Draft:24 Hours with Gaspar (novel)

24 Hours with Gaspar

Author	Sabda Armandio
Original title	24 Jam bersama Gasparcode: ind promoted to code: id
Translator	Lara Norgaard
Language	Indonesian
Genre	Absurdism
Publisher	Buku Mojok
Publication date	2017
Publication place	Indonesia
Published in English	2021
Media type	Print
Pages	185
ISBN	9781803092041
Preceded by	Kamu: Cerita yang Tidak Perlu Dipercaya
Followed by	Dekat dan Nyaring

24 Hours with Gaspar is a novel by Indonesian author Sabda Armandio, set in contemporary Jakarta. Known for its distinct style of absurdism and unique blend of genres, The novel tells the story of Gaspar assembling a crew to steal black box from a jewelry store. Published in 2017, 24 Hours with Gaspar was Armandio's second novel and received critical acclaim, earning the Jakarta Arts Council's Best Novel award and the 2017 Goodreads Choice Award for Favorite Book. The novel was first translated into English in 2023 by Lara Norgaard, with Seagull Books as the publisher. 24 Hours with Gaspar was adapted into a film of the same name directed by Yosep Anggi Noen and distributed globally by Netflix in 2024.

Background

Sabda Armandio has described 24 Hours With Gaspar in interviews as an ironic parody of detective stories. Armandio focused on the archetype of a detective who manipulates people’s desires and motives for the book, inspired by the works of Paco Taibo and the character Héctor Belascoáran.

24 Hours With Gaspar has a heavy focus on surrealism, with eccentric characters, disjointed events, and a lack of traditional narrative structure. The book reflects an Indonesian literary trend among many young authors to experiment and challenge traditional storytelling norms, which some have suggested represents how Indonesia, as a nation, challenges traditional norms of nationhood. The novel also incorporates themes of postmodernism and magical realism, with influences from authors like Gabriel García Márquez, Jorge Luis Borges, and Huriki Murakami.

Plot

Gaspar plans to rob a jewelry store after 24 hours, taking specific interest in two boxes- one black, and one violet. To assist him in the robbery, he plans to gather a group of accomplices, as well as relying on his motorbike, Cortázar. He drives to a bar and meets a girl named Afif (whom he calls Agnes), and recruits her as well. They question an older woman named Tati about her ties to Wan Ali (the owner of the store), as her late husband was closely linked to him. She points him to Yadi, her son, whom Gaspar adds to the team. Then, Gaspar tries to recruit Kik and Njet by telling them his plans and reasoning for the heist. He recalls how his childhood mentor, Babaji, told him about the black box he is now trying to steal. According to him, it contains all of the knowledge in the universe. Gaspar also describes Cortázar’s background to them, and how the bike is possessed by a Cheetah Jinni which led him to find the box in Wan Ali’s shop. Thus, Kik and Njet agree to join the group for the robbery.

The group runs into the Pink Porpoise while driving, who threatens them, convincing Gaspar to talk to him. However, it turns out that the Pink Porpoise was mimicking Gaspar’s old identity, a musician under the name “Budi Alazon”. He wants Gaspar to perform with him the next day, and Gaspar agrees to join. The group then gathers at Wan Ali’s shop, and they tell him about their plans to rob him in a few hours. They tell Wan Ali that they know about his various heinous crimes, and he confesses that he killed Tati’s husband and sold his daughter (Gaspar’s childhood friend) to an old man. They express their disgust, take the purple and black boxes, and leave. Gaspar reveals to Afif that the purple box belonged to Kirana. They open the black box together, and Gaspar keeps the purple box. He says that, although Yadi now owns the jewelry store, they would still be robbing it at the predetermined time. The book ends as the crew separates and they all head to their homes.

Characters

Main Characters

• Gaspar- a private investigator.
• Cortázar- Gaspar’s 1976 Biner Merzy motorbike who was possessed by a Cheetah Jinni.
• Wan Ali- Owner of the jewelry store.

