Thirteen Cents

by K. Sello Duiker

Every city has an unspoken side. Cape Town, between the postcard mountain and sea, has its own shadow-side lurking in its lap: a place of dislocation and uncertainty, dependence and desperation, destruction and survival, gangsters, pimps, pedophiles, hunger, hope and moments of happiness. This book therefore is an extraordinary and unsparing account of the coming of age on the street in Cape Town - a place of dislocation and uncertainty, desperation with glimpses of happiness.

This novel won the coveted Commonwealth Writer's Prize.

Genres: Africa, Fiction, South Africa, African Literature, Magical Realism, School, Race

168 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 2000

About the author

Kabelo '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.

Reviews

[Winnet · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half is definitely gold,the other half did not strike me at all.

[AC · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed feelings about this one. A vivid description of hard street life in the underbelly of Capetown. The principle character is a homeless youth of 12 and a child prostitute. But I found the second half more pretentious and less convincing. I will give this three stars; some might give it four.

Duiker was part of the movement of the New Postcolonial literature that flourished after Apartheid. This new movement was less political, less pan-Africanist, more cosmopolitan, given less to objective narrative and more to interiority -- and to formal experimentation. There is a good introduction in this volume which addesses these literary issues.

Duiker, who was close to Phaswane Mpe, committed suicide a year after Mpe's own death from AIDS. He has a second novel, but it is out of print.

South Africa has a most tragic history...!

[هارون · Rating 4 out of 5]

طفل اسود بعيون زرقاء من جنوب افريقيا يحكي معاناته في حياة الشوارع وتورطه مع اشخاص خطرين و عصابات الشوارع والمخدرات

[Penny de Vries · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thirteen Cents is a shock to the system; a punch to the solar plexus; a very grim read but brilliantly executed. It is written from the perspective of a homeless, twelve year old boy Azure, pronounced Ah-zoo-ray, as he tells us, who has to think of himself as a man. It is set in a Cape Town that is very different from the one many readers know. This book was published in 2000 and I have been asking myself why I have not read it before, especially as it is highly acclaimed and I knew this. After the first few pages, I realised why I had avoided it for so long. I have an aversion to novels where taking drugs is a strong element; not sure why, but I do not like reading about people in drug induced states. I know I should not limit myself this way but, after all, I read for enjoyment as well as for illumination. Azure also hates drug-taking though he likes zol.

The feat of having written this book is quite amazing; K Sello Duiker gets right into the head of Azure, or Blue, as he is later dubbed. It is written in the present tense, which gives it an immediacy, and simultaneously describes his movements and his thoughts, the questions he asks himself and his commentary on his life and situation. His thoughts jump around apparently randomly in a stream-of-consciousness way but without the obscurity sometimes encountered with the use of this narrative device. Azure has an unimaginably tough life; the things he has to do simply to eat are horrific but, worse than this, are the gangsters with whom he has to interact and who rule over him. Despite his tough, aggressive exterior he is also naïve in some ways, trusting some people that are not at all trustworthy.

He has to go to great lengths merely to get a pair of shoes; he tries many different avenues only to be thwarted at almost every turn. Yet he narrates his obstacles in such a matter-of-fact way that it reinforces the heart-breaking hardship of his situation. He says “grown-ups are strange people” as if adults are a completely different race that is beyond his comprehension. In this regard no doubt we can all agree with him.

The sex and violence are extremely graphic so this novel is certainly not for the faint-hearted nevertheless it is worth overcoming this barrier to get to know this boy, Azure. He crawled under my skin with his alternating innocence and cynicism. He has to endure dealing with people who are irrational, violent and treat him in the most extreme and cruel way. Imprisoning him, starving him, assaulting him. And for no very good reason other than that they can and to exercise their own power or exorcise their own demons. He becomes nothing but a message to others. It is truly awful. I find myself cringing with every blow. He retreats into his mind to survive. In one incident he is locked out and left on a roof of a building for three days with nothing to do but watch the “men pigeons …always trying to screw the women pigeons”. He hates pigeons and believes they are rats with wings so when the seagulls arrive and “terrorise the pigeons”, he is delighted. He relates to the seagulls and finds them beautiful because “they always wash at sea with cold water”. As he does. Passages like these simultaneously show his ignorance and his wisdom while his mind and imagination help him carry on.

