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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? 

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    Finally! An author I know! I have been SLOWLY reading Perec's A Void for ages now, I really cant get into it because I keep just rereading sections to make sure there is really no 'e' there. I have to admit the difficulty I had reading A Void did not give me much hope for this book. I could talk extensively about my appreciation of A Void in an artistic, boundary pushing, breaking away from norms wowee kinda way but as a book goes, it is kinda rough to read honestly. Anyway! Onto the book I am actually meant to be writing about. W, or the Memory of Childhood was pleasantly read-able for me. It became very quickly obvious that there was two seperate sets of memories that were intertwined into eachother. A note at the beginning of the book brough to my attention that 'W' should not be thought of as 'double-u' as in French it is called 'double vé.' I do not know what the word in French but in Spanish I first thought of vida which I guess I should note means life incase you don't know. The title fits perfectly for the two intertwining stories being told.

    The more fantastical storyline occuring in this novel struck me as a childs coping mechanism at first. I know atleast the part about the island W is based off of a story Perec wrote at 13. When this storyline switched over to focusing on the island I was immediately struck by how cultish it felt. I was intrigued and really found myself looking forward to the next part. The extreme conditions the athletes lived in were representative of what Perec's mother went through in the concentration camps in real life. This comparison lead me to further realize thar this fantastical story was like a parallel world to real life. A still pretty depressing reimagination of the horrific things that a 13 year old may not have been able to fully comprehend. 

    I pretty quickly became a lot more interested in the story about the island than the chapters about Perec's fragmented and warped childhood memories but overall I really enjoyed both. It was depressing honestly, it wasn't because of what I was reading but the context around it and this sorta childlike but also disturbing tale being told at the same time made me sad. I am done rambling now I think, I have no other thoughts about this that I can word well. To wrap this up I have a very simple question, which part of this story interested you more?

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    Finally! An author I know! I have been SLOWLY reading Perec's A Void for ages now, I really cant get into it because I keep just rereading sections to make sure there is really no 'e' there. I have to admit the difficulty I had reading A Void did not give me much hope for this book. I could talk extensively about my appreciation of A Void in an artistic, boundary pushing, breaking away from norms wowee kinda way but as a book goes, it is kinda rough to read honestly. Anyway! Onto the book I am actually meant to be writing about. W, or the Memory of Childhood was pleasantly read-able for me. It became very quickly obvious that there was two seperate sets of memories that were intertwined into eachother. A note at the beginning of the book brough to my attention that 'W' should not be thought of as 'double-u' as in French it is called 'double vé.' I do not know what the word in French but in Spanish I first thought of vida which I guess I should note means life incase you don't know. The title fits perfectly for the two intertwining stories being told.

    The more fantastical storyline occuring in this novel struck me as a childs coping mechanism at first. I know atleast the part about the island W is based off of a story Perec wrote at 13. When this storyline switched over to focusing on the island I was immediately struck by how cultish it felt. I was intrigued and really found myself looking forward to the next part. The extreme conditions the athletes lived in were representative of what Perec's mother went through in the concentration camps in real life. This comparison lead me to further realize thar this fantastical story was like a parallel world to real life. A still pretty depressing reimagination of the horrific things that a 13 year old may not have been able to fully comprehend. 

    I pretty quickly became a lot more interested in the story about the island than the chapters about Perec's fragmented and warped childhood memories but overall I really enjoyed both. It was depressing honestly, it wasn't because of what I was reading but the context around it and this sorta childlike but also disturbing tale being told at the same time made me sad. I am done rambling now I think, I have no other thoughts about this that I can word well. To wrap this up I have a very simple question, which part of this story interested you more?

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The novel’s structure is novel, as if Island W tells one storey and my childhood memories another, seemingly unconnected but merging in places. What I think is the interest of this book is the certain contents of its description. Everything described is like a real scene, but it’s actually just existed in the author’s memory. … Continue reading Reply on “W or the memory of childhood” → read full post >>

“The Memory of Childhood” by Perec shows that childhood (which is normally associated with innocence, happy memories, and youth), is... read full post >>

I definitely found this book more confusing than others that we have read in this course (since Swann's Way). It took me a little bit to understand that it was switching between autobiography and fiction, but once I understood that, it made it much easier to understand. I actually ended up finding the aspect of alternating between the two texts very interesting and unlike anything i've seen or read before. 

