I reached the end, and immediately wanted to flip to the front and start again. Standing Heavy tells of life as seen through the eyes of undocumented security guards in Paris – work so tedious it requires an ‘engrossing inner life’: it’s this inner life – observations, theories, musings – that we’re invited into.

Written largely in vignettes from various security posts, we also get to learn the backstories of Ferdinand, Ossiri and Kassoum, who have come to Paris from Côte d’Ivoire at different times. It’s thought-provoking, astute and at times very funny, covering everything from racial stereotypes to fashion; from perfume sales techniques to the global impact of 9/11. I’ll always now be wondering what the security guard in the corner is thinking.

An interesting satire of colonialism and more told in a clever way from the point of view of a security guard.

Unusual, original, satirical and often poignant, this exploration of the life of three undocumented workers in Paris employed as security guides is told in a series of vignettes. A fragmented, non-linear narrative, and from the POV of the men themselves, I found the book well-written, with the men’s observations authentic, amusing and often pertinent, and overall a thought-provoking novel particularly in its depiction of their precarious positions. Really enjoyed it.

2.5 rounded down

I requested this following its longlisting for the 2023 International Booker prize, with both the publisher and author being new to me as a reader. The book also ended up on the shortlist for the prize too, missing out to [book:Time Shelter|58999261] which won the 2023 prize. I wanted to read this for the different perspective - a security guard working in Paris, we can assume somewhat based on the author's own experiences working in a similar role after moving to France from Côte d’Ivoire as an undocumented student.

The most enjoyable part of the book for me was the observations the security guard makes of shoppers in Sephora and other shops in the French capital. Unfortunately the other timelines - set in the 1960s and 1990s - didn't come together or work quite as well for me as part of a cohesive overall narrative.

<i>Thank you to NetGalley and MacLehose Press for the advance copy, which was provided in exchange for an honest review.</i>

This satirical novel is dark, poignant, laugh out loud, and oh so clever. Within the first few pages I totally understand why this was shortlisted for the 2023 International Booker Prize and previously won a number of literary prizes when first released in 2014. It's a remarkable debut novel from GauZ', a journalist and screenwriter from the Côte d'Ivoire.

This short novel is about undocumented African immigrants who are working as security guards in Paris. They are unseen but they see everything and their social commentary on consumerism, colonialism, capitalism and aspirations is insightful and biting.

GauZ', after studying biochemistry, went to Paris as an undocumented student and worked as a security guard, and his firsthand experience is clearly reflected in this novella.

Thanks to #netgalley and @quercusbooks for the e-book in return for an honest review.

5⭐️💫

#netgalleyreads #translatedfiction #translatedliterature #literaryfiction #contemporaryliterature #socialcommentary #immigrantstories #standingheavy #ivorianwriters #satire #novella

I found this book incredibly clever and thought-provoking for the way that it frames the reader as an outsider, but one who has access to the inner thoughts and observations of another outsider, albeit closer to the action than ourselves.

Through positioning us largely through the eyes of a security guard, we see the ways that the 'European Dream' sold to immigrants often remains unrealised over several decades- it is either held at arm's length or denied outright, but with few other options than to wait for it, and I think the book is especially well handled in the book, with wry and sardonic observations by a man who sees almost everything, but remains largely unseen.

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A well-deserved Booker nominee, Standing Heavy explores the cultural and political standing of those who work security for a living in Paris. Often a hard life for immigrants without legitimate documentation, GauZ explores the world inhabited by these security guards and the difficulties that they face.

This book explores immigration in an eye-opening way and the story flows beautifully. Some real thought provoking moments and a brilliant ending, I look forward to reading more from GauZ!

Thank you for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Standing Heavy is an interesting and unique book written from the perspective of undocumented migrants at various points in the last 50 or so years as they take in the role of security guards in Paris. There is much humour in this book despite the heavy subject of colonialism and racism that is well portrayed throughout this short book. It is a poignant book that makes you reflect although I did find it difficult to follow at some points.

