Student Blogs

Georges Perec’s novel, “W, or the Memory of Childhood” is an interesting mix of reality and imagination. I found the writing style to be quite similar to Proust’s and Aragon’s as Perec often jumped between different memories and thoughts. Something I found intriguing was how Perec describes the relationship between writing and the people from … Continue reading Week 8: Perec’s “W, or the Memory of Childhood” → read full post >>

For reasons that are not entirely within my grasp, W or the memory of childhood was one of my favorite reads this semester. The duality of the narratives and the two parts of the books had a unique sense of … Continue reading → read full post >>

 I love world-building in fiction. This doesn't necessarily mean the grand scope of Martin or Tolkien, or excruciating detail in location and set pieces, but rather the attention to the broader world that a story is set, and the development of systems within this world that echo our own. What most interested me in these two stories that Perec tells, was the specifics of W, and the sport-nation which he describes there.

I'd like to highlight some of the interesting things in this idea of a sport-obsessed world. First, there is a fantastical, mythical element about it: a secluded island where this athletic way of life is the only one. It is not far from our own way of living, where it is not only sport that is incredibly important (though it is often referred to in a religious sense, from the "Temple of Speed" at the Italian Grand Prix, to the "Hockey Gods" which are so often referenced by NHL media and fans), but also this sense of competition. Much of Western society is set up to compete by these same principles--for money, status or wealth. 

On the topic of capital, the sporting organization in W revolves around sport and makes it seem as bureaucratic and boring as finance and modern capitalism, where low-ranking officials of the Central Authority, divy up the national organization. The way the sport is described is so organized and rule-driven, it echoes the numeric quality of the capital denominations, rather than the creativity and brilliance that drives our own love of sport in reality oftentimes. 

I feel like this world borrows heavily from our own, but in a twisted sense, in that it takes something so beloved, but shows much of the less appealing sides of it, which ultimately also deliver to the reader some of the less appealing aspects of the remainder of society as well. It feels so capitalistic, bureaucratic, and dull, as opposed to romantic and glorious like the Olympiad we read about in myths. In terms of sport, I think this shows the beauty of the game itself, which as we move forward becomes more and more obscured by money. In terms of life, I think it highlights the competitive climate which our society builds in general.

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 I love world-building in fiction. This doesn't necessarily mean the grand scope of Martin or Tolkien, or excruciating detail in location and set pieces, but rather the attention to the broader world that a story is set, and the development of systems within this world that echo our own. What most interested me in these two stories that Perec tells, was the specifics of W, and the sport-nation which he describes there.

I'd like to highlight some of the interesting things in this idea of a sport-obsessed world. First, there is a fantastical, mythical element about it: a secluded island where this athletic way of life is the only one. It is not far from our own way of living, where it is not only sport that is incredibly important (though it is often referred to in a religious sense, from the "Temple of Speed" at the Italian Grand Prix, to the "Hockey Gods" which are so often referenced by NHL media and fans), but also this sense of competition. Much of Western society is set up to compete by these same principles--for money, status or wealth. 

On the topic of capital, the sporting organization in W revolves around sport and makes it seem as bureaucratic and boring as finance and modern capitalism, where low-ranking officials of the Central Authority, divy up the national organization. The way the sport is described is so organized and rule-driven, it echoes the numeric quality of the capital denominations, rather than the creativity and brilliance that drives our own love of sport in reality oftentimes. 

I feel like this world borrows heavily from our own, but in a twisted sense, in that it takes something so beloved, but shows much of the less appealing sides of it, which ultimately also deliver to the reader some of the less appealing aspects of the remainder of society as well. It feels so capitalistic, bureaucratic, and dull, as opposed to romantic and glorious like the Olympiad we read about in myths. In terms of sport, I think this shows the beauty of the game itself, which as we move forward becomes more and more obscured by money. In terms of life, I think it highlights the competitive climate which our society builds in general.

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Georges Perec's W, or the Memory of Childhood is a very interesting way of illustrating trauma. It had an unexpected and unnerving storyline. It was a semi-autobiographical work of post-modernist literature. One half of the story is fictional and follows a utopian olympic whilst the other is constructed of real childhood memories. The main character adapts the identity of Winkler to evade military service. The second part follows a mythical Olympics hosted on an island where the winners are idolized and the losers are tortured. At first it was hard to understand how the stories were connected. 

