Standing Heavy
 Original French language version titled Debout-Payé translated to English as Standing Heavy | |
| Author | GauZ' |
|---|---|
| Original title | Debout-Payé |
| Translator | Frank Wynne |
| Language | French |
| Genre | Satire, Literary fiction |
| Publisher | MacLehose Press |
| Publication date | 2014 |
| Publication place | Côte d'Ivoire |
Published in English | 2022 |
| Pages | 168 pp |
| ISBN | 978-1-529-41443-1 |
Standing Heavy is a novel by Ivorian author GauZ'. Originally published in 2014 in French (as Debout-Payé), it was translated into English by Frank Wynne and published in 2022.
It was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2023.[1]
Plot
[edit]The novel follows a series of undocumented Ivorian immigrants in Paris who find work as security guards. Their constant observations provides a cutting commentary on colonial legacies, Western capitalism and Franco-African history.
The title refers to "all the various professions that require the employee to remain standing in order to earn a pittance".
Critical response
[edit]Standing Heavy was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2023.[1]
Writing in The Guardian, John Self said "This inventive and very funny debut novel offers a whistle-stop, whizz-bang tour of Franco-African history."[2]
Berny Sèbe, in the Conversation, said Standing Heavy offers a "refreshing and often caustic take on the cultural and economic consequences of an encounter between western consumerism and capitalism and the acute African sense of observation and derision."
References
[edit]- 1 2 "Standing Heavy: Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2023 | The Booker Prizes". thebookerprizes.com. 2022-05-26. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
- ↑ Self, John (2022-07-22). "The best recent translated fiction – review roundup". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-06-04.