A tiny, inventive satire told mostly from the perspective of undocumented immigrants from Cote d’Ivoire working as security guards in Paris. The fragmentary approach allows for a series of snapshots and insights into colonialism, racism, classism and Gauz shows his talent as a writer by being both poignant and funny.

In his debut novel, Ivorian writer Gauz offers serious social criticism by connecting migration, capitalism and exploitation, but he also effectively highlights how pathetic Western over-consumption is, and it's hilarious. Our three main characters are undocumented immigrants from Côte d’Ivoire who work as security guards in a shopping mall. Structured in three time periods spanning from 1960 until the early 2000's, we hear the three interconnected stories of Ferdinand, Ossiri and and Kassoum who want to live the European dream in the country that colonized their home. After historically being othered and described from a racist standpoint by the French, the three Ivorians now become quasi ethnologists as guards studying rich people indulging in mindless shopping in Paris (we're not talking groceries, of course, but clothes and Sephora).

Gauz (Armand Patrick Gbaka-Brédé) studied biochemistry, and then moved to Paris as an undocumented student, where, you guessed it!, he worked as a security guard before returning to Côte d’Ivoire to be a journalist and writer. The title refers to the fact that jobs that require workers to stand up for hours are usually poorly paid, so employees in these lines of work are both physically strained and at the margins of rich societies.  

The novel shows how the migration experience has changed by giving historical and political context: In what Gauz calls the Bronze Age (1960-1980), Ferdinand travels to Paris to find himself, but he also leaves behind the first president of Côte d'Ivoire, Félix Houphouët-Boigny, who became a threat to progressive Ivorians due to his "coup-d'étalgia". The world lived through the OPEC crisis, which led Valéry Giscard d'Estaing to change French policies regarding economic immigration - with severe consequences for Ferdinand and his friends in the student housing complex. In the Golden Age (1990-2000), teacher Ossiri joins Ferdinand in Paris, and during the Age of Lead (after 9/11), all three men navigate a new climate in Europe. The story is interspersed with numerous vignettes, consisting of bizarre observations in the shopping mall.

The text was translated by last year's chair of judges, the wonderful, award-winning Frank Wynne, with whom I spoke here.

I would gladly see the team Gauz/Wynne win the International Booker - granted, this wouldn't be the strongest Booker winner ever, but this writer has a very particular approach to write about colonialism, racism, and classism, and Wynne is just a fantastic translator who managed to do justice to Gauz' disparate, eccentric style.

It's funny and it's very sad, it's a book that make you reflect on how the invisible, the people we often don't see are living and what is the impact of the colonialism and western culture.
The translation is excellent and the book is a compelling read but it's also full of food for thought.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

'Standing Heavy' is a wonderful and poignant novel which is both expansive in it's achievements and compact and precise in it's language.

Standing Heavy explores the themes of colonialism and capitalism through a satirical lens. Sections of narrative fiction are interjected with “witty observations.” Unfortunately, these moments of wit do not quite hit the mark and instead comes across as misogynistic.

A book that feels fresh and different. Sylistically this plays with narrative forms, and the sweep of time and inter-linked characters takes a satisfying satirical look at the African migrant status in France over time.

The translation is great, and the book deserves its place on the International Booker Prize longlist for sure. 4 stars.

(With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this title.)

Standing Heavy – GauZ (translated from French by Frank Wynne)

Standing Heavy: designates all the various professions that require the employee to remain standing in order to earn a pittance.

Can you write a state of the nation novel based solely around the lives of security guards? That is what Standing Heavy attempts, with some deal of success. Covering almost 50 years, it charts the successive waves of post-colonial immigration from francophone Africa into Paris, starting with the 70s and Ferdinand, the first Ivorian in the book to make a living in security for plain reasons:

“Black men are heavy-set; Black men are tall; Black men are strong; Black men are deferential; Black men are scary.”