I found that this novel had me trying to piece together the story until the third story instalment. The land of W was an escape from the harsh realities of the world during the Holocaust. The island of W was a mirrored reality of what the author was enduring. It was a different type of retelling of the Holocaust. The fact that the island was called W is symbolic of double lives and how the narrator lived in both places at once (reality and imagination).  The island had strict rules and the fate of the people who lived there was uncertain. Those who won were rewarded and allowed to maintain their strength through the prizes, where the losers were malnourished and continually got weaker. This almost ensured that those who lost would continue to lose and be unable to change their fate. More important than skill, was luck. 

One part that really stood out to me was that the athletes on W were not known by names unless they were very famous, even then it was rare. All novices were known as novice or given nicknames by some of their physical characteristics. When I compare that to now, I feel as though that is a common practice to only know the names of some elites. Many people can name countless celebrities as they are idolized and therefore, well-known. In the story, I think the use of nicknames was meant to disassociate the human from the athlete. Therefore, when they were tortured, it seemed more humane considering that people were not known by their names. 

I found the use of Italics to be very interesting. Whenever something in the world of W was described, it was done so in Italics. It was a nice way to differentiate the stories without completely ruining the flow of the story. 

My question to the class is: What specific aspects of this story do you think can apply to our society?

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Georges Perec's W, or the Memory of Childhood is a very interesting way of illustrating trauma. It had an unexpected and unnerving storyline. It was a semi-autobiographical work of post-modernist literature. One half of the story is fictional and follows a utopian olympic whilst the other is constructed of real childhood memories. The main character adapts the identity of Winkler to evade military service. The second part follows a mythical Olympics hosted on an island where the winners are idolized and the losers are tortured. At first it was hard to understand how the stories were connected. 

I found that this novel had me trying to piece together the story until the third story instalment. The land of W was an escape from the harsh realities of the world during the Holocaust. The island of W was a mirrored reality of what the author was enduring. It was a different type of retelling of the Holocaust. The fact that the island was called W is symbolic of double lives and how the narrator lived in both places at once (reality and imagination).  The island had strict rules and the fate of the people who lived there was uncertain. Those who won were rewarded and allowed to maintain their strength through the prizes, where the losers were malnourished and continually got weaker. This almost ensured that those who lost would continue to lose and be unable to change their fate. More important than skill, was luck. 

One part that really stood out to me was that the athletes on W were not known by names unless they were very famous, even then it was rare. All novices were known as novice or given nicknames by some of their physical characteristics. When I compare that to now, I feel as though that is a common practice to only know the names of some elites. Many people can name countless celebrities as they are idolized and therefore, well-known. In the story, I think the use of nicknames was meant to disassociate the human from the athlete. Therefore, when they were tortured, it seemed more humane considering that people were not known by their names. 

I found the use of Italics to be very interesting. Whenever something in the world of W was described, it was done so in Italics. It was a nice way to differentiate the stories without completely ruining the flow of the story. 

My question to the class is: What specific aspects of this story do you think can apply to our society?

read full post >>

I found the concept of this novel really interesting. I’ve read other books that are similar in the way that they contain two books that eventually come together to form one narrative (for example, “The Starless Sea” by Erin Morgenstern), however, Perec’s novel is unique because it’s half biographical.  Overall, I found Perec’s biographical narrative […] read full post >>

Hi Everyone,  This week I decided to read some blog posts by you guys before writing my own. I found it really interesting to see that there was a large divide between people who enjoyed the ‘double story’ style of this novel and the people who found it confusing. I personally have a lot of […] read full post >>

blog#8 – the burden of Names — Georges Perec’s book ‘W, or The Memory of Childhood’ was by far the book with the most interesting formatting. (Out of the books that I’ve read for this class anyway). The two parallel stories and the switching back-and-forth took a lot of getting used to, and admittedly, I […] read full post >>

W, or the Memory of Childhood has been one of my favourite books this term because of the unique storytelling style and the way it explores a lingering presence of trauma and history in the more autobiographical narrative. I was initially a bit skeptical of how two unrelated stories could provide so much coherence and […] read full post >>