From what I understand, Georges is trying to recall memories from his childhood but it seems as though there are gaps in his memories, which you don't often see being portrayed in books. His memories are clearly uncertain and did not necessarily add up at times, both stories do come together in a way beautifully. 

One thing I did notice and enjoy was how this book tied nicely into the common themes we have been seeing throughout this course. Memories being one that occurs in almost every book I have chosen to read so far. As well as family being another prominent theme. As mentioned before, this book was as confusing as Swann's Way was for me, but also reminded me of Swann's Way through these two themes. This makes it very enjoyable to read as I was able to connect and relate to other books while I was reading. 

Another thing I enjoyed was the use of different fonts to differentiate the two alternating stories that were being told. This helped me, once I understood that there were two stories being told, really tap into each story individually and guide me in visualizing the two separate stories. The title was something that was confusing to me at first as well, but as said earlier, once I understood there were two stories, the title also helped me see each story on its own. 

A question and thought I had for this novel was whether or not the circumstances of his childhood plays a part in these uncertain and patchy memories he is having, or if it just showing the reality that memories can be forgotten or changed overtime... Maybe the trauma and strong emotions he was feeling from his parents death caused him to forget some parts of his childhood. 

read full post >>

I definitely found this book more confusing than others that we have read in this course (since Swann's Way). It took me a little bit to understand that it was switching between autobiography and fiction, but once I understood that, it made it much easier to understand. I actually ended up finding the aspect of alternating between the two texts very interesting and unlike anything i've seen or read before. 

From what I understand, Georges is trying to recall memories from his childhood but it seems as though there are gaps in his memories, which you don't often see being portrayed in books. His memories are clearly uncertain and did not necessarily add up at times, both stories do come together in a way beautifully. 

One thing I did notice and enjoy was how this book tied nicely into the common themes we have been seeing throughout this course. Memories being one that occurs in almost every book I have chosen to read so far. As well as family being another prominent theme. As mentioned before, this book was as confusing as Swann's Way was for me, but also reminded me of Swann's Way through these two themes. This makes it very enjoyable to read as I was able to connect and relate to other books while I was reading. 

Another thing I enjoyed was the use of different fonts to differentiate the two alternating stories that were being told. This helped me, once I understood that there were two stories being told, really tap into each story individually and guide me in visualizing the two separate stories. The title was something that was confusing to me at first as well, but as said earlier, once I understood there were two stories, the title also helped me see each story on its own. 

A question and thought I had for this novel was whether or not the circumstances of his childhood plays a part in these uncertain and patchy memories he is having, or if it just showing the reality that memories can be forgotten or changed overtime... Maybe the trauma and strong emotions he was feeling from his parents death caused him to forget some parts of his childhood. 

read full post >>

This week I read W, or the memory of a childhood. This novel was different from others we had read in previous weeks, and unlike anything I had really read before. When I was starting this novel, the double story writing style was confusing at times. The fact that it was differentiated by font did help for sure.I was struggling to find the correlation between the two stories and felt like I was jumping from one book to another each time it switched over. Also, it often felt like we were given a lot of additional background details that perhaps helped visualize something like a picture, but the descriptions seemed to drag on longer than necessary. It was definitely easier for me to engage in the story based on the child growing up during the time of war and the complexity of his life. He lost his parents at a young age, and bounced around different living arrangements a lot of the time. From what he recalls, and the memories that he does have, it seemed like a very rough time to grow up. 

His memories are oddly specific, and it seems as though from what he does remember, he remembers those instances in great detail. It stood out to me that he described a memory from when he was only three about his family gathered in a circle “the family circle surrounds me wholly, but the sensation of encirclement does not cause me any fear of feeling of being smothered; on the contrary it is warm, protective, loving”. At first I thought there was no way a memory could be recalled at the age of only three, however after some research, apparently you can begin to recall memories as early as the age of two. Still, I question the validity of some of his memory recall simply due to the circumstances in which he was living as well as his use of imagination. 

Starting part two, I was a bit confused with the Olympic islands. I was not sure how that related at all to anything that had been discussed leading up to that, but eventually began to realize its true significance. I think this is one of the most important ways in which the stories somehow merge together. My question to the class is what is the significance of the … on page 61? What do you think Perec intended to convey?

Also Perrier is the best drink ever. Enjoyed one while writing this.

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