gets confined to a Cape Town mental institution after an episode of 'cannabis-induced psychosis'. He escapes but is returned to the hospital and completes his rehabilitation, earns his release - and promptly terminates his studies. He now works as a waiter and shares an apartment with a newly released prisoner. The relationship with his flatmate deteriorates and Tshepo loses his job at the Waterfront. Desperate for an income, he finds work at a male massage parlour, using the pseudonym Angelo.
The novel explores Tshepo-Angelo's coming to consciousness of his sexuality, sexual orientation, and place in the world. lifestyle and set of experiences are explored - that of a young black woman who gets involved with a disabled German student who does not want to commit to marriage, despite Mmabatho's unplanned pregnancy.
The Quiet Violence of Dreams is set in Cape Town's cosmopolitan neighbourhoods - Observatory, Mowbray and Sea Point - where subcultures thrive and alternative lifestyles are tolerated. The plot revolves around Tshepo, a student at Rhodes, who gets confined to a Cape Town mental institution after an episode of 'cannabis-induced psychosis'. He escapes but is returned to the hospital and completes his rehabilitation, earns his release - and promptly terminates his studies. He now works as a waiter and shares an apartment with a newly released prisoner. The relationship with his flatmate deteriorates and Tshepo loses his job at the Waterfront. Desperate for an income, he finds work at a male massage parlour, using the pseudonym Angelo.
The novel explores Tshepo-Angelo's coming to consciousness of his sexuality, sexual orientation, and place in the world. lifestyle and set of experiences are explored - that of a young black woman who gets involved with a disabled German student who does not want to commit to marriage, despite Mmabatho's unplanned pregnancy.
460 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
49 people are currently reading
1672 people want to read
About the author
K. Sello Duiker
6 books55 followersKabelo 'Sello' Duiker's debut novel, Thirteen Cents won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book, Africa Region.
He suffered a nervous breakdown in 2004, prior to committing suicide by hanging himself in January 2005.
He suffered a nervous breakdown in 2004, prior to committing suicide by hanging himself in January 2005.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews
August 19, 2017
My review cannot begin to cover the complexity of this novel’s six-hundred pages. Set in Cape Town, this book is looks at post-apartheid society through the lens of sex, desire, and race. The main character here is Tshepo but the narrative is made up of alternating points of view of his friends and people he meets along the way at the psychiatric institution, his home, and work. The language is plain, almost like direct speech, and reads like multiple diaries because each chapter is first person POV.
A key part of the early sections of novel deal with Tshepo's struggle with mental illness and the horrible system that underlies "treatment". The author took his own life in 2005 when he was thirty. Reading about Tshepo's struggle with depression is particularly poignant in that light. Tshepo is an idealist, a sensitive dreamer, and has endured childhood trauma due to his father's criminal dealings. He is curious and can't adjust to society as he knows it. Part of the book is of him coming to terms with his desire for men, and what was interesting is the depiction of sex work as a means for him to do that.
There are long dialectical passages in this book about race, gender, sex, and mysticism. A lot of this involves conversations that Tshepo has with others. In allowing other characters to speak from their point of view, the novel is polyphonic and allows for competing or contradictory lines of thought. The mysticism aspect weakens the book, for me, but I also wonder if I’m not supposed to read it “straight” in that it’s meant to draw attention to Tshepo’s increasingly mentally erratic state after suffering personal loss. But perhaps it also indicates a way out of the nihilism that sometimes overtakes Tshepo. The struggle for spiritual meaning is linked to Tshepo's disillusionment with the world as it is (a lot of which I see as problems with capitalism), but with Tshepo there is a lot of back and forth about what to think about life, and how to think about life, so in a way it does remind me of 19th-century social novels.
The only female character in the novel is Mmabatho, dealing with an unstable relationship with a white German man and an unexpected pregnancy. She’s an interesting study; her feminism is brazen and she takes no shit from men, but her feminism is also portrayed as an elitist one, as she constantly trots out xenophobic and classist remarks about immigrants and “lesser” Africans like Nigerians, etc. It was, in a sense, an eye-opening view of elite South African society, but it also felt uncomfortably familiar--Malaysia has its own version of supposedly take-no-shit elitist feminism that overlooks problems of class.
Towards the end, Tshepo has a new job working at a children’s home and has acquired an easel but hasn’t started painting yet. He is in a state of flux, though he has attained some form of stability. I find the description of his waiting (waiting to express himself through art, in a sense) quite moving:
“It is beautiful, my easel. When the children come into my room, they always stare at it with wonder, too awestruck by this strange contraption to ask me what it is, what I do with it. But it is finding its own life, its own significance, like an ancestral mask. The wood breathes life into my room.”
And this:
“When I look at the children I work with, mostly black, with some coloured and white faces, I sense that God can’t be one story. He is a series of narratives.”
The novel is a hallucinatory read at times because of the simple, repetitive prose but to me it was effective and served the purpose of the way in which Duiker was trying to tell this story. I always felt deeply involved. It's a thought-provoking glimpse of South Africa and its myriad issues, a young man's search for meaning beyond the ugliness that the world offers.
