حارس الشانزليزيه

by Gauz, Armand Patrick Gbaka-Brédé, دينا محمد معوض (ترجمة)

"أوسيري" هو بطل الحكاية، طالب إيفواري يهاجر بطريقة غير شرعية إلى فرنسا عام 1990. يعمل حارسًا لمتجر "سيفوراه" بأشهر شوارع باريس، بل العالم.. "الشانزليزيه". وهناك يقف، لا يفعل شيئًا سوى مراقبة الدخول والخروج، ثم يحكي لنا عن جميع مَن قابلهم في هذه الوظيفة.. عن الآسيويين، الأفارقة، العرب، كل مَن نتخيل من بشر، وجميعهم لم يتركهم دون أن يصفهم، ويصف الولع الرهيب بالرأسمالية وكل ما تمثله لمثل هؤلاء.
يعيش "أوسيري" في حلقات، فهو ينتقل في حكايته بين عمله حارسًا للأمن، وبين حياته في نُزُل الطلاب الإيفواريين في باريس، ويحكي كذلك عن حياة أصدقائه، ثم يعطي لنا لمحة عن الحياة التي كان يعيشها قبل هروبه إلى فرنسا، لنجد أنه يعود بنا تدريجيًا إلى الوراء لكي نرى الصورة كاملة كما يراها هو.
إنها رواية ساخرة ترسم لوحة شديدة الواقعية للمجتمع الفرنسي والأفريقي.

Genres: Fiction, France, Africa, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Translated Fiction, Ivory Coast

248 pages, Paperback

First published August 28, 2014

About the author

Après avoir été diplômé en biochimie et (un temps) sans-papiers, Gauz est photographe, documentariste, et directeur d’un journal économique satirique en Côte-d’Ivoire. Il a aussi écrit le scénario d’un film sur l’immigration des jeunes Ivoiriens, Après l’océan…

Reviews

[Adina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now Shortlisted 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.

[Sujoya - theoverbookedbibliophile · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

*Shortlisted for International Booker Prize 2023*

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

Standing Heavy by Gauz (translated by Frank Wynne) revolves around the experiences of three undocumented immigrants from Côte d’Ivoire who take up jobs as security guards in shopping centers around Paris.

The narrative is divided into three interconnected parts /timelines with snippets detailing the keen (often humorous) observations and experiences of security guards manning the entrance of branches of Sephora in Paris. The Bronze Age (1960-1980) focuses on Ferdinand, an immigrant who reaches Paris and takes up a job as a security guard. In the Golden Age (1990-2000), we meet Ossiri, a former teacher who gives up the monotony of his teaching job and travels to Paris hoping to change his fortunes where meets fellow immigrant Kassoum. Ferdinand, now, operating as a subcontractor, secures positions for them as security guards at an abandoned flour mill in shifts. The Age of Lead follows these characters and how their living situations and employment opportunities are affected by the policies and politics in response to the threat of terrorism in the post-9/11 era. In the course of the stories of our three central characters, we also follow the politics, impact of colonialism and its aftermath as well as the impact of changes in the political climate and leadership in their home country and international immigration policies on the residents of the RSCI (Residence for Students from Cote d'Ivoire) which housed several Ivoirian immigrants.

The author, also from Côte d’Ivoire, spent some time in Paris as an undocumented student working as a security guard in Paris before returning to his country. The observations on the work environment, consumer behavior and culture in high-end shopping malls, shared in snippets interspersed throughout the narrative are sharp and witty and might make you feel a tad self-conscious the next time you encounter a security guard at the entrance (and exit) of a store/shopping mall. Touching upon themes ranging from immigrant experiences and immigration politics to colonialism, class distinctions, racial profiling and consumerism, in tones varying from satirical, factual and insightful, Standing Heavy is both entertaining and thought-provoking. The uneven, somewhat disjointed narrative took a while to adjust to. This is a short novel with a broad scope, which makes me wonder whether deeper discussions on a few issues would have rendered it more impactful. Overall, I did appreciate the premise of this short yet timely and relevant novel and feel there is much about it that is praiseworthy, but I wasn’t as taken with it as I had hoped.

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[Meike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2023
German: Wartelöhner
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.

[Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 and Edelweiss

[Paul Fulcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Winner of the Society of Authors’ Scott Moncrieff Prize for Frank Wynne’s translation

Shortlisted for the 2023 International Booker Prize

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.

[Noor Tareq · Rating 3 out of 5]

نعم كان اسلوب الكاتب جديدا، يعرض عناوين بسيطه و يحاول تعريفنا بها بعدة أسطر، لكنني لم استطع ان اربط بين اجزاء الرواية جيدا، فجأة أجدني امشي في شارع الشانزيليزيه مع فرنسيين من اصول افريقية، كم تمنيت ان اتعرف عليهما أكثر، لكن الكاتب انتقل بنا الى حقبة زمنية أخرى و بعدها أجدني أتعرف على مصطلحات يستخدمها حارس أمن متجر سيفورا لا تهمني كثيرا، و اخيرا ننتقل الى فترة زمنية أخرى.
ربما كان اسلوب الكاتب جديدا، لكنه ليس جيدا بالمرة.
حاول الكاتب أن ينقل جزءاً من معاناة الافريقيين في فرنسا، ربما فرنسا و الفرنسيين لا يرحبون بمن لا يشبههم بالمرة، لكنهم على استعداد للاستفادة منهم دوما، لذلك نرى الفرنسيين من اصول افريقية يعملون في أغلب المواقع و الوظائف، لكن المدير يجب أن يكون فرنسيا، عنصريا في أغلب الاحيان.

[Matthew Ted · Rating 1 out of 5]

43rd book of 2023.

I thought I'd appreciate this more than I did. At times I was onboard with the satire elements, but it never lasted long. Most of this book is dedicated to a security guard's observations about retail customers. Observations like these (reminscient of another recent read of mine, Ernaux's Exteriors), never do much for me. Here's an example of the stereotypical observations the guard gives; at this point he is referring to the ways different nationalities react to the metal detector going off when they walk through the doors (this subheading is titled 'For Whom the Metal Detector Tolls'):

- 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.

So although sometimes humorous and dripping with satire, I'd be lying if I said I felt anything when I closed the book, and lying if I said I'd probably ever think about this again. Some interesting ideas, some good writing about 9/11, but overall forgettable and too chopped-up for me.

International longlist so far:
Time Shelter
Still Born / Boulder
Pyre
Whale
Standing Heavy
A System So Magnificent It Is Blinding

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5, rounded up for a POV mostly unfamiliar to me and thus welcome. If it was up to me however I'd throw out the sections consisting of the mostly inane observational snippets of a security guard on the job. There's a few decent ones which have mostly been shared in other reviews which gave me the misleading impression they would be at least interesting overall; they are not. Then I'd take the sections describing the lives of the West African men who've immigrated to Paris, which feel like a sketch for a novel, and turn them into a novel. But that's me.

[Jowix · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pełen kompozycyjnej werwy i wisielczego humoru zapis postkolonialnego doświadczenia Czarnego imigranta bez papierów, zarabiającego na życie staniem w pseudoekskluzywnych sklepach.
Kolekcja codziennych obserwacji i doraźnej wiedzy o społeczeństwie przeplata się z minikroniką politycznego bytu dwóch kolegów-ochroniarzy. Wychodzi z tego coś zaskakująco szczerego i fajnego, i dobrze, że Claroscuro Gauza wydało, a nominacja do Bookera wyciągnęła go na wierzch.

PS. Warto jednak zauważyć, że niektóre spostrzeżenia ochroniarza w sklepie odzieżowym i drogerii pobrzmiewają male gaze'owym seksizmem. W moim odczuciu jest to do przejścia, ale trochę szkoda.

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars

I thought this story would be more cohesive and have a little more to it, especially since it’s about 3 generations of security guards and their experience as immigrants in France. At multiple points I thought the author would dive a little deeper into characters (especially the background characters in this book) and their life stories/experiences only for the narrative to move onto something else, so it felt like a lot of things were glazed over in my opinion. The jumping around in this book also made it difficult for me to follow, especially during the first half, and idk if it was the translator or what but I found some parts very difficult to read.

