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A review by pangnaolin
Standing Heavy by GauZ'
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
I want to note that I rated this lower than I rate most things I read, but more than anything, it's because my own lack of prior knowledge affected my read of it, and I really can't speak to the experience of a lot of people who might pick Standing Heavy up.
To be entirely honest, I picked up this book because the first phrase I read was "the Virgin Mary was of Palestinian cock" while flipping through, and I was incredibly intrigued, even knowing that the quote likely wasn't consequential. I'm not sure how much reading the book clarified that intrigue, though.
It follows three generations of security guards in France, but I didn't realize it was supposed to be generational for an embarrassing amount of the book. The entire piece felt a little disjointed, and I was surprised at how little cohesion it all had... I still enjoyed it, but the read was sort of messy.
To be fair, knowing it was a generational story wasn't exactly consequential as long as you were able to follow the timeline of history throughout the book, but even that was hard. Anyway-- it made some absolutely incredible commentary on consumerism & capitalism alongside, of course, French political culture-- especially pertaining to Black and Muslim people. I think that's exactly why I had a hard time with it, though-- I really just didn't have the context.
It was an incredibly interesting read, and I loved getting to sit with the effects of French colonialism from the very specific scope of the security industry, but not having a thorough and complete knowledge of that French colonial history made it difficult to fully understand-- and especially so with the book being written from the point of view of such sharp, to the point, and witty characters. Everything is mentioned quickly and blown past, and I don't feel like I had time to sit with anything as someone who doesn't know much.
I really enjoyed the format of the book-- moving back and forth between more full narrative writing and what felt like little titled notes in a journal or even prosetry. To be honest, though-- excluding the very last narrative chapter-- I much preferred the notes. It felt like a little window into an entirely different world and allowed me a whole host of ideas to explore and perspectives to marinate in, while the more traditional narrative often dragged. To be honest, the narrative sections often felt like GauZ' was just using the characters & novel as an excuse to write nonfiction-- a sort of inter-genre frame story.
That last chapter and epilogue, though, were absolutely beautiful. Getting to hear Kassoum's reflections on 9/11 and how it would affect his career and industry, and then the actual fallout following it, was incredibly impactful and interesting. I think those last sections are what I was hoping the rest would be.
I still loved this read, especially in the note-like sections, but the rest of the prose felt more like a nonfiction read and was sort of confusing to follow. I don't think I got a lot of the layers within Standing Heavy, and would love to learn some more about the history and atmosphere that informs it & then re-read it.
To be entirely honest, I picked up this book because the first phrase I read was "the Virgin Mary was of Palestinian cock" while flipping through, and I was incredibly intrigued, even knowing that the quote likely wasn't consequential. I'm not sure how much reading the book clarified that intrigue, though.
It follows three generations of security guards in France, but I didn't realize it was supposed to be generational for an embarrassing amount of the book. The entire piece felt a little disjointed, and I was surprised at how little cohesion it all had... I still enjoyed it, but the read was sort of messy.
To be fair, knowing it was a generational story wasn't exactly consequential as long as you were able to follow the timeline of history throughout the book, but even that was hard. Anyway-- it made some absolutely incredible commentary on consumerism & capitalism alongside, of course, French political culture-- especially pertaining to Black and Muslim people. I think that's exactly why I had a hard time with it, though-- I really just didn't have the context.
It was an incredibly interesting read, and I loved getting to sit with the effects of French colonialism from the very specific scope of the security industry, but not having a thorough and complete knowledge of that French colonial history made it difficult to fully understand-- and especially so with the book being written from the point of view of such sharp, to the point, and witty characters. Everything is mentioned quickly and blown past, and I don't feel like I had time to sit with anything as someone who doesn't know much.
I really enjoyed the format of the book-- moving back and forth between more full narrative writing and what felt like little titled notes in a journal or even prosetry. To be honest, though-- excluding the very last narrative chapter-- I much preferred the notes. It felt like a little window into an entirely different world and allowed me a whole host of ideas to explore and perspectives to marinate in, while the more traditional narrative often dragged. To be honest, the narrative sections often felt like GauZ' was just using the characters & novel as an excuse to write nonfiction-- a sort of inter-genre frame story.
That last chapter and epilogue, though, were absolutely beautiful. Getting to hear Kassoum's reflections on 9/11 and how it would affect his career and industry, and then the actual fallout following it, was incredibly impactful and interesting. I think those last sections are what I was hoping the rest would be.
I still loved this read, especially in the note-like sections, but the rest of the prose felt more like a nonfiction read and was sort of confusing to follow. I don't think I got a lot of the layers within Standing Heavy, and would love to learn some more about the history and atmosphere that informs it & then re-read it.