Student Blogs

There are many things I liked about this book and I will attempt to mention them all. Firstly, I enjoyed that I was reading two stories simultaneously, guided by the different font I found my mind to almost switch to the story I’m about to get into and what I’m visualizing instantly changed. One moment I was reading fragmented memories of a childhood torn apart by confusion and fear and another moment I was transported into a horrible place where no one has control over their fate, people leading lives that are also guided by confusion and fear. 

The fragmented memories of childhood were sometimes hard to follow, but Perec repeatedly reminded us that the stories he was telling were a mix of truth and imagination. This is an important lesson to learn, our memories are more often than not, flawed and incomplete. There’s a lot of power in realizing that. Of course, reading this book I was compelled to think back about my own childhood. All these things that I “remembered”, how much of it is real? Those photographs  that I look at and make up stories about their backgrounds, did any of it happen the way I think? Probably not. 

I was more intrigued by reading about the horrible place Perec called W. The more I read about it, the scarier it became and the more I wanted to continue reading. The worst thing a person can go through is a life of uncertainty, where laws are unclear, fear predominates and there is nothing they can do to dictate their fate. It was difficult reading the fate of children who are taught nothing about ‘the world’ or even their world. It was difficult reading about the fate of women and how they were either killed at birth or used for conception, rape was a part of their existance. The adolescents who were thrown into this world essentially getting tortured without reason. And eventually the ‘athletes’ and their miserable lives and deaths. The writing was impactful and I don’t believe the images I’ve conjured up in my head of W would be going anywhere. 

Although a very emotional book, I found it easy to read. Part because the writing was clear and easy to follow and part because it was two stories at once. I’m wondering if other people thought the fact that there were two stories a positive or a negative thing? Did you look forward to one of them more than the other?

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There are many things I liked about this book and I will attempt to mention them all. Firstly, I enjoyed that I was reading two stories simultaneously, guided by the different font I found my mind to almost switch to the story I’m about to get into and what I’m visualizing instantly changed. One moment I was reading fragmented memories of a childhood torn apart by confusion and fear and another moment I was transported into a horrible place where no one has control over their fate, people leading lives that are also guided by confusion and fear. 

The fragmented memories of childhood were sometimes hard to follow, but Perec repeatedly reminded us that the stories he was telling were a mix of truth and imagination. This is an important lesson to learn, our memories are more often than not, flawed and incomplete. There’s a lot of power in realizing that. Of course, reading this book I was compelled to think back about my own childhood. All these things that I “remembered”, how much of it is real? Those photographs  that I look at and make up stories about their backgrounds, did any of it happen the way I think? Probably not. 

I was more intrigued by reading about the horrible place Perec called W. The more I read about it, the scarier it became and the more I wanted to continue reading. The worst thing a person can go through is a life of uncertainty, where laws are unclear, fear predominates and there is nothing they can do to dictate their fate. It was difficult reading the fate of children who are taught nothing about ‘the world’ or even their world. It was difficult reading about the fate of women and how they were either killed at birth or used for conception, rape was a part of their existance. The adolescents who were thrown into this world essentially getting tortured without reason. And eventually the ‘athletes’ and their miserable lives and deaths. The writing was impactful and I don’t believe the images I’ve conjured up in my head of W would be going anywhere. 

Although a very emotional book, I found it easy to read. Part because the writing was clear and easy to follow and part because it was two stories at once. I’m wondering if other people thought the fact that there were two stories a positive or a negative thing? Did you look forward to one of them more than the other?

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Much like my post on Black Shack Alley, I will format my post according to the parts of the book. I’ll also be updating this as I move through each part before I do a brief concluding reflection at the end.   Reflection on Part I Unfortunately, I do not have quite as much to […] read full post >>

The text W, or the Memory of Childhood by Georges Perec, is multiple different stories that are woven together in which the reader has to make sense of the novel. To begin with, the novel itself was incredibly confusing for me. I found that while the novel’s content was interesting, I was left confused from […] read full post >>

While reading Georges Perec’s W or The Memory of Childhood, I specifically felt parallels with “Combray”. In “Combray”, the narrator reflects on his past, with the perspective he has in his present; in this way, his reflection of the past reconstructs his present, and offers a change to his future. Similarly, in W or The […] read full post >>

Although I thought that this ended up being a great book, I didn’t particularly like the writing style that this book was done in. The double narration sometimes made story details and characters feel blurred together between the two stories that were being told. This made it very hard for me to become interested and […] read full post >>

It was interesting to read the beginning of the book about the French translation, and as a French speaker myself I was able to fully comprehend (or at least I think I could) what was being explained on page 6 of the introductory pages. In French, the letter W is “double-vé” meaning double letter v, …

Continue reading "The “Double Life” in Perec’s “W, or the Memory of Childhood”"