Hated the way the narrators spoke about women in the chapters that were snippets of Sephora security guard life. After reading a few reviews people say those parts were supposed to be satirical but I didn’t really pick up on it :/

Ultimately I wish the rest of the book was more like the last chapter, like it felt like the end is where it finally started to pick up and where I actually started to find this book really interesting. I’ve only ever heard of how the events of 9/11 affected America so I liked how this introduced me to a new perspective of those events. Namely, how it impacted France in terms of security and the treatment of immigrants. When I tell you the last chapter is the only reason I put this as 2 stars instead of 1 x_x

Overall, the book offered a really unique, niche perspective and one that I’ve heard almost nothing about so I was kind of disappointed because I feel like the premise has so much potential (especially since the subject of this book is rooted in the authors own experience), but unfortunately I felt like there was a level of depth missing from the plot a majority of the time.

[Heidi Amar · Rating 2 out of 5]

ولأن الرجل الابيض الرأسمالي لا ينظر سوى بعدسة الكليشيهات، عندما يتعلق الأمر بتعيين حارس أمن فانه يتطلع دوماً لتوظيف الرجل الأسود لما يشاع عن قوته ووفرة صحته، لذا استغل أوسيري بطل الرواية _أفريقي جاء إلى فرنسا بطريقة غير قانوية_ هذه النظرة العنصرية عن أصحاب البشرة السوداء وقرر الالتحاق بوظيفة حارس أمن في أحد المتاجر الفارهة في الشانزليزيه.

يصف البطل ما يراه من ردود أفعال المتسوقين خلال فترة عمله، صار بإمكانه التفريق بين كل زبون وأخر وما يحتاجه.

انطباعات ومشاهدات عشوائية، بلا حبكة أو أحداث تجبرك على إكمال الرواية، كان ممكن تكون أفضل بكثير إذا كتبت بعناية أكثر.

رواية ترضي شغف محبي التسوق والنميمة.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't usually include an acknowledgements section in my book reviews, but in this case it is merited. My thanks to the dedicated librarian at Edinburgh Central who tracked down Standing Heavy for me. It was listed in the catalogue as available on the fiction shelves, but I couldn't find it anywhere under G. Then I wondered if it had been shelved under the translator's name, or under Z, but neither proved to be the case. So I consulted a librarian, who went searching behind the scenes while I browsed for 15 minutes... They returned in triumph with the very book, which had gone astray somewhere behind the scenes and never actually been shelved. I was very grateful.

I'm pleased to say that Standing Heavy proved worth the effort required to find it. This short novel contemplates the working lives of multiple generations of Black security guards in Paris. The style is playful and deals deftly with big themes like immigration, race, gender, and consumerism. There are many vignettes from the working day of a security guard, for example:

CRUDE OIL AND ALPHA-KERATIN

In his two weeks working as a security guard, no Black woman has come into the shop with natural hair. They all have wigs, weaves, and hair extensions made from synthetic fibres derived from the oil industry. Crude oil, the primary source of global energy, is the result of anaerobic decay of all prehistoric organic matter that has accumulated deep beneath the Earth's crust. Black women wear fossil fuels on their heads.

The security guard spots a Black woman with a long, flowing mane of hair that falls to her waist. Such a hairstyle required at least a tribe of Tyrannosaurs to rot and decay.

These observations cohere into a vivid picture of the security guard's job and form a substantial portion of the novel. I liked the deadpan wit and eye for detail in these sections. There are also longer chapters giving more background on the main characters, Ossiri, Kassoum, and Ferdinand, including how they became security guards. I enjoyed their narrative voices; it was interesting to hear from a profession that is almost socially invisible. Gauz has an excellent eye for detail. I was particularly amused by this observation of the Sephora salesman nicknamed the Town Crier, who uses the language of 1968 to hawk expensive perfumes:

Next week he will be working the Givenchy concession. His spiel will begin, "Be realistic, demand the impossible..." With his bible of student slogans from '68, in theory he could carry on for months. But the security guard remains sceptical; he cannot believe the Town Crier will extol the virtues of Dior with "Down with the carcass of Stalinism". Or Yves Saint Laurent with "Art is dead, don't eat its corpse". Let alone Kenzo with "The barricade blocks the street but opens the way."

Standing Heavy is a witty, vivid, and original little novel. I really enjoyed it.

[Yann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dans ce roman écrit par Gauz, un franco-ivoiriens, nous suivons en parallèle la vie professionnelle d'un vigile d'origine ivoirienne dans la capitale, en particulier dans les boutiques de luxe des Champs-Élysées, et une évocation à grosse maille de l'histoire post-coloniale des relations franco-africaines lors des dernières décennies.

