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A review by archytas
Standing Heavy by Gauz
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
This is firmly in the tradition of working-class literature. Gauz' laces two sets of writing together, one a series of vignettes through time documenting the impact of changing political winds on migrants from Côte d’Ivoire in Paris. The second is a hilarious, poignant and whip smart set of observations on Parisian shopping from the pov of a security guard. The two halves work very well together, the alternation ensuring you come to each with fresh eyes.
Gauz' captures the sense of draining hope through the decades. My favourite wry about turn - 9/11 decimates the employment prospects for undocumented migrants as security checks tighten, but then the London bombings reverse that in the panic demand for more security can't be met - but of course, in between the two, the Ivorian firms have collapsed, and the workers are far more vulnerable to the parasitic replacements. A boarding house at the centre of the narrative decays into squalor as it abandons any pretence to house students. France ceases to even pretend to offer education to Ivorians, instead importing cheap and vulnerable labour to "stand heavy" in jobs that don't allow any respite. The growth of racism, the co-option of local leaders - Gauz' laces his narrative with bite (following a raid on a church, he describes the police as conducting a "Pantone-sorting process" in releasing or arresting participants. Still, the characters find their joys and choose their dreams.
It is hard, however, for these sections not to be overshadowed by the exuberant slice-of-life of the sections describing the working life of a security guard in a store. It is far too rare to read literature about the kind of jobs most people do, despite what an immense amount of time work takes up. Gauz' describes how hijabi-clad wealthy women mingle in the late afternoons with trans sex workers swapping make-up tips, techniques for spotting homemade Faraday cages, the gaggles of nannies with their charges "half princeling, half prisoner", the mind-numbing monotony of a track list that plays all day, the monotony of chasing a single shoplifter for two hours over a pair of 20 Euro shoes, still better than nothing to do at all, and the moment of clarity when a security guard about to plunge into traffic to apprehend a failed thief of an obscenely expensive bottle of Dior perfume realises how absurd it would be to risk his life for *this*. But so much better written than that list :)
Gauz' captures the sense of draining hope through the decades. My favourite wry about turn - 9/11 decimates the employment prospects for undocumented migrants as security checks tighten, but then the London bombings reverse that in the panic demand for more security can't be met - but of course, in between the two, the Ivorian firms have collapsed, and the workers are far more vulnerable to the parasitic replacements. A boarding house at the centre of the narrative decays into squalor as it abandons any pretence to house students. France ceases to even pretend to offer education to Ivorians, instead importing cheap and vulnerable labour to "stand heavy" in jobs that don't allow any respite. The growth of racism, the co-option of local leaders - Gauz' laces his narrative with bite (following a raid on a church, he describes the police as conducting a "Pantone-sorting process" in releasing or arresting participants. Still, the characters find their joys and choose their dreams.
It is hard, however, for these sections not to be overshadowed by the exuberant slice-of-life of the sections describing the working life of a security guard in a store. It is far too rare to read literature about the kind of jobs most people do, despite what an immense amount of time work takes up. Gauz' describes how hijabi-clad wealthy women mingle in the late afternoons with trans sex workers swapping make-up tips, techniques for spotting homemade Faraday cages, the gaggles of nannies with their charges "half princeling, half prisoner", the mind-numbing monotony of a track list that plays all day, the monotony of chasing a single shoplifter for two hours over a pair of 20 Euro shoes, still better than nothing to do at all, and the moment of clarity when a security guard about to plunge into traffic to apprehend a failed thief of an obscenely expensive bottle of Dior perfume realises how absurd it would be to risk his life for *this*. But so much better written than that list :)