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 I unfortunately found this weeks reading to be a bit more difficult to follow than other books we read so far. Not so much in regards to difficult language or translation discrepancies, but rather the multiple storylines that took place throughout the book. In all honesty, I found it quite confusing and found myself having to reread certain passages and pages. From what I gathered, Georges attempts to recall memories from his childhood, while intertwining stories and scenarios from the present. 

An initial thought I had after reading the first few chapters, was that it reminded me of our first reading, Swann's way. In this book, Marcel reflects on his past, specifically childhood and what his relationship was like with his mother and father at the time. I found similarities with this reading, as Georges tries to scrap together memories of his parents before they both perished due to different circumstances during the war. Though most of Georges memories didn't specifically connect with one another, I found some quite interesting while i felt others were a bit boring. I think part of the reason why I may have found some of these boring is because they seemed to lack emotional depth. In Swann's Way, for example, Marcel talks about how upset the neglect of his mother made him. With a lot of emotional detail, I truly felt for the character. However, with this reading, I felt as though i was reading descriptions of people or events without receiving much detail on the authors feelings. Which seemed odd to me considering memories are something very personal. 

I question if this lack of detail as well as his lack of memory might have something to do with the circumstances under which his parents died. As just a young boy he had to the mourn the loss of both his parents. His father died in the war, and his mother died in the holocaust. Im thinking it's possible that because of all the chaos and emotional stress he had endured, he lacks memory. 

The main thing that has me greatly confused throughout the novel is the multiple storylines and how different they were from one another. Im not too sure how Georges encounter with Otto tied in with his childhood memories, as well as the story of W.

My question for the class: do you think Georges vague memories could be trauma related?

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This work from Georges Perec was a ‘break’ from the others that we have been reading. I found his style of storytelling to be refreshing from the others with its short chapters and concise descriptions. At the beginning, with the worrying over the letter in chapter 3, I thought ‘great, another over-thinker’, but was pleasantly […] read full post >>

At first glance, I wasn’t sure what to make of Perec’s book’s title. In class, we previously discussed the influence and significance of a title. We first discussed how the choice to keep “Bonjour Tristesse” in its untranslated form gave the book some context in just two words – i.e. that it is French. We […] read full post >>

It took me a while to get used to how the chapters alternate between autobiography and fiction, but I did end up enjoying this novel. I liked Perec’s writing style, in particular, and I appreciated how he was able to make use of the more mysterious parts of his own life while also giving an […] read full post >>

“W, or the Memory of Childhood” by Georges Perec immediately struck me in its incredibly inventive form of storytelling. The idea of weaving together two narratives was fascinating to me, especially considering that it was not intertwining the narratives of two characters inhabiting the same world, but rather it was combining a pseudo autobiographical account […] read full post >>

This week’s read of Perec’s “W, or the Memory of Childhood” I found the most challenging so far to follow the story. Initially after reading the introduction, announcing there are two alternate texts I was intrigued. Despite my confusion with separating the two texts the change between italics helped me figure it out. Oddly enough, …

Continue reading "W, or the Memory of Childhood by Georges Perec"

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This novel confronts the theme of memory quite differently than the others we’ve previously read. Most of the texts I’d read before this speak from a point of memory, past-tense, and experience, whereas Perec approached memories that weren’t there. It brought an alternate perspective of how some have the privilege of accessing and reflecting on […] read full post >>

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 >>