Later he journeys up Table Mountain in a mad frenzy to escape Gerald, the psychopathic gangster who re-named him and made him fear for his life, every second of the day. He keeps staring directly into the sun “with open eyes and feel[s] energy going through…[him]”. He experiences dreams and delusions interspersed with real moments. It is powerfully portrayed.

The blurb on the back cover tells the reader that “K. Sello Duiker was born and raised in Soweto, South Africa, and went on to study journalism at Rhodes University before moving to Cape Town. His varied experiences while living there form the basis of Thirteen Cents.” I cannot help wondering how he experienced the life of street children as the brief bio here gives the impression that not only was he very well educated but also that he grew up elsewhere. However he did it, it is certainly a masterful interpretation. I will never again look at the young boy walking past me with broken shoes and grubby clothes without wondering how he came by those shoes and where he manages to wash himself.

[Puleng Hopper · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the novel “13 Cents” Duiker paints a vivid and heart wrenching picture of how, in post-apartheid South Africa, overt and covert marginalization still prevail. Racism , tribalism, exploitation, classism, corruption, crime, violence, violation, starvation, and displacement, are still a reality to a Black child. Even more toxic, complex and dangerous as it is camouflaged, nuanced, pretentious and insidious.

Ten-year-old protagonist Azure, unceremoniously leaves Johannesburg for Cape town after the funeral of his parents who were brutally murdered. In Cape Town, however, he does not find the solace he had anticipated. Adults are unscrupulous, evil. Friends leave. Police are corrupt. Banks are sharks. He is kidnapped. Drug dealers are king. Sexual violation is rife. Closeted white men sleep with underage homeless boys. Female workers are harassed and exploited.

Azure grapples with issues of identity and belonging. His unique blue eyes on his black skin are a result of his many woes. The brutality and trauma he experiences, leads him to physically and mentally escape up Table Mountain. Where through the super natural, he seeks to avenge himself. While elevated on the mountain, he evokes and reaffirms the spirit of Saartjie Baartman, the Khoi people and their existence. Towards the end it appears as if justice will prevail.

Saartjie Baartman appears to Azure in this fashion.
At the cave I meet a woman who looks like she lived a very long time ago. She is short, and her bum is big, but she has the lightest smile I've ever seen. She wears only a leather thong and her long breasts are like fruit, like fat pears. She is shy and hides in the cave. I follow her in, careful as I walk. She sits in the corner of the cave while a small fire burns. I go inside and sit next to her. I can't stop looking at her face. She has a beautiful face and a yellow skin that seems to glow" page 184

The story is deliberately and skilfully related in the first person with a raw innocence of a child protagonist. The text is further enhanced and authenticated using local slang that blends Afrikaans, English, Sesotho and isiXhosa. The effective use of short sentences and plenty of dialogue made the read fast paced and easily consumable.

13 Cents is a shock to the system, dark, deep, and emotionally intense. It left me in a constant state of anxiety. Happy or light moments were far and in between. The violent and sexually explicit content was glaring. Not for the faint hearted. It took me out of my comfort zone as it tackled issues normally branded taboo.

Duiker merges reality and the supernatural. In his conversation with Sealy after Gerard's demise, Sealy and Vincent are depicted as angels, Gerard as an evil spirit who was present in Soweto when Azure's parents died, and their house set alight. On Table Mountain Azure transforms into a powerful magical being with paranormal powers.

The author Duiker was born in Soweto. He also lived in East London, Cape Town, and briefly in France and the UK. He suffered from mental illness, bipolar. In 2005 he committed suicide by hanging, this after having stopped taking his medication which he claimed stifled his artistic creativity. His great grandparents changed their surname from Lesufi to Duiker to pass off as “Coloureds” for economic reasons because of apartheid. He was also gay. His other two books are "Quiet Violence Of Dreams" (2011) and The Hidden Star (2006).
Duiker drew generously from his lived experiences in his writing. Particularly on issues of mental illness, queerness and identity. Having been one of the only two black pupils at Redhill school added more to his anguishes regarding identity and inequality.