The book charts the various phases of feeling towards the migrant workers coming to France. Ferdinand is successful enough by the 90s to hire Ossiri and Kassoum, though they lack official documentation and thus must live under the constant threat of discovery and deportation, especially after 9/11. It’s a tough life, but one mixed with hope and moments of levity and pointed observations about French society and attitudes.

Interspersed with this are multiple scenes from another security guard, a “MiB”, reporting his observations of the customers in first the Camaïeu clothes shop and later a Sephora. Some of the best lines and quips come in these sections, like when the security guard gives up chasing a perfume thief:

“…who has stolen from Bernard, the richest person in France, a frivolous frippery made by Liliane, the seventh richest”.

His follow up that he feels like an old French colonial policeman carries even more wait to the commentary of capitalism and colonialism.

Really entertaining and informative book. I doubt it will win the prize, but I thoroughly enjoyed it nonetheless.

Hoping to make my way through the International Booker longlist, starting with this satirical little gem from Cote d’Ivoire – thanks to @netgalley and @quercusbooks for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Are you reading the longlist? What’s been your favourite so far?

First of all the translation of this book is fantastic. A worthy nominee for the international Booker Prize. The language is vibrant, playful and complex. The old days of dreary plodding translations has gone thank goodness. We must celebrate the modern translators who open up the world to us readers. I enjoyed the story as long as I let it flow over me and did not interrogate it too much. I wasn't totally sure who was who, but I enjoyed the ride, so to speak. I also loved the small observational pieces from the point of view of a security guard. It's not a long book, so it's well worth investing in.

This is a mix between the personal history of Ossiri, an illegal immigrant from Cote d'Ivoire that works as a security guard in France; and a series of vignettes of him from the people coming to the Sephora he works at. The content was interesting, and sometimes even funny. But then, he did not do anything further with those observations, it lacks that depth of going to the next step.

The writing was fine, nothing too good or bad. Overall, I enjoyed the read, but it is nothing particularly deep or amazing.

GauZ is great......

His writing is poetic, acute and spot on. He is observant and how his mind works made me laugh and ponder at the same time. A small sample:

"At about one o'clock in the morning, the high-class escort girls and trans women who ply their trade on the Champs Elysees and surround areas drop by to freshen their fragrance and touch up their outlandish make-up. They share the aisles with women in hijabs, who, for reasons no-one knows, are numerous at this hour. They can be seen chatting together confidentially. the paucity of customers and the enchantment of the night dissolve all barriers, social, moral and religious. All too soon, the escorts and the trans women will go back to their johns, among them some of the husbands of the women in hijabs with they have been exchanging beauty tips."


Alternating between the observations of a security guard in place, standing heavy and the stories of three guards documented and not in different eras but in the same Paris. Ironic, funny and most of all very acute. His vernacular feels familiar and takes us into their lives and this Paris.

An ARC kindly provided by author/publisher via Netgalley

Longlisted for Booker International Prize 2023

3.5* rounded down for now. I might change my mind later

Gauz is an author, journalist and screenwriter who grew up in Côte d’Ivoire. After studying biochemistry, he moved to Paris as an undocumented student, working as a security guard before returning to Côte d’Ivoire. His first novel, Standing Heavy, came out in 2014 and won the Prix des libraries Gibert Joseph.

The novels follows three interconnected men who are employed as security guards in Paris, one of the few positions open for undocumented African male immigrants. The “plot” is set in three different periods, each with their challenges: The Bronze Age (1960-1980), The Golden Age (1990-2000), The Age of Lead (after the 2001 Terrorist Attack).

The title is explain quite early. “In the Ivoirian community in France, security is a profession so deeply rooted that it has spawned a specific terminology, one inflected with the colourful expressions from Nouchi, the popular slang of Abidjan. Standing Heavy : designates all the various professions that require the employee to remain standing in order to earn a pittance.”