A key part of the early sections of novel deal with Tshepo's struggle with mental illness and the horrible system that underlies "treatment". The author took his own life in 2005 when he was thirty. Reading about Tshepo's struggle with depression is particularly poignant in that light. Tshepo is an idealist, a sensitive dreamer, and has endured childhood trauma due to his father's criminal dealings. He is curious and can't adjust to society as he knows it. Part of the book is of him coming to terms with his desire for men, and what was interesting is the depiction of sex work as a means for him to do that.
There are long dialectical passages in this book about race, gender, sex, and mysticism. A lot of this involves conversations that Tshepo has with others. In allowing other characters to speak from their point of view, the novel is polyphonic and allows for competing or contradictory lines of thought. The mysticism aspect weakens the book, for me, but I also wonder if I’m not supposed to read it “straight” in that it’s meant to draw attention to Tshepo’s increasingly mentally erratic state after suffering personal loss. But perhaps it also indicates a way out of the nihilism that sometimes overtakes Tshepo. The struggle for spiritual meaning is linked to Tshepo's disillusionment with the world as it is (a lot of which I see as problems with capitalism), but with Tshepo there is a lot of back and forth about what to think about life, and how to think about life, so in a way it does remind me of 19th-century social novels.
The only female character in the novel is Mmabatho, dealing with an unstable relationship with a white German man and an unexpected pregnancy. She’s an interesting study; her feminism is brazen and she takes no shit from men, but her feminism is also portrayed as an elitist one, as she constantly trots out xenophobic and classist remarks about immigrants and “lesser” Africans like Nigerians, etc. It was, in a sense, an eye-opening view of elite South African society, but it also felt uncomfortably familiar--Malaysia has its own version of supposedly take-no-shit elitist feminism that overlooks problems of class.
Towards the end, Tshepo has a new job working at a children’s home and has acquired an easel but hasn’t started painting yet. He is in a state of flux, though he has attained some form of stability. I find the description of his waiting (waiting to express himself through art, in a sense) quite moving:
“It is beautiful, my easel. When the children come into my room, they always stare at it with wonder, too awestruck by this strange contraption to ask me what it is, what I do with it. But it is finding its own life, its own significance, like an ancestral mask. The wood breathes life into my room.”
And this:
“When I look at the children I work with, mostly black, with some coloured and white faces, I sense that God can’t be one story. He is a series of narratives.”
The novel is a hallucinatory read at times because of the simple, repetitive prose but to me it was effective and served the purpose of the way in which Duiker was trying to tell this story. I always felt deeply involved. It's a thought-provoking glimpse of South Africa and its myriad issues, a young man's search for meaning beyond the ugliness that the world offers.
March 23, 2018
K. Sello Duiker, even his name is dramatic.
This very dramatic story of Tshepo AKA Angelo was such an emotional rollercoaster. I sometimes felt like slapping him, Tshepo, other times, I just wanted to fold him in a hearty embrace and say, "Don't be afraid, do you". And then, I Iook back to the timelines, how receptive were SAfricans of the LGBT community then? Have we made any inroads in that regards? All I know is, we are still persecuting them for not fitting into our neatly labelled and lined boxes. Just read through a few of Koleka Putuma's poetry collection, "Collective Amnesia" and see the violence with which our children, brothers and sisters are treated. You'd think that, us, the children of post 1976, would treat our fellow human beings with compassion, understanding, acceptance and brotherly-love because WE know how it feels to be marginalized and discriminated against.
Sello penned this enthralling narrative with so much depth of emotion. I think that he set the tone for Nthikeng Mohlele's "Pleasure", Ekow Duker's "The God Who Made Mistakes" and Nakhane Toure's "Piggy Boy's Blues".
I gave it 5 phat starts for the beautiful writing. For Sello's ability to delve deep into the recesses of his emotions and bring them out untarnished. Unblemished. For giving me real people with real issues living in this real unforgiving world. Art imitating life?
This very dramatic story of Tshepo AKA Angelo was such an emotional rollercoaster. I sometimes felt like slapping him, Tshepo, other times, I just wanted to fold him in a hearty embrace and say, "Don't be afraid, do you". And then, I Iook back to the timelines, how receptive were SAfricans of the LGBT community then? Have we made any inroads in that regards? All I know is, we are still persecuting them for not fitting into our neatly labelled and lined boxes. Just read through a few of Koleka Putuma's poetry collection, "Collective Amnesia" and see the violence with which our children, brothers and sisters are treated. You'd think that, us, the children of post 1976, would treat our fellow human beings with compassion, understanding, acceptance and brotherly-love because WE know how it feels to be marginalized and discriminated against.
Sello penned this enthralling narrative with so much depth of emotion. I think that he set the tone for Nthikeng Mohlele's "Pleasure", Ekow Duker's "The God Who Made Mistakes" and Nakhane Toure's "Piggy Boy's Blues".
I gave it 5 phat starts for the beautiful writing. For Sello's ability to delve deep into the recesses of his emotions and bring them out untarnished. Unblemished. For giving me real people with real issues living in this real unforgiving world. Art imitating life?
May 19, 2020
It’s hard to sum up everything I thought about this 600+ page book in a paragraph or two. Thirteen Cents, Duiker’s first novel, is one of my favourites, and so my expectations were high - and this both did and didn’t live up to them.
For me, the craft is really inconsistent in The Quiet Violence of Dreams. There’s too much exposition and monologuing, some of the language is lazy, but then it’s punctuated by gripping, masterful, vivid scenes. Duiker’s writing really shines in these moments, with the language sparse and bleak, the interactions brutal.