An unhappy open ending. The book ends but the dire condition of a black child and the illusion of post democratic South Africa prevails.

[Phathu Musitha · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I was completely besotted with the first half of the story. Unputdownable. Azure was a character who stole my heart. His living conditions, his life, his lifestyle - all heartbreaking. There was nothing wonderful about that. His unrivaled resilience at that age was sad.

It’s an eye-opening account in so many ways. Life as a person living on the street, how adults take advantage, the double lives of rich white married heterosexual men. There’s plenty to keep you going.

The second half was confusing and felt disjointed. I could be deep about it and read into the abstract and see it as a shift in atmosphere and accommodate the sudden fusion of magical realism. Perhaps I’m somewhat expecting seamlessness when there’s none in a mental dark room. I don’t know. But I think it could have been better put together?

Azure. Azure / Blue will stay with me the same way Pecola Breedlove from Toni Morrison’s ‘The Bluest Eye’ has never left me. Also a traumatised and neglected Black child struggling with identity, among other issues.

Definitely read this book.

[Darryl Suite · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished this two days ago and I’m still trying to figure it out. The first half was harrowing, a true punch to the gut. But then everything shifted, and it became this allegorical and abstract thing. I couldn’t make sense of so much of it. It felt almost impenetrable, and I walked away disappointed.

[Semole · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second part of this book went over my head..

[Libros Prohibidos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sudáfrica es mucho más y que esta historia apenas indaga en su parte más sórdida. Se centra en el contraste entre ricos y pobres, negros y blancos, personas y sombras. El autor nos presenta las calles de Ciudad del Cabo como una jungla en la que no duraríamos ni un segundo; no como Azure, el protagonista, que se las tiene que ver con esa calle cuya mención nos hace temblar y que los más cínicos preferirán considerar una licencia poética o un animal criptozoológico. Pero existe, vaya si existe, y Duiker nos la trae sin hervir, sangrando, sudando, cagando y, sobre todo, degradándose rápido, pudriéndose, muriéndose. Crítica completa: http://www.libros-prohibidos.com/k-se...

[Thandeka Mtshali]

Beautifully written novel!

Interesting story line, at times confusing, imaginative. Left me thinking a lot about Cape Town and looking at street kids differently wondering what is their personal stories.

A must read.

Can't wait to discuss the book my friends at our book club meeting this weekend.

[Nahed Alkhaloo · Rating 2 out of 5]

انتهيت من آزوري وأنا اتسآل هل هذه رواية أم تمرين على الكآبة الجماعية الكاتب ك. سيلو دويكر يجب ان يبقى في ذاكرتي حتى لا اقرب من كتاباته مرة أخرى فهو يجر القارىء إلى حفرة مظلمة من الفقر والعنف والقذارة ثم يتركنا بلامخرج، شخصياته مجرد أشباح تتبادل الهم وأسلوبه يحاول ان يكون شاعرياً لكنه متعثر ومتكرر هذه الرواية بدايتها جميلة ثم تنجزها كما تنجز العقاب
نجمتين واحدة للكاتب لأنه حاول والثانية لي لأنني لازلت أمتلك أعصابي بعد القراءة لأقيمها .

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was tough

[Gael Anaya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a terrifying and brilliant coming-of-age story. From the first lines of the book, Duiker pulls readers into a brutal and unsparing world. Set in the streets of post-apartheid Capetown and nearby Table Mountain, the young protagonist -- a Black preteen boy named Azure -- tells his story of trying to survive and thrive. Azure recounts in detail the sexual violence and other abuses done to him by the adults around him: gangsters, thieves, and sexual predators. Like other readers here, I found the second part of the book challenging. However, I appreciated Duiker's genius and fearlessness because, taken together, the two sections are a powerful exploration of the consequences of brutality and dislocation during adolescence, but also the importance of autonomy and hope.