The novel is highly fragmented and the timeline is interrupted by an incursion inside de mind of a security guard in Paris. He is first working at Camaieu and then at Sephora. Maybe they are two guards, I am not entirely sure due to the writing style. We get to read some interesting and sometimes funny snippets about the job and the clients.

"The security guard adores babies. Perhaps because babies do not shoplift. Babies adore the security guard. Perhaps because he does not drag babies to the sales."

The novel opens with a job interview for the security guard position where we are gifted with the following insight about the skills required for the role. “Those who already have experience in the profession know what lies in store in the coming days: spending all day standing in a shop, repeating this monotonous exercise in tedium every day, until the end of the month comes, and they are paid. Paid standing. And it is not as easy as it might seem. In order to survive in this job, to keep things in perspective, to avoid lapsing into cosy idleness or, on the contrary, fatuous zeal and bitter aggressiveness, requires either knowing how to empty your mind of every thought higher than instinct and spinal reflex or having a very engrossing inner life. The incorrigible idiot option is also highly prized. Each to his own method.”

It is clear that the narrator is a member of the “engrossing inner life” mode of survival. He has an opinion, quite not politically correct about each ethnic group or type of client. The narrative sometimes gets serious, with meditations on racism, social inequality and colonialism.
I enjoyed the novel but I sometimes had a feeling of agitation and dissatisfaction while reading. I guess the fragmented style confused me at times.

I received an ARC from Quercus Books through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

"In the Ivoirian community in France, security is a profession so deeply rooted that it has spawned a specific terminology, one inflected with the colourful expressions from Nouchi, the popular slang of Abidjan.

Standing Heavy : designates all the various professions that require the employee to remain standing in order to earn a pittance.

Zagoli : specifically refers to the security guard. Zagoli Golié was a famous goalkeeper with Les Eléphants, the national team of Côte d’Ivoire. Being a security guard is like being a goalie: you stand there watching everyone else play, and, once in a while, you dive to catch the ball.

Dans le milieu des Ivoiriens en France, le métier de vigile est tellement ancré qu’il a généré une terminologie spécifique et toujours teintée des expressions colorées du langage populaire abidjanais, le nouchi.

debout-payé : désigne l’ensemble des métiers où il faut rester debout pour gagner sa pitance.

zagoli : désigne le vigile lui-même. Zagoli Golié est le nom d’un célèbre gardien de but des Éléphants, l’équipe nationale de football de Côte d’Ivoire. Être vigile, c’est comme être gardien de but : on reste debout à regarder jouer les autres, et de temps en temps, on plonge pour attraper la baballe."

Standing Heavy is Frank Wynne's translation of Debout-payé, the 2014 debut novel by GauZ', and focus on the experience of immigrants from Côte d’Ivoire working as security guards in Paris during the last 60 years or so, serving at the same time as a social satire on the upper tier of Parisian consumer culture.

The novel opens with a group of African immigrants queuing up to sign on as security guards:

"Everyone here has a powerful motivation, although it may be very different depending on which side of the glass one finds oneself. For the dominant male in the glass cage at the far end of the open-plan office, it is maximum turnover. By any means necessary. Hiring as many people as possible is part of the means. For the Black procession in the stairwell, it is an escape from unemployment or a zero-hours contract. By any means necessary. Security guarding is one of those means. It’s relatively accessible. The training is absolutely minimal. No experience is required. Employers are all too willing to overlook official status. The morphological profile is supposedly appropriate. Morphological profile . . . Black men are heavy-set; Black men are tall; Black men are strong; Black men are deferential; Black men are scary. It is impossible not to think of this jumble of “noble savage” clichés lurking atavistically in the minds of every White man responsible for recruitment and every Black man who has come to use these clichés to his advantage."