La vie de vigile n'est pas une sinécure: il faut rester debout (d'où le titre, debout-payé), aux aguets, surveiller les clients aux profils suspects, leur faire peur avec un regard insistant et froid, voir leur courir après s'il leur arrive de jouer les filles de l'air avec des articles non payés. Tout cela au milieu d'une ambiance d’hyper-consommation assommante: musique dionysiaque et bachique, clips érotico-flamboyants et hystérie collective sont de la partie pour pousser aux achats la foule qui se presse.

Évidemment, comme cette activité n'est pas spécialement stimulante d'un point de vue du contact humain, il faut bien que l'esprit ait quelque chose à se mettre sous la dent pour ne pas s'étioler: la surveillance des clients devient observation des personnes, l'observation fournit de la matière au jugement, et le jugement s'attache au bizarre et à l'extravagant, ce qui ne manque pas de se présenter dans l'ambiance cosmopolite et bariolée d'un magasin d'une grande capitale mondiale. Aussi, le livre est composé d'un ensemble d'observations sous forme d'épigrammes qui hésitent entre le dénigrement, la généralité et la stupéfaction, mi goguenarde, mi blasée.

Les souvenirs du narrateur donnent également des points de vue subjectifs au travers d'évocation de faits d'histoire récente. Tout ça semble diablement authentique et sonne vrai. Alors ? C'est plutôt pas mal, je ne me suis pas ennuyé, mais de mon point de vue, je n'ai pas non plus eu le sentiment d'apprendre grand chose, ni de découvrir un monde inconnu ou étrange: c'est bien ce monde dans lequel je vis et que je connais qu'il décrit.

[Malise · Rating 1 out of 5]

'Standing Heavy' is truly the worst book I've put myself through this year. I can't even figure out who the intended audience for this book is but it comes across as elitist fiction filled to the brim with bitterness and hatred.
It's almost as if GauZ has gone out to a shopping center to fill up his mundane little life and gone people-watching in some cafe, clearly been bullied at school or something, and has just decided to write down every nasty thought he's ever had about people (specifically women) walking past. Then to make matters worse went, "Oh, I've done this for a long time so now I have 160 pages worth of this stuff, let's publish it!"

Nothing was enjoyable about this book, except for when it ended. I have no idea what the International Booker judges were thinking this year and WHO on the panel is the one campaigning for this book to have made it on the list.

[Adam McPhee · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a bit of this that's just a list of aphorisms and trivia about the job and just as it starts going on for a bit too long you realize this is how the guard is killing time at work. I thought that was a really clever trick.

[Lou · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘Ossiri was no-one to anyone, and to everyone he was no-one’

A very clever, poetic book by Gauz. Many truths not often spoken freely. Written in 2014, we ate lucky this was translated and nominated for The International Booker or so many of us would have missed this.

[Pedro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un marfileño en París
Una novela bien armada, con la inteligencia y la profundidad de análisis de Gauz, ya conocida en Camarada Papá, y con un plus de cuota de humor. Muy buena.

[Ulysse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Step inside the mind of a security guard at Sephora les Champs Elysées for a few hours and see what he sees.

Code-barres

Un code-barres est tatoué sur le cou d'une jeune fille. Grande tentation de lui passer le pistolet à infrarouge de la caisse pour savoir combien elle coute.

Tatouages

Sur le cou, son tatouage aux traits fins et précis représente un lotus qui a le même graphisme que "Lotus", la marque de papier hygiénique. Avec sa peau très pale, c'est un peu comme si elle avait un rouleau de PQ coincé entre la tête et les épaules.

Rebelle

Une femme intégralement voilée porte un petit panier dans lequel est posée la bouteille de parfum "Lady Rebel" de Mango.

Biologie du vigile

Ténesme impérieux...Une heure avant la pause, cette violente envie de pisser.

[Cleo · Rating 4 out of 5]

After getting used to the fragmentary nature of the narrative, I really began to enjoy this book, though I can understand why some people wouldn't. It's poetic, dry (sometimes to a fault), and includes a smorgasbord of characters in a way instantly recognisable to anyone who has worked in a customer service position. Would recommend!

