The Challenge is inspired by my father’s (Andres Laszlo Sr.) bestselling My Uncle Jacinto/Mi Tio Jacinto, which was also a blockbuster movie (starring Pablito Calvo & Antonio Sica and directed by Ladislao Vajda). About the original story, a prominent Paris newspaper wrote, "Nothing like this has been written since The Little Prince." In my hands: Madrid becomes Cape Town; La Quinta, Mandela Park; 1940s, 2010s; bullfighting, boxing, and 17,000 words, 75,000. However, it very much remains a book for children of all ages. Read book part. Watch the VIDEO.
Although this has been designed for "children of all ages," if the child is very young - as the text sometimes addresses delicate subjects – the story should be read by an adult. However, that shouldn't pose a problem, as my intention has always been to make the text engaging and entertaining for both the adult and the child. See the 70 illustrations here.
The Challenge is about Baba and his nephew, Tiger; it depicts a pivotal day in their lives. The true hero is the bond between the two, while the weight of separation is deeply felt. The setting is Cape Town in South Africa, encompassing downtown, Mandela Park Township, Hout Bay, and the Old Stadium.
The characters. (i) Baba - a prematurely old, rheumatic, not very bright, drunken has-been prodigy boxer with only a semblance of imagined honour, fantastic speed, and the upbringing of his nephew left to justify his existence - mistakenly gets selected for the champ part in a ‘Challenge-the-Champ boxing extravaganza’, where old has-been champions can be challenged by the public. Confronted by a paradox - mainly to prove to his nephew, whom he believes he is looking after, that he is not the down-and-out drunkard that he knows everybody tells the boy he is - Baba accepts. (ii) Tiger - a cuddly, bright, fast, and fun-loving eight-year-old who has so far successfully dodged school and is undoubtedly the more street-wise of the two - knows that it’s he who is looking after his uncle.
The beginning. In the township, it rains, and Tiger constructs a waterwheel, nearly drowning his sleeping uncle. The letter from the boxing promoter arrives but is not taken seriously. Tiger and Baba travel to the town centre for their usual scavenging. While collecting cigarette butts, they notice a poster proclaiming Baba as the champ to be challenged. This can no longer be ignored, and an upset Baba contacts the promoter to protest but ultimately accepts the role of champ. Baba, too proud to accept assistance, pretends he possesses the necessary boxing gear.
The middle concerns the exigencies, tricks, and petty crimes by which they seek to acquire the money necessary to rent the space, all while the danger of separation—in the guise of a fake-watch puller, a musician, a police officer, a children’s court, a genuine criminal, a professional hitman, and so forth—grows increasingly real. Their day unfolds against the backdrop of the entire spectrum of Cape Town's criminality: from reusing stamps to a million-dollar diamond scam. As a last resort, Baba, dishonouring himself, attempts to sell a fake watch with Tiger’s assistance; they are apprehended. Baba is on the verge of going to jail, and Tiger is to be sent to a children’s court. Dishonour and separation appear to be a reality, the gear shop is on the brink of closure, and Baba is—reasonably and logically enough to persuade us—advised that he should ‘give the poor kid a chance’: that he’s no good for Tiger.
The end starts as Baba, devastated, is sent off with a warning. Next, Tiger talks his way out of trouble, persuades the gear-renter into giving Baba credit, locates his uncle, and takes him to the clothes shop. Now we follow them, with Baba dressed for a fight, on the bus to the stadium where Baba skillfully handles the first opponents – he’s still fast. But then he becomes consumed by his desire for honour, and he makes the mistake of accepting the challenge from an athlete twice his size who’s sent to defeat him; in this challenger, the threat of separation takes its final physical form. Baba puts up a famous fight but is ultimately down, out, and made a fool. Baba has lost what justified his existence - his honour – and Tiger has witnessed his ultimate humiliation; Baba hesitantly approaches to bid farewell to his crying nephew.
Don’t be silly, of course, it has a happy ending if you choose to read it that way.