Tshepo, the main character, suffers serious trauma as a child, and finds himself in the Valkenberg mental hospital with psychosis. The Quiet Violence of Dreams tracks his abuses in hospital and his escape, his abuse at the hands of cruel and violent flatmates, and eventually his refuge in the sex work of a Cape Town massage parlour. Though everything about Tshepo’s experience made me want to root for him, I found his character difficult to connect with. He’s frustratingly passive about the traumas inflicted on him, and inexplicably hostile to his only real friend, Mmabatho.
I didn’t love reading this book but I really admire it. Writing something like this twenty years ago was quite something - with queer, black voices front and centre, taking on sex work and marginalization, xenophobia, mental illness and capitalism. No one looks good in the mirror Duiker holds up to South African society. It was ahead of its time and opened the way for many amazing voices that were to come.
For me, the craft is really inconsistent in The Quiet Violence of Dreams. There’s too much exposition and monologuing, some of the language is lazy, but then it’s punctuated by gripping, masterful, vivid scenes. Duiker’s writing really shines in these moments, with the language sparse and bleak, the interactions brutal.
Tshepo, the main character, suffers serious trauma as a child, and finds himself in the Valkenberg mental hospital with psychosis. The Quiet Violence of Dreams tracks his abuses in hospital and his escape, his abuse at the hands of cruel and violent flatmates, and eventually his refuge in the sex work of a Cape Town massage parlour. Though everything about Tshepo’s experience made me want to root for him, I found his character difficult to connect with. He’s frustratingly passive about the traumas inflicted on him, and inexplicably hostile to his only real friend, Mmabatho.
I didn’t love reading this book but I really admire it. Writing something like this twenty years ago was quite something - with queer, black voices front and centre, taking on sex work and marginalization, xenophobia, mental illness and capitalism. No one looks good in the mirror Duiker holds up to South African society. It was ahead of its time and opened the way for many amazing voices that were to come.
February 22, 2021
Awesomely written dark book, it pushed a lot of boundaries and addressed a lot of societal questions like how we view gays, how and why people hate other Africans yet accept European immigrants.
I think the writer sacrificed some of the credibility to make a point, like how Tsepho was raped, it makes no sense at all, the attack was unprovoked and so random, i felt like the writer wanted to include that rape scene but just couldnt find a proper opening so he just threw it in there.And also Tsepos fathers death, and the mysterious envelope that wasnt opened in the end, i still want to know what the Father meant by saying he would understand how they sacrificed.
I think the writer sacrificed some of the credibility to make a point, like how Tsepho was raped, it makes no sense at all, the attack was unprovoked and so random, i felt like the writer wanted to include that rape scene but just couldnt find a proper opening so he just threw it in there.And also Tsepos fathers death, and the mysterious envelope that wasnt opened in the end, i still want to know what the Father meant by saying he would understand how they sacrificed.
did-not-finish
July 11, 2017I had been looking forward to reading this novel by a gay black South African writer literally for years, so it's with rather a heavy heart that I am abandoning it at the 15% mark: I just really didn't care for the writing. I'm glad so many others have had a more positive experience.
September 5, 2016
Brilliant! Bloody Brilliant! What a captivating masterpiece.
Having read Thirteen Cents I didn't think nor couldn't see how K. Sello Duiker could live up to his first novel as it was superb piece of writing. But he out did himself with this one. The author had gone further into the depth of his brilliant mind, tender heart and tore a piece of his soul as he breathed life into words; like a great artist, his madness was his genius played bare on paper one cannot help to be sucked into twisted voyage of his world.
The Quiet Violence of Dreams is a captivating and hypnotic joy ride drawing so much conflicting emotions from the reader and at times exhausting one's mental piece as one follows Tshepo, the protagonist, meandering life between a torturing state of psychosis in Valkenberg Hospital and sobering pensive journey of learning himself: his essence of being camouflaged by a sexual identity on the backdrop of colourful Cape Town and outskirts of the townships. The dark relationship of violence and sex in the story, intermingling, blurring lines is explicitly aggravating and confrontational it gives the book more weigh.
Tshepo' journey is balanced with other characters' perspectives taking centre stage, weaving a luminous effect to the darkness that prevails on Tshepo's heels.
Definitely award winning stuff! Top 5 books of all time. Shall revisit over and over, over time.
Having read Thirteen Cents I didn't think nor couldn't see how K. Sello Duiker could live up to his first novel as it was superb piece of writing. But he out did himself with this one. The author had gone further into the depth of his brilliant mind, tender heart and tore a piece of his soul as he breathed life into words; like a great artist, his madness was his genius played bare on paper one cannot help to be sucked into twisted voyage of his world.
The Quiet Violence of Dreams is a captivating and hypnotic joy ride drawing so much conflicting emotions from the reader and at times exhausting one's mental piece as one follows Tshepo, the protagonist, meandering life between a torturing state of psychosis in Valkenberg Hospital and sobering pensive journey of learning himself: his essence of being camouflaged by a sexual identity on the backdrop of colourful Cape Town and outskirts of the townships. The dark relationship of violence and sex in the story, intermingling, blurring lines is explicitly aggravating and confrontational it gives the book more weigh.