[Anika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hier stehen die "Wartelöhner" im Vordergrund: Jene Menschen aus den ehemaligen französischen Kolonien in Afrika, die in Frankreich auf ein besseres Leben hoffen, dort aber vor allem als Sicherheitsmenschen in Luxushops wartend und stehend ihre Zeit verbringen. Gauz' Schreibe ist äußerst amüsant, trotz der schweren Themen, die hier nicht ausgespart werden: Das ist schlaue und gleichzeitig unterhaltsame Kapitalismus- und Kolonialismuskritik aus ivorischer Sicht.

Mehr zum Buch in unserer ausführlichen Besprechung @ Papierstau Podcast: Folge 256: International Booker Prize 2023

[Smriti · Rating 4 out of 5]

you know what? this wasn't that bad. i came into this book thinking that it was going to be the worst because everyone was saying so but it was alright.

i felt like the parts where we got random snippets of what a security guard was thinking was sort of unnecessary. but the bits where we got to know the three different security guards were really onto something. if we got a little more of that, then this would have been quite a good read.

you can check out all my thoughts about this book & the other international booker shortlisted books here: https://youtu.be/RJcYZ6Chcsw

[Rahul Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This International-Booker Shortlisted book was an interesting and a refreshing read. Experimental in its structure, the book has a lot to deliver in terms of both its contents and the form. The cover of the book is eerily suggestive of Orwell's '1984'-Big Brother whose creepy eyes are on everyone mercilessly. Here, Gauz' has upturned the Orwellian gaze to let the readers on in the world of three men from Côte d'Ivorie in a white country, who, ironically, work as security guards at public spaces. We see the journey of these three immigrant spread across different era in the global history. First, there's Ferdinand in the 1960s who's ready to take over the world to become somebody. Next, there's Ossiri and Kassoum in the 1990s who are going to see their lives change because the world would never be the same again after a tragic incident. And last, the present (the original novel in French was out in 2014), the 2010s, omniscient eyes of contemporary guard at Sephora. The first scene of the book is one that's not left my mind at all. The black men taking the stairs like climbing a mountain is an image that has persisted throughout the book: in perfect subtlety, I must say. The book is replete with such observant and thoughtful imageries and metaphors that can surprise you but at the same time, lodge its intent clearly in your mind. So much of the story has been conveyed through this, and expertly so in Wynne's translation. My favourite thing about this book was- its humour. Despite being a difficult story to read, the author has released the tension and let the plot flow seamlessly through his brilliant sense-of-humour (Watch out for the section on Sephora!). Its cleverness of prose and style immediately reminded me of Barnes' 'England, England' and Diaz's 'Trust'. The cauldron of emotions simmering beneath the shifting structure kept me hooked to the book until I reached the very end. When you reach the end, you realise, there's no fitting end to it, really. The ways in which the form has carried the story keeps the plot alive and I think that's the achievement of this book. How it manages to play with form and structure to deliver a story about guards so uniquely! Needless to say, I strongly recommend this Shortlisted novel, if you have liked Orwell, Diaz, or Severance.

[Tripfiction · Rating 3 out of 5]

Novel of security guarding in PARIS



The title takes its name from the vocabulary of the security guard – and here, it is a look at the lives of the undocumented workers from the Côte d’Ivoire, who work in the security industry across Paris. It looks back to the 1960s from more or less the present day.

There are snapshots of observations, of the nationalities who pass through metal detector gates at Sephora, amusingly differentiating the responses of the different nationalities when the alarm is triggered. Clothes labels are detailed, sizes, customer idiosyncrasies and the shopping vibe.

The rhythm of the story varies. After a series of short paragraphs, each titled with a snappy headline, there is a series of longer passages, detailing the lives of the guards back at their lodgings and how they come to negotiate the city. It is clear that the Parisian economy couldn’t manage without their contribution.

I can see that the book endeavours to inform, in an insightful and amusing way.Alberto Prunetti is quoted on the back cover: “A pataphysical ethnography of consumer society written with exemplary critical humour” Hmm. I had to consult the dictionary to understand that one.

I guess as a cohesive book, it didn’t really work for me. It is beautifully translated, it is thought provoking about the lives of the incomers, but I just couldn’t connect - I breezed through and struggled really to take much away from the reading experience – apart from a short immersion in good prose.

