Tsotsi

by Athol Fugard (Author), Athol Fugard (Author), Jonathan Kaplan (Introduction)

• Used

  Paperback
  2009

  $3.24

  Tsotsi is an angry young gang leader in the South African township of Sophiatown. A man without a past, he exists only to kill and steal. But one night, in a moonlit grove of bluegum trees, a woman he attempts to rape forces a shoebox into his arms. The box contains a baby, and his life is inexorably changed. He begins to remember his childhood, to rediscover himself and his capacity for love. Turned into an Oscar-winning movie in 2006, Tsotsi's raw power and rare humanity show how decency and compassion can survive against the odds.

• Used

  Paperback
  2006

  $3.24

  This work is reissued to coincide with a major feature film adaptation. The film adaptation of Tsotsi is the official selection of South Africa for Best Foreign Film (Academy Awards 2005) and was awarded Best British Film and the Audience Award at the Edinburgh Film Festival 2005. This is a deeply affecting novel by one of South Africa's greatest contemporary writers. Set amidst 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. Tsotsi has repressed his past and forgotten his true name; he exists only to stage and execute vicious crimes. After beating one of his own gang almost to death in an argument, Tsotsi attempts to rape a woman in a grove of bluegum trees. She manages to escape but not before thrusting a parcel into his hands. It contains a baby with 'a face that was small and black and older than anything he had ever seen in his life', a child that will mark the first stage of his long, reluctant path to redemption. Confronted with memories of his own painful childhood, this angry young man begins to rediscover his own humanity, dignity and capacity to love.