The Gang

• Tati/Pingi- One of the members of the gang. She was previously a doctor and treated young Gaspar.
• Yadi/Pongo- Nurida’s husband/Tati’s son. Also a member of the gang.
• Kik- Ex-girlfriend of Gaspar and English teacher.
• Njet- Gaspar’s mechanic and “best friend” Kik’s boyfriend.
• Agnes/Afif- The fan girl (Budi Alazon), Gaspar’s “love interest”.

Minor Characters

• Transcript Detective- The police officer who appears in the interviews to question a suspect. He also is the detective looking into the March 4th incident in the forward.
• March 4th crime girl- A girl whom the man in the forward encounters in at a cafe who knows what crime was committed on March 4th. The narrator is looking for information on the event, and the girl's mother knows what happened. She gives him the information on how to talk to her mother.
• Jenifer- Tati/Pingi’s bird.
• Budi Alazon- Gaspar’s/Pink Porpoise (Budi Alazon 2) alter ego who is a Mexican-inspired rockstar.
• Nurida- Yadi’s wife/worker at the jewelry store.
• Kirana- Gaspar’s childhood best friend/ Wan Ali’s daughter who was sold into sex trafficking and later died.
• Maimunah- Tati/Pingi’s sister and Wan Ali’s wife.
• Bachtiar- A high school friend of Tati/Pingi’s husband that she thinks he is cheating on her with (because he hasn’t returned home in a few days).
• Jethro- A man who was trying to kill himself in a canal, in a description of Njet when retelling the story of Gaspar’s and Njet’s first meeting.

Style and Structure

When a story unfolds over one day, every choice, conversation, and reaction is charged with greater immediacy. There’s no sense that characters can put off decisions or ignore problems until a later time, nor can they take too much time to plan or consider their options. As a result, there is a heightened sense of urgency, which encourages them to consider how much can be accomplished, understood, or lost in such a limited span. This intensity often pushes characters to confront issues they might otherwise avoid—relationships that need mending, truths that must be told, or conflicts that need to be resolved. Why, exactly, is Gaspar planning the robbery? Why did he choose the people he did to accompany him? How has Wan Ali affected the lives of those involved in the robbery? All of these questions must be addressed in the short timeframe of the story.

With time drastically limited, transformations within the characters must be both rapid and believable, reflecting a kind of emotional acceleration. This can reveal who the characters truly are beneath their daily routines. The extraordinary circumstances, combined with the awareness of a ticking clock, can motivate them to break habits, overcome hesitations, or reach out to someone before it’s too late. The outcome of the story, therefore, feels more concentrated—every relationship dynamic and every personal revelation is intensified by the knowledge that there’s little room for delay.

By preventing days or weeks of reflection, it forces the characters to live fully in the present. Characters may act more spontaneously or reveal layers of their personalities that emerge only under time pressure. These constraints often highlight the fragility and importance of each passing hour and minute, underscoring that personal growth, connection, and even catharsis can manifest within a small window of time.

Reception

This section will cover common themes found in other analyses of 24 Hours with Gaspar. One topic brought up often about the book is how it tends to play out as a random sequence of events. The book frequently jumps from topic to topic while adding new characters in most chapters. This is a fun read for most but if you care much about learning the details of Gaspar’s robbery, the book might not be for you. Discussions of the book also often bring up how the plot is told through two separate devices: the timeline and the interview. The book alternates between the main timeline being told by Gaspar and a detective’s interview of Tati, one of the people Gaspar recruits for the robbery. Although this makes for an interesting read, it can congest the reader with information and make an incredibly dense plot.

Adaptation

24 Hours with Gaspar was adapted in a 2023 film directed by Yosep Anggi Noen and distributed globally by Netflix in early 2024, starring Reza Rahadian in the role of Gaspar and Shenina Cinnamon as Agnes (Afif). Although the plot of the movie contains the same general plot as the novel--robbing a jewelry store--much of the book's backstory is changed or omitted, reflecting the challenge of transforming the absurdist writing style and structure of the novel to the screen. The movie itself was nominated for the 2023 Kim Jiseok Award at the Busan International Film Festival. At the 2023 Indonesian Film Festival, the movie was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound, Best Original Score, Best Costume Design, and won the Best Adapted Screenplay award.