[Anne-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had me riveted until about half way through. Then it just lost the plot with the main character becoming all weird and seeing & thinking things that made absolutely no sense and he wasn't on drugs or anything. It was almost as if he was under some evil spell. The author depicts the life on the streets of Cape Town with absolute brilliance and honesty, but the last half of tge story spoiled it for me.

[aqeelah ❀༉˖ · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me so long to read such a tiny book ... but it's required reading for my english lit. course and so I had to persevere :')

This book is well-written, but the content is quite heavy (and unenjoyable).
The random magical realism aspect towards the end was so bizarre ??? I saw something that said it was based on Khoi mythology, so I need to look more into that. I honestly feel like there was no real "magic" and Azure just lost his mind (which makes a lot of sense considering the intense, ongoing trauma this poor CHILD suffered). Azure is an interesting character and using him as the unreliable narrator of the story makes this book much more impactful. This book succeeded in making me hyperaware of my privilege (& so so grateful for everything that I've been blessed with).

It's a good book, but not one I would personally choose to read.

[Noor Tareq · Rating 3 out of 5]

وفق الكاتب في اول ١٠٠ صفحة من هذا الكتاب، فوصف حياة آزوري ذلك الصبي ذو ١٣ عاما، الذي فقد والديه حرقا، ليعيش حياة الشوارع المؤلمة.
نبذ المجتمع آزوري فقط لان عينيه زرقاوان، لم يكن أسودا بحق، يال الكارثه، فكيف لاحد ان يتحكم بلون عينيه!!.
لا أعلم كيف استطاع آزوري تحمل قرف الكبار و رغباتهم و شهواتهم، و خداعهم ،فقط ليعيش.
لكن الكاتب ضل طريقه فيما بعد، فأصبح الكتاب غير مفهوم أبداً، لم أعرف ابدا ما القصد من حوار الملائكة و الشياطين بعد موت جيرالد، و هل كان سيلي يظن نفسه ملاكاً؟! كيف لشخص ساهم في ألم البشر ان يظن نفسه ملاكاً؟!.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

An uncomfortable read for many reasons - Azure's unfortunate circumstances, his age, the gang violence, prostitution...

Left orphaned, his parents murdered, Azure has to fend for himself on the streets of Cape Town at the age of thirteen. A childlike innocence is quickly eclipsed by heinous events he doesn't have much of a say in.

Of course, this is a reality for so many South Africans and it breaks my heart that it is the reality of children... Familiar place names like Sea Point, Muizenberg and Lion's Head have a very different connotation in this novel; the underbelly of an otherwise beautiful creature.

A favourite part and break from the horrid events was a mythical dream sequence atop a mountain where Azure reclaims his agency metaphorically.

[Andy Weston · Rating 3 out of 5]

Azure, who narrates, is a 12 year old homeless orphan forced to fend for himself on the Cape Town streets. A black boy with distinctive blue eyes, he is inevitably absorbed into a life of prostitution, and the violence and gang leaders that are associated with it.
Any novel with child abuse as its central theme is going to be tough reading, and that this is particularly so, is a credit to the author. Reading this needs to be a disagreeable experience.

[Lee Abrahams · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book delves into the real world of the "Cape Town" city. There is a look at how a street child has to survive, also how gangsters are initiated and formed. In addition, a family-hood in the gangster world and their philosophy or their take on Cape Town. Their philosophy is strange, but has merit, when considering their circumstance. They live in an imbalanced society and want to have things aswell, one character Sealy, refers to banks, church's, town or high society as the greater evil as they all want control and to manipulate in a subtle way. The book makes you question society and racial matters are not a directly addressed in the book, but rather an undercurrent throughout the book. One could say, the continued effect or post colonial effect on the disadvantaged (the homeless, poor and gangsters who also want to have nice things). There is alot of depth to the book. It is very much a shame that the author cannot write us another.