Tshepo' journey is balanced with other characters' perspectives taking centre stage, weaving a luminous effect to the darkness that prevails on Tshepo's heels.
Definitely award winning stuff! Top 5 books of all time. Shall revisit over and over, over time.
October 16, 2011
It will take years before another South African book even comes close to the magic, beauty and brilliance that was and still is SKDs TQVOD.
Recommended reading for everyone. I must have read this book about four times and I still can't get enough of it.
Recommended reading for everyone. I must have read this book about four times and I still can't get enough of it.
March 2, 2025
I wanted to give this book 5 Stars but Mmabatho irritated me right through to the end! Minus her!
March 4, 2024
Un pavé absolument magnifique, j'ai rarement Lu des réflexions sur la vie, la folie, le racisme, l'homosexualité aussi bien écrit. C'est une lecture très dure émotionnellement mais elle transforme totalement.
July 18, 2014
Wonderful writer, very captivating. Loved the book from beginning to just about the end ( didn't like the ending, it felt rushed). Definitely recommend this book to everyone
July 11, 2018
THE MOST CHALLENGING TEXT I'VE EVER READ.
“You must go where love leads you, even when you are going towards trouble”
(382). This novel is, at its core, a South African coming of age story that tackles several issues most American texts of the same genre don’t dare to address. Duiker took his own life in 2005 after suffering a type of psychotic break amd I can't help but see this text as partly autobiographical. This story is that of Tshepo, like Duiker, a journalism student at Rhodes who comes to encounter mental illness,
sexual assault, racism, sex work, hegemony, and hybridity of prejudice.
This lengthy novel opens on Tshepo in a mental facility undergoing treatments
that could be lightly called questionable. Mostly, he and other patients are drugged into sedation and left alone. His backstory of being a black university student at a
predominantly white institution is revealed through his memories. His reason for being in this Faulkner-esk madhouse is originally described as “cannabis induced psychosis” while later is it revealed that his trauma and subsequent use of marijuana stems from
his mother’s violent rape and murder, an event he revisits in his dreams. Much of the first half of the novel is stuck in this facility called Valkenberg (German for falcon hill).
Tshepo does manage to escape once, but gets apprehended and brought back only to learn that he must work his way through the process to earn his freedom.
Upon release, Tshepo quits school and moves in to a flat in Cape Town with
several transient roommates including his best friend Mmabatho, an independent black girl who only dates white men, and Chris, an uneducated black young man who detests Tshepo for his privileged upbringing, but whom Tshepo lusts after. Tshepo quickly finds himself without the money to survive and takes up a job at “Steamy Windows,” a male massage parlor that services the queer, white elite of Cape Town. Tshepo is encouraged to choose a more European name in order to be more desirable to white clients. He chooses Angelo. Still coming to terms with his own sexuality and place in the world, the
majority of the second half of the novel is set inside the walls of this massage parlor.
South African race relations are at the forefront of this text, and seen mostly
through the lens of sex. Mmabatho, black herself, is prejudice against non-white Africans. She uses local derogatory slurs like “makwere-kwere” to refer to Africans outside the metropolitan areas of the continent. She chooses to only date white men, and prides herself on the number of them she can seduce.
Tshepo’s sexual awakening is directly tied to race. He sees Chris as an wild creature, even though they are both urban citizens. Describing Chris, Tshepo states “There is a determination about his eyes, like someone madly chasing the sun even though it only want to set peacefully” (267). This infatuation comes to a violent halt one night in the flat when Tshepo is raped by Chris. The significance of this event echoes through the text asTshepo does not see sex as an act of love or affection, but as an act of power. “There is a do or die resolve about him” Tshepo explains Chris (267). This idea continues into the massage parlor where Tshepo, now Angelo, is chosen by these affluent white men. He learns that his sex appeal is an asset and his route to financial stability. Being a young, slim, well-mannered and almost naïve man, Tshepo quickly learns it is his virgin-like appearance that makes him stand out from the other “boys” and he becomes popular fast, despite his blackness. He asks one of his clients “Why did you pick me? You could
have chosen one of the white boys.” The middle aged businessman with wife and
children answers “You were anonymous” (325). This is the first in a list of instances where white men see Tshepo as being inhuman, voiceless, a venue for their shameful acts. It’s as if his blackness is an excuse, an idea that these acts are not cheating on their wives because he’s just a black boy, one that can be used and cast aside without guilt.
The sexual dynamics of gay men also comes into play with Tshepo’s identity. The
labeling of “top” and “bottom” as signifiers of the sexually giving and receiving partners leads to his belief as being inferior to the white tops. He is literally being fucked by symbols of hegemonic, racial masculinity. The gay community of Cape Town becomes a microcosm for post-colonial oppression as members of the elite continue to enforce power dynamics over natives even after liberation.
“You must go where love leads you, even when you are going towards trouble”
(382). This novel is, at its core, a South African coming of age story that tackles several issues most American texts of the same genre don’t dare to address. Duiker took his own life in 2005 after suffering a type of psychotic break amd I can't help but see this text as partly autobiographical. This story is that of Tshepo, like Duiker, a journalism student at Rhodes who comes to encounter mental illness,
sexual assault, racism, sex work, hegemony, and hybridity of prejudice.
