![]() Courtesy of the International Booker Prize Reviewed by Berny Sèbe Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov, translated by Angela Rodel Author Georgi Gospodinov and the Time Shelter book jacket. Standing Heavy delivers a powerful invitation to reflect upon the multiple meanings of “postcolonial France” and the Franco-African relationship, 60 years after the “end of Empire”. This second generation has to make ends meet through low paid, tedious and racially profiled jobs – such as security guards in shops or emptied factories like the Grand Moulins de Paris in the novel. With the sharpness of an Ivorian coupé-décalé song, GauZ’ offers evocative glimpses into the life of African migrants in France, from the first generation who could set up their own businesses to the later wave, most of whom have been denied legal immigrant status. Using the story and observations of an undocumented Ivorian migrant in Paris, it digs into the rich, complex and often fraught relationship between France and its former African colonies. 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. GauZ’ has penned a razor-like examination of consumerism from the standpoint of a security guard in the Champs-Elysées branch of a famous chain of perfume retailers. Reviewed by Kaye Mitchell Standing Heavy by GauZ’, translated by Frank Wynne Author GauZ’ and the Standing Heavy book jacket. Boulder picks apart the piety of motherhood and delivers a heroine whose wildness leaves her always giddily yearning for escape. This is a love “that grows like brambles, strangles the furniture, and girds the walls”. In densely metaphorical prose, Baltasar handles romance with an unsentimental boldness. This is a rich and surprising novel about desire, freedom and domesticity, which follows the merchant ship cook Boulder as she struggles to navigate the new terrain of a settled life with a partner intent on having a child. She’s nicknamed, by her girlfriend, after “those large, solitary rocks in southern Patagonia, pieces of world left over after creation, isolated and exposed to every element”. ![]() With a poetic intensity that oscillates between the fiercely carnal and a stark abstraction, Eva Baltasar immerses the reader in the consciousness of her protagonist, “Boulder”. Courtesy of the International Booker Prizeīoulder is a gripping, discomfiting novel of potent language and uncompromising moral certitude. Reviewed by Gemma Ballard Boulder by Eva Baltasar, translated by Julia Sanches Author Eva Baltasar and the book jacket for Boulder. ![]() Whale provides an unflinching look at two contrasting portraits of national identity in the era of Korean modernisation – equally valid, yet highly oppositional. Her daughter meanwhile, the mute Chunhui, has a deep spiritual connection with the natural environment and this is used to fondly recall the traditions of the past. Her ambition and gradual acquisition of material luxury are indicative of Korea’s shift towards capitalism. The rags to riches journey of protagonist Geumbok is reminiscent of a Dickensian epic. Rather than focus explicitly on these episodes – the Korean War, US occupation and military dictatorships, for instance – Whale tells its grand national narrative on a smaller human scale. Set largely in the remote village of Pyeongdae, the dreamlike story of Whale is punctuated by satirical references to historical events that mark the seismic social shifts that transformed South Korea into a modern state in the 20th century. Reviewed by Leighan Renaud Whale by Cheon Myeong-kwan, translated by Chi-Young Kim Author Cheon Myeong-kwan and the Whale book jacket. I was unsure of what to expect, but I found Condé’s novel charming and full of heart. It engages with questions of belief, philosophy and politics, and brings together a range of captivating characters from across the New World as Pascal grapples with his reputation as a new Messiah. The novel, translated from French to English by Condé’s husband Richard Philcox, is full of wit, humour and allusion. ![]() He travels the earth looking for his biological father and grapples with questions about his own purpose – a journey that closely mirrors that of Jesus in the New Testament. What follows is Pascal’s journey to himself. ![]()
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