I also wonder about the wisdom of printing the book in what have become the Ukrainian colours of yellow and blue. I checked the flag of the Côte d’Ivoire (assuming it maybe too sported blue and yellow) but comprises orange, white and green. I guess the cover design took place well before the Russian invasion of Ukraine…. At least I now know what the flag of the Côte d’Ivoire looks like.

[Stacia · Rating 4 out of 5]

While it may feel light & easy to read, it's really anything but. There's bite underneath (as there should be). Bravo!

[Khai Jian (KJ) · Rating 3 out of 5]

"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."

Standing Heavy (written in French by debut Ivoirian author Gauz' and translated by Frank Wynne, the chair judge of last year's International Booker Prize) consists of 2 main narrative structures. The First Narrative Structure: consists of perhaps 3 interconnected stories where we follow the POVs of Ferdinand (who arrived in Paris from Côte d'Ivoire in the early 1970s, i.e. the Bronze Age), Ossiri (who arrived in Paris as an undocumented immigrant in the 1990s, i.e. the Golden Age of immigration) and Kassoum (where, as an undocumented immigrant, he experienced a huge change after the 911 incident). The Second Narrative Structure: consists mainly of the observations of unnamed security guards working in Sephora on the Champs-Élysées.

The First Narrative Structure touches on aspects of French historical events such as the death of President Georges Pompidou, the 1973 oil crisis, the French Presidential Elections in 1974, and the Sans-Papiers Movement which resulted in the expulsion of approximately 25,000 illegal immigrants. This part is definitely an eye-opening reading experience as I am not familiar with the long history of France's long history of immigration. However, I do note that there is a lack of coherency between the 3 "short stories". The Second Narrative Structure is the more interesting one for me. Consisting of snippets of observations by security guards at Sephora, Gauz' explored themes of consumerism, racism, classism, the East and West cultural dichotomy, and consumer habits based on race and culture. The observations are witty, sharp, and unapologetic. The dark humor and satitical elements somehow remind me of Viet Thanh Nguyen and Aravind Adiga's writing style: "'%' like a cock nestled between a pair of balls, the symbol '%' printed on the countless banners that hang from the false ceilings, hovers above the heads of all these women aroused by sale prices"; "In front of the shopping mall, a pot-bellied old man in traditional Hindu dress stands ramrod straight, holding a sign: "Rose of Kashmir, Indian and Pakistani dishes." In Paris, the Kashmiri struggle for independence has been transformed into a rose simply by putting India and Pakistan on the same plate. Mahatma Gandhi would have loved the Champs-Élysées"; "Seven seconds, including the time needed to enter the PIN, this is how long it takes the HSBC ATM on the Champs-Élysées to spit out twenty euros. It takes forty-three seconds for Credit Lyonnais on the rue Louis-Bonnet in Belleville to perform the same task! On the Champs-Élysées, money is quickly dispensed, and just as quickly expensed...In poor neighbourhoods, even the cash machines are reluctant to hand over cash". While the Second Narrative Structure is a more effective one to me, I also note that there is another lack of coherency between the First Narrative Structure and the Second Narrative Structure as both read like separate novellas. I would still applaud Gauz' for attempting something different as he is perhaps penning down his personal experience as an undocumented student who worked as a security guard in Paris before returning to Côte d'Ivoire. Standing Heavy is a 3.5/5 star rating to me and an interesting addition to the shortlist of the 2023 International Booker Prize.

[Rachel Louise Atkin · Rating 2 out of 5]

International Booker book 3. This is more of a 2.5 to be honest but I’m just not sure how I feel about this novel. It’s about three generations of men who become security guards but it’s told with alternating prose sections and then these weird choppy poem-like bits. I found the fragmentary parts a lot more interesting than the prose bits as these just seemed to drag on and on.

Ultimately this book is about French political culture, especially Black and Muslim people living in France. I really liked the section on the end where the security guard watches 9/11 happen and muses on how his position of power in his career will change. There were also some really fun bits of satire on consumerism in this as well which I enjoyed.

This is a book which I think does and symbolises more when discussed and reflected upon rather than when reading it. I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it but there is so much to talk about how it used structure and satire.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

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 Time Shelter 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.