This lengthy novel opens on Tshepo in a mental facility undergoing treatments
that could be lightly called questionable. Mostly, he and other patients are drugged into sedation and left alone. His backstory of being a black university student at a
predominantly white institution is revealed through his memories. His reason for being in this Faulkner-esk madhouse is originally described as “cannabis induced psychosis” while later is it revealed that his trauma and subsequent use of marijuana stems from
his mother’s violent rape and murder, an event he revisits in his dreams. Much of the first half of the novel is stuck in this facility called Valkenberg (German for falcon hill).
Tshepo does manage to escape once, but gets apprehended and brought back only to learn that he must work his way through the process to earn his freedom.
Upon release, Tshepo quits school and moves in to a flat in Cape Town with
several transient roommates including his best friend Mmabatho, an independent black girl who only dates white men, and Chris, an uneducated black young man who detests Tshepo for his privileged upbringing, but whom Tshepo lusts after. Tshepo quickly finds himself without the money to survive and takes up a job at “Steamy Windows,” a male massage parlor that services the queer, white elite of Cape Town. Tshepo is encouraged to choose a more European name in order to be more desirable to white clients. He chooses Angelo. Still coming to terms with his own sexuality and place in the world, the
majority of the second half of the novel is set inside the walls of this massage parlor.
South African race relations are at the forefront of this text, and seen mostly
through the lens of sex. Mmabatho, black herself, is prejudice against non-white Africans. She uses local derogatory slurs like “makwere-kwere” to refer to Africans outside the metropolitan areas of the continent. She chooses to only date white men, and prides herself on the number of them she can seduce.
Tshepo’s sexual awakening is directly tied to race. He sees Chris as an wild creature, even though they are both urban citizens. Describing Chris, Tshepo states “There is a determination about his eyes, like someone madly chasing the sun even though it only want to set peacefully” (267). This infatuation comes to a violent halt one night in the flat when Tshepo is raped by Chris. The significance of this event echoes through the text asTshepo does not see sex as an act of love or affection, but as an act of power. “There is a do or die resolve about him” Tshepo explains Chris (267). This idea continues into the massage parlor where Tshepo, now Angelo, is chosen by these affluent white men. He learns that his sex appeal is an asset and his route to financial stability. Being a young, slim, well-mannered and almost naïve man, Tshepo quickly learns it is his virgin-like appearance that makes him stand out from the other “boys” and he becomes popular fast, despite his blackness. He asks one of his clients “Why did you pick me? You could
have chosen one of the white boys.” The middle aged businessman with wife and
children answers “You were anonymous” (325). This is the first in a list of instances where white men see Tshepo as being inhuman, voiceless, a venue for their shameful acts. It’s as if his blackness is an excuse, an idea that these acts are not cheating on their wives because he’s just a black boy, one that can be used and cast aside without guilt.
The sexual dynamics of gay men also comes into play with Tshepo’s identity. The
labeling of “top” and “bottom” as signifiers of the sexually giving and receiving partners leads to his belief as being inferior to the white tops. He is literally being fucked by symbols of hegemonic, racial masculinity. The gay community of Cape Town becomes a microcosm for post-colonial oppression as members of the elite continue to enforce power dynamics over natives even after liberation.
November 4, 2019
wow, What. A. Read! a simple, raw, raunchy well written novel. exploring the experiences of several characters. Tshepo, the lead navigates his relationships both personal, social and familial through each encounter that he has with them. my favourite character was Mmabatho who in the early stages of the novel portrays a self-assured, self-confident black queer woman who suddenly finds herself tied down when she commits to a relationship with Arné- a german man. I found her slightly frustrating when she humbles herself to the relationship and when she discovers that she is pregnant. she starts going through all these emotions that have her overthinking, becoming like the conventional woman that she refuses to be. as for Tshepo, his journey is more thorough and in tune with how he begins to make sense of his mental health, his sexuality, his masculinity particularly when he wants to exist more capable and independent from his father, whom he has a very strenuous relationship with. I enjoyed the moment when he becomes self-aware of his co-dependency on different people that seem to hurt him. the story has a beautiful ending. very hopeful, very spiritually inclined. an amazing read.
November 6, 2017
A must read!!!
September 5, 2021
2.5 stars
October 24, 2022
This book covers so much and has so much heavy content. The story follows Tshepo among many other characters as he deals with his mental illness and the many questions he has about life. We also follow Tshepo as he ventures into the world of male prostitution in Cape Town. The book gets straight into what Tshepo is dealing with and Duiker dissects what's happening inside Tshepo’s head. The more I learnt about Tshepo - especially during the first part of the novel - the more my heart seemed to break. We don't learn what's going on in Tshepo’s life until he reveals to his friend, Mmabatho about how his mother was raped and murdered while he and his father were in the same house and how he was then raped as well. This part of the book was a horror. My body was filled with dread when Tshepo told his story.
I struggled a lot with Tshepo. I empathized with him most of the time but he made narrow-minded choices at times with made me very angry. I found him to be naive and a person who wasn't confrontational which made it hard for him to leave a mark for me because of these traits. I also found him to be a hypocrite at times especially when it came to race. Tshepo was able to point out how his friend, David always seemed to date black girls from a certain background but he didn't seem to see how he was also this person because he dated everyone outside of his race but not once did we learn of him being with a black woman or black boy. What infuriated me was that he noticed while he was working at Steamy Windows how most of his clients were white men but never black men but he was able to look within himself and find that he'd been doing the same himself. Maybe the trauma he experienced as a child was a contributing factor but I just found it hypocritical when he criticized the others for the exact choices he made.
