Everything that Stands

2 reviews for Everything that Stands

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Rodney Moss – February 2, 2024

   This is a very worthy debut novel exploring, against the background of the Rhodesian revolutionary war, the rich interior lives of twin brothers, Baron and Blaise Black, survivors of the Hunyani passenger plane crash. The text tracks their journey through the African bush on one level and, on another, it debunks a conventional form of storytelling, embracing the metamodern preference for ambiguity and paradox, in a more passionate multi-layered, and consequently less cynical mode of narration.

   The spiritual and the theological, too, is understood, as a world in transition. Unlike classical theology, theopoetics is more than rational abstraction. It is a lived experience, having a form that is verbal, visual, and sensual. For Baron and Blaise, theology and the spiritual are more than ways to think about the divine, they are central to their humanity.

   The theopoetic influence is discernible in the ‘spiritual’ interaction between the brothers in rapid-fire conversations, particularly on the book of Job. Here it becomes clearer that the rational is only one of the ways to consider divine-human interaction. There is an uncertainty regarding the divine workings, unresolved, yet a creative articulation that keeps spiritual discourse vibrant and relevant in the brothers’ search for God in the present moment. Thus, the metamodern, theopoetic impulse which lies at the core of the text unknowingly and ironically enlightens the brothers in their personal self-discoveries. Fewer answers, more questions, deeper discovery.

   In conclusion Holt’s deeply creative and explorative novel develops a metamodern approach to artistic expression and indeed spirituality in advocating a position between modernist objective truth, universal rationality and autonomous individuality, and a relativistic form of postmodernism or contextualism. A commendable achievement.

   Rodney L Moss
   Retired Associate Professor of Theology
   St. Augustine College of South Africa

2. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   J. Couve de Murville | English Lecturer | University of Hildesheim – February 27, 2024

   Jeremy Holt recently published his first novel Everything That Stands.

   While reading my copy one question often popped into mind: “who will read this book?”
   I have three suggestions.

   First, those who have personally interacted with Jeremy, in the sphere of education, sport – particularly rugby, or perhaps other social settings. People who know the man, and would like to meet the author.

   Second, people interested in prominent topics that define this novel, particularly relevant to Southern Africa: Zimbabwe and South Africa in particular. These are literature, language, landscape, history and an awareness of the present moment. The questions of how to overcome challenging times, of how social development in Africa should include considerations of time, place, belonging and involvement in collective identities and institutions; these are embedded in the fabric of this work. People who hold dearly onto this corner of Africa, or who would like to learn more about it.

   Third, those who enjoy being challenged, and who appreciate the chance to think about difficult questions. That this is a work of metafiction is evident. There are passages of text which take the reader on a journey through poetry, metaphor and visual language, and ultimately to philosophy, opening up questions neither quick nor easy to answer. There is clearly a story to be told, a fictional tale based on factual events, but the story’s progression carries deep and profound insights, exchanges, and paradoxes of being to be wrestled with. People who like a good think, and to think about the meaning of humanity.

   At this stage all I can add is I look forward to further works by JH. His first novel a page turner; a book inviting readers to think beyond words on the page.