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

[Tutankhamun18 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This short novel follows Ferdinand, Ossiri and Kassoum across two generations of Ivorians and their decision t become security guards in France in the 1960s-2000s, right up until 9/11. The book jumps between narrative chapters of prose depicting their lives, particularly their experiences in getting their positions as security guards, coming to France and setting about creating their lives and chapters that read like theatre notes or character descriptions focusing on the customers of a Sephora store with security guards, tourists, teenagers, other employees and other members of the public. It is funny, sets you in a time and place with skill, makes you care about what the fate of the characters will be and gives an insight into the effects of 9/11 on certain African immigrants to France (Europe). I enjoyed this immensely, read it fast, would re-read and definitely recommend.

[Sonali V · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't write about this book because so many different thoughts kept tumbling through my mind. Paris from the perspective of immigrants - illegal and otherwise, working as security guards and in other service industry jobs, is a different city. The high end shops where the rich from different countries come to shop, the products on offer, are so far removed from those who guard them. These people come from former colonies in the hope of a better life obviously but are ground down by the reality. Which brought thoughts of what I had grown up witnessing, people in my country after partition and again after the Bangladesh war, seeking refuge, working hard at jobs they had never thought they'd have to do, living in places where they would never otherwise have lived, helplessly having to put up with cruel remarks about their accent, their food, their manners which naturally had regional differences. Somehow all of those memories surfaced as I read this book. My admiration for the courage, perseverance and steadfastness that immigrants/refugees show is very deep.

[Bladelor · Rating 4 out of 5]

C'est un livre estampillé "roman" sur la couverture, mais en réalité il n'a pas grand-chose d'un roman.

Dans ce texte, l'auteur d'origine ivoirienne revient sur son expérience de vigile, profession qu'il a exercée à Paris à son arrivée en France. Le texte est construit sur une alternance de courts paragraphes et de véritables chapitres. Les premiers sont des sortes de brèves, réflexions du vigile pendant qu'il est à son poste, ou récits de situations incongrues qu'il a vécues. Les derniers retracent l'Histoire de la communauté africaine en France entre les années 60 et 90 tout en conservant le thème central du livre, à savoir le métier de vigile.

Debout-payé, ceux qui sont payés pour rester debout, il fallait y penser, à ce titre, et surtout à raconter la vie de ces hommes invisibles et pourtant présent dans de nombreux lieux publics, grands magasins et administrations.

C'est un ouvrage drôle avec son ton résolument humoristique (parfois acide, aussi), mais aussi très intéressant à lire parce qu'il dépeint un monde inconnu (en tout cas pour moi) et étonnant.

On y apprend une multitude de détails sur le quotidien des vigiles, de leur embauche à l'exercice même de leur job. Les longues journées passées debout, l'ennui, les situations cocasses, parfois de l'action, le milieu africain (car, nous apprend Gauz, la majorité des vigiles sont noirs et originaires d'Afrique).
Tout cela est présenté avec beaucoup de verve, et remarquablement écrit. Une chose est sure, je ne verrai jamais plus les vigiles du même oeil !

RADIO CAMAÏEU. C'est la musique diffusée à longueur de journée dans le magasin. Avec Radio Camaïeu, en moyenne sur 10 chansons, 7 sont chantées par des femmes, 2 en duo avec un homme, une seule par un homme. A raison de 3 minutes par chanson, soit 20 chansons à l'heure, le vigile tourne à 120 horreurs sonores en 6 heures de vacation. La pause est une grande avancée syndicale.

FESSES DROITES. Bien qu'on puisse en dégager quelques grands groupes, la forme des fesses est aussi unique qu'une empreinte digitale. Quand le vigile se met à penser à ce qui se passerait dans les commissariats si c'était ce système d'identification qui avait été choisi par les pouvoirs publics.

SEPHORAAAA OU SEPHOOOORA. Le Sephora des Champs-Elysées est l'un des plus grands du monde. En arrivant ou en passant devant la boutique, il est très fréquent d'entendre les gens s'écrier à haute voix comme s'ils venaient de voir une vieille connaissance dans les bras de laquelle ils allaient se jeter : "Sephoraaaaa !", version française. "Oh my god ! Sephoooora !", version anglaise.

CODE-BARRES. Un code-barres est tatoué sur le cou d'une jeune fille. Grande tentation de lui passer le pistolet à infrarouges de la caisse pour savoir combien elle coûte.