The book as I mentioned before covers a variety of themes and it's a character driven story so there isn't necessarily a plot. There were many characters in the book and this was both a blessing and a curse because you'd follow a potion of the characters life but never hear from them again as most of the characters were connected to Tshepo. An example would be how we never heard from Zebron again which I would have loved to know or followed after everything was revealed to Tshepo. The book being character driven was at times a flaw as towards the end it started to drag. I'm not a fan of wanting to hear about the daily life of characters and this happened towards the ending. Also Tshepo’s mental breakdown towards the ending of the book felt a bit squashed and redundant for me because I already knew what was happening in his life and how he dealt with most things.
You won't find favourite characters in this book. You'll think that you've found someone that's tolerable until you learn that they aren't as good as they seem. An example for me was Mmabatho. She was portrayed to be this independent woman at the beginning of the book but the more I learned about her and her views of the world, the more I disliked her. I think that's what makes the book so compelling is that it shows that human beings are complex and ugly and there's this ugliness especially since it follows the early days of transition into democracy in South Africa.
The manner in which race was dealt with was amazing as it wasn't preachy as some writers tend to do and it revealed how the characters thought about race. I didn't agree with them but I was able to understand their view on most things. The book is male-centric so most times you'll have to cringe your way into how misogynistic the characters are and what makes it worse is that they try to justify their misogyny with these interesting theories.
Overall the book is a worthy read. It explores a lot of themes that are never explored properly in South African media.
I struggled a lot with Tshepo. I empathized with him most of the time but he made narrow-minded choices at times with made me very angry. I found him to be naive and a person who wasn't confrontational which made it hard for him to leave a mark for me because of these traits. I also found him to be a hypocrite at times especially when it came to race. Tshepo was able to point out how his friend, David always seemed to date black girls from a certain background but he didn't seem to see how he was also this person because he dated everyone outside of his race but not once did we learn of him being with a black woman or black boy. What infuriated me was that he noticed while he was working at Steamy Windows how most of his clients were white men but never black men but he was able to look within himself and find that he'd been doing the same himself. Maybe the trauma he experienced as a child was a contributing factor but I just found it hypocritical when he criticized the others for the exact choices he made.
The book as I mentioned before covers a variety of themes and it's a character driven story so there isn't necessarily a plot. There were many characters in the book and this was both a blessing and a curse because you'd follow a potion of the characters life but never hear from them again as most of the characters were connected to Tshepo. An example would be how we never heard from Zebron again which I would have loved to know or followed after everything was revealed to Tshepo. The book being character driven was at times a flaw as towards the end it started to drag. I'm not a fan of wanting to hear about the daily life of characters and this happened towards the ending. Also Tshepo’s mental breakdown towards the ending of the book felt a bit squashed and redundant for me because I already knew what was happening in his life and how he dealt with most things.
You won't find favourite characters in this book. You'll think that you've found someone that's tolerable until you learn that they aren't as good as they seem. An example for me was Mmabatho. She was portrayed to be this independent woman at the beginning of the book but the more I learned about her and her views of the world, the more I disliked her. I think that's what makes the book so compelling is that it shows that human beings are complex and ugly and there's this ugliness especially since it follows the early days of transition into democracy in South Africa.
The manner in which race was dealt with was amazing as it wasn't preachy as some writers tend to do and it revealed how the characters thought about race. I didn't agree with them but I was able to understand their view on most things. The book is male-centric so most times you'll have to cringe your way into how misogynistic the characters are and what makes it worse is that they try to justify their misogyny with these interesting theories.
Overall the book is a worthy read. It explores a lot of themes that are never explored properly in South African media.
Read
July 27, 2011Lots to think about. I couldn't put it down when I was in the middle of it, but the beginning was a little angsty and the end was a little mystical. Definitely recommended for anyone who wants to learn about South Africa today.
March 4, 2024
Difficult but excellent book about race, sexuality, identity, violence, sanity, Cape Town, gay culture. Feels like the authors attempt to make sense of the world for himself. I can quite see why he committed suicide a few years later. Written as a young man.
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March 21, 2012One of the best young South African writers there was. Gone to soon, but these stories will forever remain.
February 22, 2021
I am not one for repeating books but this is a book I would read over and over again, this is one writer I would have loved to meet.
May 1, 2019
The most multi-layered piece of fiction I've ever read 👌🏾.
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August 16, 2010Best book i have read this year..he was truly a talented writer
August 22, 2024
The book follows the life of Tshepo, a student living in Cape Town, who is detained at a Cape Town mental institution after an episode of 'cannabis-induced psychosis'. He escapes but is returned to the hospital and completes his rehabilitation. He decides that he is not going to continue with his studies anymore, works as a waiter and shares an apartment with an ex-convict, Chris. The relationship with Chris deteriorates and Tshepo loses his waitering job because of Chris. Chris continues abusing Tshepo until he decides to move out. Desperate for an income, he finds work at a male massage parlor, using the alias, Angelo.
We are introduced to different characters that have crossed paths with Tshepo. Some are friends and some are acquaintances or colleagues. With everything that happens to him, Tshepo remains resilient. Some parts of this book really broke my heart, while others made me laugh. The themes in this book are so intriguing and educational – I have really learnt so much history about sexuality, power, violence, mental health, race, and sex.