Georges Perec’s W or the Memory of Childhood examines themes of memory, childhood, and war through two unique separate stories.... read full post >>

Perec W or the memory of childhood. I struggle reading this book and not specifically because of translation or aspects like that which has been the case with other books. I struggled because the book is a mix of two different stories which go back and forward and I believe this makes the book much […] read full post >>

I really liked the way this novel addressed memory. Usually novels that are auto-biographic in nature, or talk about childhood, highlight memories and seem to be fluid in the way memories are explored and described but Perec did a really good job of focusing on the gaps of memory, and how sometimes memory is only […] read full post >>

 Perec's W is a fascinating read for a multitude of reasons. The book starts with a disclaimer warning readers about the dual nature of the upcoming story - an unusual thing to begin a story with! 

I found the idea of calling the book 'W' because of the double 'V' incredibly smart. I came across another interpretation of how the choice of the double 'V' was creative because of how 'vie' in French translates to life in English. This is pertinent to the book because of the two parallel stories and how they influence each other. 

Perec's description of pictures in the somewhat autobiographical portion of the book is what stood out to me the most. I would like to think that he went the extra mile with his descriptions of the images because of how desperately he wanted to remember his childhood and his parents. The idea of placing importance in memory is a very interesting concept for many reasons. The desperation to cling to one's childhood is unfortunately very common, especially as we age and desire to cling on to the "good old days." Moreover, given that the author lost his parents at a young age, he is more inclined to preserve any memory.

One of the moments in the book that highlighted this idea of broken memory is when the author describes the three memories that he recalls from his school days. They progress from blurry to gradually more coherent and eventually lead to a fourth memory. The following quote stood out to me the most when he was describing his memories:

"...remains so deeply imprinted on my body that I wonder this memory does not, in fact, conceal its precise opposite: not the memory of a medal torn off, but the memory of a star pinned on."

This particular quote reminds me of flashbulb memories and how the emotions associated with these memories are often triggered because of the intensity of the event. This moment would have definitely stood out to a child because of the intensity of the injustice that they would have felt. 

Perec's parallel adventure story provided us with a story of a young boy whose name was taken by a soldier for safety. I feel like this particular choice of events is especially relevant because of how it depicts a man taking on the identity of a child, while in the other half, he tries to recall his childhood. 

Lastly, to end, my question for the class would be: how did you find the worldbuilding of the island W? 

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 Perec's W is a fascinating read for a multitude of reasons. The book starts with a disclaimer warning readers about the dual nature of the upcoming story - an unusual thing to begin a story with! 

I found the idea of calling the book 'W' because of the double 'V' incredibly smart. I came across another interpretation of how the choice of the double 'V' was creative because of how 'vie' in French translates to life in English. This is pertinent to the book because of the two parallel stories and how they influence each other. 

Perec's description of pictures in the somewhat autobiographical portion of the book is what stood out to me the most. I would like to think that he went the extra mile with his descriptions of the images because of how desperately he wanted to remember his childhood and his parents. The idea of placing importance in memory is a very interesting concept for many reasons. The desperation to cling to one's childhood is unfortunately very common, especially as we age and desire to cling on to the "good old days." Moreover, given that the author lost his parents at a young age, he is more inclined to preserve any memory.

One of the moments in the book that highlighted this idea of broken memory is when the author describes the three memories that he recalls from his school days. They progress from blurry to gradually more coherent and eventually lead to a fourth memory. The following quote stood out to me the most when he was describing his memories:

"...remains so deeply imprinted on my body that I wonder this memory does not, in fact, conceal its precise opposite: not the memory of a medal torn off, but the memory of a star pinned on."

This particular quote reminds me of flashbulb memories and how the emotions associated with these memories are often triggered because of the intensity of the event. This moment would have definitely stood out to a child because of the intensity of the injustice that they would have felt. 

Perec's parallel adventure story provided us with a story of a young boy whose name was taken by a soldier for safety. I feel like this particular choice of events is especially relevant because of how it depicts a man taking on the identity of a child, while in the other half, he tries to recall his childhood. 

Lastly, to end, my question for the class would be: how did you find the worldbuilding of the island W? 

read full post >>