Heavy Souls

Reviews

"Iva Hadj Moussa’s novel Heavy Souls (...) tackles perhaps the most common theme in contemporary Czech literature, the generational conflict between zoomers and boomers. Iva Hadj Moussa is by far one of the most perceptive observers in this subject area.

The novel reflects and resonates with a multitude of texts, motifs, settings, ideas and generational/gender insights that saturate this reflection of contemporary society, but at the same time she remains herself and, it has to be said, she is a very distinctive author. This distinctiveness does not mean some kind of indigestible peculiarity, but quite the reverse –  it is an extremely readable and funny thing, which we are eagerly waiting to see made into a film!"

A2larm

 

"Iva Hadj Moussa (...) has definitively established herself as a writer who perfectly combines a sense of empathy, hyperbole and a love of grindcore metal. (…)

In this story Hadj Moussa gives an outsider a second chance and lets him taste the joy of playing again. Music might be what brings the joy back into Johannes’s life despite the adversity, prejudice and even his own blunders in life. Heavy Souls is just the kind of reading that will make you feel better. And not just because it’s light-hearted, but rather because it is able to find hope – even in the most dismal music on the planet."

Jonáš Zbořil, Seznam zprávy

 

"The novel Heavy Souls, like many other contemporary prose works, deals with generational conflicts and family relationships. However, it does not focus on the worse aspects of human nature and the depiction of an environment in which the unreflected or unresolved traumas of all those involved flourish under the crust of “normality”. Quite the reverse, the emphasis is placed on the power of mutual communication, based on respect for the opinions of others, on the ability to reflect on one’s own mistakes and to forgive the mistakes of others. The stories of the characters in this novel are far from idyllic; instead of a dark atmosphere surrounding the revelation of the causes of family disintegration and anticipating upcoming disasters, the author chooses the path of perspective and humour.

(…)

The novel Heavy Souls is middlebrow literature written with a deft touch that will find its readership.

(…)

Iva Hadj Moussa touches on numerous social issues, whether up close or from afar, her texts always tending towards cautious hope."

Iveta Mikešová, Tvar

 

"Iva Hadj Moussa has no problems with her books being labelled “middlebrow”. This year, she published her latest novel, her best yet, Heavy Souls, and if every Czech book that sells well was written this way, we’d be living in literary paradise. If you haven’t read it yet, go ahead and pack it in your holiday suitcase. I haven’t read a more entertaining  book (that wasn’t superficial or run-of-the-mill at the same time) by a Czech writer in years."

Jakub Peřina, Týdeník Echo

 

"Can a humorous novel be sad? And what's it like to have a woman writing about men’s midlife crises? The novel Heavy Souls skilfully and entertainingly zigzags between numerous stereotypes. (...)

So whether we should read this as an ironically detached overview or not, Hadj Moussa has managed to capture the mentality, the aesthetic level and the feeling for life of an ageing hardcore music fan and protagonist in an unusually accurate and funny way, with all the stereotypes that come together with heavy metal and the midlife crisis.

(…) It is admirable how faithfully and accurately the author was able to capture the laddish bragging and pub talk that is generally only conducted in the presence of men."

Pavel Mandys, Iliteratura.cz

 

"This can perhaps hardly be referred to as some kind of groundbreaking work: it’s actually very decently written “consumer literature”, but with added value, i.e. undeniable empathy with heavy souls that can perhaps be lightened by heavy music – and a book written with a deft hand."

Jiří Peňás, Týdeník Echo

 

" [The author’s] prose is characterized by her gift for capturing the mentality and idiolect of characters from different generations and walks of life. In this way, she gradually composes a mosaic of problems and phenomena that resonate in contemporary society, and at the same time she expresses herself through her novels. (...) Her stories are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Or rather, their protagonists appear more and more believable and natural, which is due both to their authentic thinking and mode of expression and to the well-managed construction of the haphazard life situations they have to face."

Erik Gilk, A2

 

"Iva Hadj Moussa (...) writes authentically and wittily about present-day Czechia as few others ever do. Her most recent book is Heavy Souls, a novel about life’s transgressions, heavy metal and the clashes between boomers and the younger generation. Her distinctive narrative style, typical humour and highly contradictory chief character, whom she approaches with great feeling and empathy, have captivated readers and critics, who see her as the dark horse of Czech literature."

Petra Šroubek Pohlová, Lidové noviny

 

"The author was very successful at reproducing various types of musicians’ and pub chitchat (...)
It’s a fresh, pleasant read and here and there a cheerful one too."

Jakub Šofar, Výběr Salonu, Právo

 

"Hadj Moussa writes simply but not trivially. Between the lines, she manages to convey a sense of her characters’ bewilderment at the incomprehensibilities of the modern world.  She masterfully tells what is actually an ordinary story with a feeling for the characters’ emotions and psychology. It shares metallic undertones with A Demon from a Housing Estate / Démon ze sídliště, and darkness in family relationships with The Havíř House / Havířovina, but above all there is a lot of hope in the new novel, which makes us feel moved by this story of a grumpy old “dude”."

Irena Hejdová, Deník N