My lasting impression was when Tshepo says, “perhaps I sense that I will die young”. I got myself asking questions as to whether some parts of this novel were about the Author – whether this book was not an autobiography. This is heart breaking only be cause Sello Duiker committed suicide in 2005, at age 30. It is speculated that he had bipolar disorder or borderline schizophrenia.
The ending was quiet flat for me – and I honestly thought that this book would have done okay without some parts and I also would have liked to hear more about where he grew up, how he grew up, I thought the ending would clear that up for me but sadly it didn’t.
We are introduced to different characters that have crossed paths with Tshepo. Some are friends and some are acquaintances or colleagues. With everything that happens to him, Tshepo remains resilient. Some parts of this book really broke my heart, while others made me laugh. The themes in this book are so intriguing and educational – I have really learnt so much history about sexuality, power, violence, mental health, race, and sex.
My lasting impression was when Tshepo says, “perhaps I sense that I will die young”. I got myself asking questions as to whether some parts of this novel were about the Author – whether this book was not an autobiography. This is heart breaking only be cause Sello Duiker committed suicide in 2005, at age 30. It is speculated that he had bipolar disorder or borderline schizophrenia.
The ending was quiet flat for me – and I honestly thought that this book would have done okay without some parts and I also would have liked to hear more about where he grew up, how he grew up, I thought the ending would clear that up for me but sadly it didn’t.
June 28, 2025
The Quiet Violence of Dreams feels like a Van Gogh painting; equal parts art, torture and beauty and captivating space. Over twenty years since its publication and I still recognise the South Africa it describes, which as I say is both beautiful and horrifying. To think that so little has changed in nearly three decades. Sello Duiker’s writing flitters on the line between surreal fiction and what feels like autobiography. It makes you wonder how much of the story is based on his own lived experience, especially with the vivid and often graphic detail he imbues the narrative with. It makes it all the more tragic knowing what became of the author.
Side note: please be cautious when reading as some truly horrific things happen to the protagonist. Check for trigger warnings.
I kept thinking of A Little Life when reading The Quiet Violence. Both explore what it means to be a young man living in a bustling metropolis, (one NYC the other Cape Town) dealing with the impact of mental health issues and the fallout of SA survival. But while A Little Life tries to put a romantic spin on these themes, A Quiet Violence, even with its arguably more poetical prose finds a way to ground its narrative with more empathy and earnestness than the former. It’s not a perfect book either but far more honest than A Little Life. Apart from one chapter which veered into too much surrealist dream metaphor, a somewhat disjointed plot and a couple dozen typos I noticed (I blame these on the editors and publishers), this book was so worth the read.
Side note: please be cautious when reading as some truly horrific things happen to the protagonist. Check for trigger warnings.
I kept thinking of A Little Life when reading The Quiet Violence. Both explore what it means to be a young man living in a bustling metropolis, (one NYC the other Cape Town) dealing with the impact of mental health issues and the fallout of SA survival. But while A Little Life tries to put a romantic spin on these themes, A Quiet Violence, even with its arguably more poetical prose finds a way to ground its narrative with more empathy and earnestness than the former. It’s not a perfect book either but far more honest than A Little Life. Apart from one chapter which veered into too much surrealist dream metaphor, a somewhat disjointed plot and a couple dozen typos I noticed (I blame these on the editors and publishers), this book was so worth the read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 4, 2025
TW: violence, rape, mental illness, substance abuse, sex work
I honestly thought I’d love this book more than I did. Follows Tshepo, a young man carrying the weight of childhood trauma, shaped by his father’s violence and his own struggles with depression. His journey takes him through a mental health breakdown and time at Valkenberg psychiatric hospital, where he’s mistreated by a system that’s meant to offer care. After leaving, he faces more abuse this time at the hands of the people he lives with. Eventually, he finds an unexpected sense of safety and identity while working at a Cape Town massage parlour, engaging in sex work as a way to survive and understand himself.
The story shifts between Tshepo’s voice and the perspectives of those around him, friends, strangers, fellow patients and that adds depth, but it also made it harder for me to truly connect with him. I appreciated the ambition, but the heaviness didn’t always land in a way that drew me in.
Still, the title stuck with me. The Quiet Violence of Dreams captures that slow, invisible damage we often don’t have words for. It’s not always loud or dramatic it’s in the quiet breakdowns, the silence after abuse, the way trauma lingers in the background of your life. Sometimes, even our hopes , our dreams can be painful to hold. For some people, dreams don’t come gently. Sometimes, they hurt on the way in.
I honestly thought I’d love this book more than I did. Follows Tshepo, a young man carrying the weight of childhood trauma, shaped by his father’s violence and his own struggles with depression. His journey takes him through a mental health breakdown and time at Valkenberg psychiatric hospital, where he’s mistreated by a system that’s meant to offer care. After leaving, he faces more abuse this time at the hands of the people he lives with. Eventually, he finds an unexpected sense of safety and identity while working at a Cape Town massage parlour, engaging in sex work as a way to survive and understand himself.
The story shifts between Tshepo’s voice and the perspectives of those around him, friends, strangers, fellow patients and that adds depth, but it also made it harder for me to truly connect with him. I appreciated the ambition, but the heaviness didn’t always land in a way that drew me in.