[Unarine Ramaru · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that will leave a mark in you whether you enjoyed it or not. Thirteen Cents is a lyrical and vivid tale that explores what many would rather remain in the unknown. A reality that shakes your perspective of life and want you to appreciate every bit of luxury you have.

The only time I put this book down was through disgust and horror of the pain a 13 year boy (who consider himself a man) had to endure. Only to pick it up few seconds later. Although I struggled with hyperealism, which made up most of the last half of the book, it is an overall 4 star read.

I would recommend it the CEOs participating in the absurd #CEOSleepout.

[Hloni Dlamini · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book broke me, I was so emotional when reading this book. Made me appreciate my life more and have an understanding of how street life is.

[Braden Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I have seen enough rubbish to fill the sea.”

I read this gritty wallop of a novel in Camps Bay in Cape Town, South Africa, where the story takes place. I recognized the same Atlantic Ocean, the same Table Mountain, the same beaches and tidal pools that Duiker described in 2000 when he released this remarkable debut, five years before he took his life in Johannesburg. But what I recognize now are surfaces, opaque windows, or not even that. What I see as the shimmering surf from where I stand, Duiker’s protagonist Azure sees as an oppressive crushing riptide, a cold salty bath basin. What I see as a mountain of leisurely hikes and recreational swims he sees as caves to flee to, as a wind-howling monster. I walk this land but do not know it, do not feel it. He suffers the rain, the scorching sun.

I am reminded of a seminar I took six years ago entitled “Apocalyptic Confessions.” We read Flannery O’Conner, Cormac McCarthy, St.Augustine, Walter Benjamin, and Chaim Potok. This concept of an apocalyptic confession has followed me since then in all my readings—a confession ruptured by a mythological opening, an existential clearing of truth, a tear in the everyday from which there is no return, a horrific revelation from which everything is seen in a new light. Here, Duiker does just this, an apocalypse refracted through ancestral trauma, carried in the land, the animals, the sea, in the shed blood.

No, I cannot look at Cape Town the same. I must not.

[Simon Mboya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Azure(Blue)faces traumas including poverty, homelessness, violence, abuse, loss, grief, mental health challenges, and struggles with identity and belonging. These experiences shape his character and journey in the novel.
It has really left a lasting impression on me.

[Reveller Sande · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is an enlightening read. I can't help but sympathize with the main character of the book and the things he's had to go through in life. I hope governments all around the world especially Africa would come up with kind and working systems for children who are orphaned.

[Matthew Molinaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

a gripping read on the new south africa, on the dark side of cape town
tense and violent about adolescence, pedophilia, homosexuality, the limits of the state, the moves between realism and surrealism are fascinating

[Johara]

كتاب كئيب سيء قعدت أسبوع مكتئبه بسببه مستحيل أقراه مره ثانيه

[Evie Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

[Leila Kidson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Raw and sore and important depictions of the worlds within worlds we refuse to see in Cape Town

[Magnus Trætteberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

En mørk og motbydelig beretning om skyggesidene i Cape Town, fortalt fra og med en 13 år gammel gutt sitt perspektiv og med hans språk. Til tider for svevende og forsøksvis pretensiøs til at formatet og den korte boken passer til forsøket.

[Alex Hoffman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was written in a way that made it very easy to read, despite it's content being so disturbing and depressing that you'd think it should be difficult to read. This is the story of a 12-year-old street child in Cape Town who survives by prostituting himself. It is a devastating an poignant tale about the corruption and manipulative practices of the adult world set in a place that I actually know very well. Perhaps because I know Cape Town and, in particular Sea Point (where most of the novel is set), this story is especially striking to me. When we think of Cape Town, we normally think of beautiful beaches and mountains, but Duiker introduces us to the heartbreaking underworld of Cape Town - in which a young boy must sell his body in order to survive and gets addicted to drugs sold to him by a prostitute living under a bridge. This is a horrible reality that no one wants to think about - a story that often cannot be told by those who actually live it. The ending is rather confusing, but, overall, I thought this was a very good book.