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This novel was unlike any novel I’ve read before, from the alternating narratives to the magical realism to the truths revealed of the unreliability and significance of childhood and memory. To begin with, I have always loved the use of repetition as a poetic tool, and Perec’s use of lists in the early chapters of […] read full post >>

This reading was a little easier and fun for me because of the dual narrative. I personally find it easier... read full post >>

This weeks reading originally was very hard for me to follow, and I found I actually had to restart twice to be able to form the proper differentiation between the two narratives. However, once I grasped the back and forth I found Perec’s work very enjoyable and insightful. It got me thinking a lot about […] read full post >>

With two narratives being told in alternating chapters, I felt a bit lost at times while reading Georges Perec’s W, or the Memory of Childhood. I personally found that the switches between the fictional story of W and Perec’s memoir sections to be a bit disruptive and made it difficult to maintaining the flow of reading. There […] read full post >>

This week while reading “W or The Memory of Childhood” by Georges Perec, I felt as if I was reading someone’s personal diary mixed with some odd dark version of the Olympics. I found it a bit difficult to follow the two narratives (especially with the copious amount of footnotes) but as the book went … Continue reading "Thoughts on Perec’s W or The Memory of Childhood" read full post >>

W, or the Memory of Childhood is kind of a confusing book that is open for many interpretations. The fact that it was a story written with different narratives and storylines was something I had not read that often, which was kind of interesting. I can absolutely see the postmodern influence of Perec’s writing all […] read full post >>

This week’s reading of W or The Memory of Childhood was reflective and insightful about the author's experience. At the start of the book, I was confused for a while about the significance of the second story about Gaspard Winkler, but as the story of W progressed I was able to start comparing it to Perec’s experience.  I loved the style the author wrote this novel in. The autobiography paired with the fictional island of W gave the text different elements that provide the reader more to think about. 

The narration from Perec’s perspective showed fragments of his childhood memories. He lost both of his parents to World War II at a very young age. I think the trauma caused him to repress his memories as he was often not sure about all the specifics in his own memories. A lot of the language in this narrative was hesitant, words like vague, hazy, and many I don’t remember or I don’t recall. The author says it himself on page 68, “What marks this period especially is the absence of landmarks: these memories are scraps of life snatched from the void. No mooring. Nothing to anchor them or hold them down. Almost no way of ratifying them. No sequence in time, except as I have reconstructed it arbitrarily  over the years.”

In the second narrative the army deserter, Gaspard Winckler journeys to the island W, where a brutal version of the Olympic games takes place. This story combined with Perec’s life story highlights the fight for survival so many people, Perec included had to face. The brutality and cruelty in these games, I think, are somewhat of a metaphor for the concentration camps and the treatment of the Jewish people along with the other prisoners held by the Nazis. While reading about the W it seems impossible or only fiction for a society to function as this one does. I was slow to understand why it was even in this book, but from the middle, towards the end, it became clear that W was referencing power relations and the extent of oppression groups of people can be shown by other groups. On the last page, the excerpt from David Rousset’s Univers concentrationnaire we see that the harsh reality Perec illustrates in the fictional W is taken directly from real events. 

My question for the class is: How does comparing the conditions faced in WW2 to W help Perec or the reader process these events?

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This week’s reading of W or The Memory of Childhood was reflective and insightful about the author's experience. At the start of the book, I was confused for a while about the significance of the second story about Gaspard Winkler, but as the story of W progressed I was able to start comparing it to Perec’s experience.  I loved the style the author wrote this novel in. The autobiography paired with the fictional island of W gave the text different elements that provide the reader more to think about. 

The narration from Perec’s perspective showed fragments of his childhood memories. He lost both of his parents to World War II at a very young age. I think the trauma caused him to repress his memories as he was often not sure about all the specifics in his own memories. A lot of the language in this narrative was hesitant, words like vague, hazy, and many I don’t remember or I don’t recall. The author says it himself on page 68, “What marks this period especially is the absence of landmarks: these memories are scraps of life snatched from the void. No mooring. Nothing to anchor them or hold them down. Almost no way of ratifying them. No sequence in time, except as I have reconstructed it arbitrarily  over the years.”

In the second narrative the army deserter, Gaspard Winckler journeys to the island W, where a brutal version of the Olympic games takes place. This story combined with Perec’s life story highlights the fight for survival so many people, Perec included had to face. The brutality and cruelty in these games, I think, are somewhat of a metaphor for the concentration camps and the treatment of the Jewish people along with the other prisoners held by the Nazis. While reading about the W it seems impossible or only fiction for a society to function as this one does. I was slow to understand why it was even in this book, but from the middle, towards the end, it became clear that W was referencing power relations and the extent of oppression groups of people can be shown by other groups. On the last page, the excerpt from David Rousset’s Univers concentrationnaire we see that the harsh reality Perec illustrates in the fictional W is taken directly from real events. 

My question for the class is: How does comparing the conditions faced in WW2 to W help Perec or the reader process these events?

read full post >>