Still, the title stuck with me. The Quiet Violence of Dreams captures that slow, invisible damage we often don’t have words for. It’s not always loud or dramatic it’s in the quiet breakdowns, the silence after abuse, the way trauma lingers in the background of your life. Sometimes, even our hopes , our dreams can be painful to hold. For some people, dreams don’t come gently. Sometimes, they hurt on the way in.
November 25, 2018
A very difficult and emotional read for me. There is so much going on in this book, just as there is so much happening in South Africa today and at the time that the book was written. Although aspects of the book are specifically South African a lot of the themes are also universal: mental health/illness, racism, homosexuality, relationships, etc.
The book is told in the first person, mostly by the central character Tshepo, but also by those he meets, particularly the main female character Mmabath0. It's a disturbing journey through Tshepo's life at the end of university as he deals with events from his childhood, his mental illness, sexuality and who he is in general. Along the way, it also offers insight into the changing South Africa: racism, class, money, feminism, xenophobia. On the whole, this is really well done because it is just part of the characters' lives and doesn't feel as though it is introduced just to make a point.
Having recently visited South Africa twice, even if briefly, I sadly got the impression that Cape Town has not changed very much.
My rating varied between 4 and 5 stars at different times throughout the book so I may revisit my score. Bold and challenging I would definitely recommend it and understand why so many people have given it five stars.
The book is told in the first person, mostly by the central character Tshepo, but also by those he meets, particularly the main female character Mmabath0. It's a disturbing journey through Tshepo's life at the end of university as he deals with events from his childhood, his mental illness, sexuality and who he is in general. Along the way, it also offers insight into the changing South Africa: racism, class, money, feminism, xenophobia. On the whole, this is really well done because it is just part of the characters' lives and doesn't feel as though it is introduced just to make a point.
Having recently visited South Africa twice, even if briefly, I sadly got the impression that Cape Town has not changed very much.
My rating varied between 4 and 5 stars at different times throughout the book so I may revisit my score. Bold and challenging I would definitely recommend it and understand why so many people have given it five stars.
October 19, 2019
I really enjoyed this book. The author has a way of making you go through all the states with the protagonist and used various narrative perspectives to give an all-round view of the protagonist and build up the storyline super well. The topics this book talks about are quite interesting, the book is based in South Africa and follows the journey of Tshepo a black South African who struggles with mental health. It is well written in the sense that when his mental health lowers to the point that he has to go to a facility you can feel and see the spirals and how he rises from that situation. However, when he is living his life following the facility you almost forget the mental health struggles as the protagonist becomes comfortable in his identity and through the interactions and chapters written through the character foils perspectives you do not sense the struggle until there is another spiral which shows how the writing well depicted the feeling in real life as it is not necessarily evident. Overall, it has an interesting approach in the way it is written and followed an interesting storyline that followed the protagonist super well.
February 24, 2021
This book is hard to rate. I think Duiker’s voice is so important to the South African story, and his insights and perspectives are extraordinary. Yet this book is imperfect and at times chaotic. In the same vein, it is ambitious and teeming with possibility – much like South Africa. I do wish that Duiker had more time and perhaps guidance to refine this work, but the chaos does have a certain charm to it. One of the biggest reasons to read this book is the actuality of it, and it’s scary how the South Africa of the late 1990s, early 2000s is largely still the South Africa of today. Through Tshepo’s story as he deals with mental illness and trauma, Duiker tackles issues like racism, xenophobia, homophobia, poverty, healing from the past, black consciousness, sexual violence, and how all of these issues intersect in the broken context of South Africa, making The Quiet Violence of Dreams a relevant and important read – for South Africans, but also for any suffering human being.
August 24, 2018
Wow! Wow! Wow! This is one of those books that makes you wonder, when you finish it, "What do I do with my life now?" Duiker took me for one hell of a ride, I'm thoroughly schooled. I'll review this later but for now, consider the words of Franz Kafka who famously said, "I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound or stab us. If the book we're reading doesn't wake us up with a blow to the head, what are we reading for?"
"We need to read books," he added, "that affect us like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves, like being banished into forests far from everyone, like a suicide. A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us."
This is such a book.
"We need to read books," he added, "that affect us like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves, like being banished into forests far from everyone, like a suicide. A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us."
This is such a book.
April 5, 2020
I enjoyed the book, it took my three days to finish it, which is very fast for myself considering how huge this book is. I enjoyed the Tshepo character, I could relate to him a lot. The last 30 pages or so, after the guy accidentally ejaculated in him when he started his last confused spell was quite long and leading nowhere. I thought certain things in earlier part of the book will start coming together like his father’s death and what dad said on his death bed, what caused him to go crazy, what his purpose for going to Joburg was, maybe getting a boyfriend/lover, etc. There are a few loose ends that doesn’t add anything to the narrative of the book.
September 17, 2018
This is such an amazing, well written novel. It caught directly all my imagination and i forgot to go to the birthdayparty of a good friend coz i was totally into the book. the story captured the struggle of a young black bisexual guy that end up in groote schuur mental hospital when he is in a psychosis after smoking marihuana. The story emphasizes the struggle of youth in finding a place in an unhealthy society. K. Sello Duiker was a hero.
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