The novel then proceeds with two main narrative streams:

1) What could best be described as three connected short stories, covering the experience of a group of a connected group of such men over three periods described as:

The Bronze Age (1960-1980)
The Golden Age (1990-2000)
The Age of Lead

This last section begins with the Twin Towers which initially causes a drop in demand for undocumented immigrant labour but eventually, post the Madrid and London bombs causes a boom due to the installation of security apparatus even in office buildings.

This part of the novel also makes reference to various elements of French, French colonial and immigrant history such as the 1974 French Presidential election (the first in which Jean-Marie Le Pen ran), the 1996 Sans Papiers movement, Amilcar Cabral's theory of class suicide and the rather over-the-top tears shed by Jean-Bédel Bokassa, Emperor of the Central African Empire, at the 1974 funeral of French President George Pompidou:

2) The other section is very different in tone - essentially a collection of aphorisms and observational snippets from security guards working in upmarket boutiques. As the narrator observes, the job comes with a lot of time to think:

"Those who already have experience in the profession know what lies in store in the coming days: spending all day standing in a shop, repeating this monotonous exercise in tedium every day, until the end of the month comes, and they are paid. Paid standing. And it is not as easy as it might seem. In order to survive in this job, to keep things in perspective, to avoid lapsing into cosy idleness or, on the contrary, fatuous zeal and bitter aggressiveness, requires either knowing how to empty your mind of every thought higher than instinct and spinal reflex or having a very engrossing inner life. The incorrigible idiot option is also highly prized. Each to his own method."

A few of the observations are quite learned:

"LAPLACE TRANSFORM

How is it possible to be reminded of the Laplace transform when watching an old woman with a purple rinse rummaging through a dumpbin of Gaby–WAS €24.95: NOW 70% OFF!–goose-shit-green striped cardigans?
...
LAPLACE TRANSFORM 2

The Laplace transform is a complex mathematical operation named after its inventor that makes it possible to describe the variation of certain functions (f) over time (t). These days, it is used in financial modelling, i.e. to determine prices. For example, Laplace transforms are used to calculate the ideal markdowns and optimal prices during sales. A complex equation to regulate frivolous pleasures."

But most of the commentary is rather acerbic - Frank Wynne has previously translated both Houllebecq and Despentes and this section is in the tradition of irreverent humour which aims to (lightly) insult everyone and goes somewhat further in its use of stereotypes than might be usual in a British novel (although not unusual in UK comedy). One of the tamer examples:

"FOR WHOM THE METAL DETECTOR TOLLS

The walk-through metal detector tolls when anyone enters or leaves with an item that has not been demagnetised. It signals only hypothetical guilt and, in 90 per cent of cases, the item has been duly paid for. But it is striking to note that almost everyone heeds the command of the security gate. Hardly anyone is insubordinate. However, reactions differ according to culture or nationality.

• The Frenchman looks around, as though someone else is responsible for this noise and he merely looking for the culprit in the spirit of collaboration.
• The Japanese customer stops dead and waits for the security guard to approach.
• The Chinese shopper does not, or pretends she does not, hear and continues on her way as nonchalantly as possible.
• The French citizen of Arabic or African ancestry accuses the device of conspiracy or racial profiling.
• The African jabs a finger at his chest as though seeking confirmation.
• The American rushes over to the security guard with a broad smile and all bags open for inspection.
• The German takes a step back in order to check that the system is functioning correctly.
• The Gulf Arab adopts a lofty, supercilious expression and slowly stops.
• The Brazilian puts his hands in the air.
• Once, a man actually fainted. He was unable to confirm his nationality."

Others, in Anglo-Saxon terms, can come across as rather sizeist, sexist etc - no target is safe (rather as the expensive perfume is not safe from the thieving fingers of various customers).

Overall - I'm not 100% sure what to make of this. I think the novel warrants its place on the longlist but it's an odd mix of erudition and crude satire, and the two parts, and the story within the first part, don't entire cohere. 3.5 stars - will round down for now but possibly up when this settles.