Book of the Week: STANDING HEAVY by GauZ' (translated by Frank Wynne)
The legacies of French colonial history and the resulting fractures in Parisian society, along with the conformism and competitiveness of last-stage Capitalism are explored with great verve and humour in this sharply satirical novel in which an Ivorian immigrant working as a security guard in a department store observes the impact of vast social pressures on the miniscule particulars of everyday life. GauZ’’s supple text is filled with recognisable observations on the ‘human condition’ (so to call it), and also provides a context and texture that helps us to understand the current unrest in France.