Georges Perec’s W or the Memory of Childhood is a work of postmodern literature. From my personal viewpoint, the style and the experience of reading it is comparable to reading the use of surrealism in Louis Aragon’s Paris Peasant. Both are works that need more time for reflection on the abstract concepts about life that are […]
Perec gave us “W or The Memory of Childhood” to share his illustrative vision of the Holocaust, both in a personal and figurative aspect. Throughout the book, we see the contrast of these two parallel stories, one being autobiographical and the other (seemingly) being on a fictional (based on real events) premise. His autobiography emerges […]
Georges Perec’s W, or the Memory of Childhood reveals the irreparable experience of trauma in rather mysterious ways. When reading it, I feel that the entire novel is associated with a special technique frequently used in filmmaking, named montage. Perec used different locations, perspectives, and narrative methods to enhance the willingness of the readers’ deep […]
Posted in Blogs, Perec | Tagged with childhood, memory, politics, power
While reading Georges Perec’s W, or the Memory of Childhood, I appreciated right off the bat the clarity they provided. This book has two texts alternating, one is completely imaginary and the other is an autobiography. After completing the book, it felt hard to know exactly how the two fit together to compliment each other, […]
If I were to pick a word that reflects this story, I would choose “remember”. The narrator uses the word remember consistently throughout this book to introduce his certainty about a specific memory, for example: “I have a vague memory” “I don’t have a precise memory” “I do not remember” “I can hardly remember”, all […]
Posted in Blogs, Perec | Tagged with identity, memory, remember, war
This week I read W, or the Memory of Childhood. The article unfolds in two lines, one describing the author’s childhood memories and the other telling the story of W the Olympic Island. In the article, the main character, an orphan, takes the eponymous Winkler’s place by forging documents to escape military service. The real Winckler is a deaf and autistic child whose mother died in a mysterious shipwreck. Curious about the whereabouts of the real Winckler in the wreck, the investigators find the impostor and analyze the accident with him. Investigators finally analyze shipwreck logs and the harrowing scenes of Winckler’s death and speculate that Winckler may have escaped or been abandoned. We don’t know what the truth is, and the horrific scenes of the accident are an acceptable way to bring out the senses of the accident. After a brief opening description of the accident that seems to be the introduction, the author unfolds two threads: the story of W Island and his childhood memories.
The two storylines seem to operate independently but vaguely reveal an interconnection. While reading the book, the interchange of the two scenes often gave me a sense of surprise, and while I was still amazed at the system on W Island, the next page became the author’s seemingly uneventful childhood memories. Much of the article feels fragmented, whether it is the author’s recollections with the help of a few photos, the fragmented memories of relatives, the paragraph structure of the article, or the distribution of chapters interspersed with the story of W Island and the author’s memories. One can experience a sense of fragmentation of memory. These fragmented memories seem to be submerged in the general history without elaboration, making one feel that these fleeting childhood memories are only an insignificant part of the times. When the author shares his experiences with relatives and friends, he often gets their doubts and disbeliefs, as if these memories never happened. This independent and uncertain recollection leads the author to mention in the text, “I have no childhood memories. ”
In another line, on W, an island with a harsh system but full of uncertainty about the fate of people, the author allows us to glimpse a corner of the concentration camp madness in the author’s imagination by describing the slave-like future of the athletes and the various absurd competition systems. In the initial reading of this part of W, we can see the gap between the athletes who win the championship and the “newcomers” who only see the difference in their lives on the island. Those who win get food, flowers and wine to maintain their nutrition, while those who lose get weaker and weaker because they don’t get the nutrients they need, making it harder and harder to win. This sounds like the winner will keep winning the game, while the loser will only be fixed in a specific opportunity after one chance. However, through a more profound understanding of the game system, we can find that the situation between people is rapidly changing and full of uncertainty. That strength is not the decisive factor in this game, but luck is the more critical element for the athletes, so they indulge in today’s victory because they do not know what awaits them tomorrow. They seem to be fighting for the Olympic spirit, but in the end, it is the officials who are not involved in the struggle that control their fate. And the athletes can never become officials and win their true victory.
My question in this essay is: How do the author’s childhood memories relate to the story of W Island?
Posted in Blogs, Perec | Tagged with Wor the Memory of Childhood
This week I read W, or the Memory of Childhood. The article unfolds in two lines, one describing the author’s childhood memories and the other telling the story of W the Olympic Island. In the article, the main character, an orphan, takes the eponymous Winkler’s place by forging documents to escape military service. The real Winckler is a deaf and autistic child whose mother died in a mysterious shipwreck. Curious about the whereabouts of the real Winckler in the wreck, the investigators find the impostor and analyze the accident with him. Investigators finally analyze shipwreck logs and the harrowing scenes of Winckler’s death and speculate that Winckler may have escaped or been abandoned. We don’t know what the truth is, and the horrific scenes of the accident are an acceptable way to bring out the senses of the accident. After a brief opening description of the accident that seems to be the introduction, the author unfolds two threads: the story of W Island and his childhood memories.
The two storylines seem to operate independently but vaguely reveal an interconnection. While reading the book, the interchange of the two scenes often gave me a sense of surprise, and while I was still amazed at the system on W Island, the next page became the author’s seemingly uneventful childhood memories. Much of the article feels fragmented, whether it is the author’s recollections with the help of a few photos, the fragmented memories of relatives, the paragraph structure of the article, or the distribution of chapters interspersed with the story of W Island and the author’s memories. One can experience a sense of fragmentation of memory. These fragmented memories seem to be submerged in the general history without elaboration, making one feel that these fleeting childhood memories are only an insignificant part of the times. When the author shares his experiences with relatives and friends, he often gets their doubts and disbeliefs, as if these memories never happened. This independent and uncertain recollection leads the author to mention in the text, “I have no childhood memories. ”
In another line, on W, an island with a harsh system but full of uncertainty about the fate of people, the author allows us to glimpse a corner of the concentration camp madness in the author’s imagination by describing the slave-like future of the athletes and the various absurd competition systems. In the initial reading of this part of W, we can see the gap between the athletes who win the championship and the “newcomers” who only see the difference in their lives on the island. Those who win get food, flowers and wine to maintain their nutrition, while those who lose get weaker and weaker because they don’t get the nutrients they need, making it harder and harder to win. This sounds like the winner will keep winning the game, while the loser will only be fixed in a specific opportunity after one chance. However, through a more profound understanding of the game system, we can find that the situation between people is rapidly changing and full of uncertainty. That strength is not the decisive factor in this game, but luck is the more critical element for the athletes, so they indulge in today’s victory because they do not know what awaits them tomorrow. They seem to be fighting for the Olympic spirit, but in the end, it is the officials who are not involved in the struggle that control their fate. And the athletes can never become officials and win their true victory.
My question in this essay is: How do the author’s childhood memories relate to the story of W Island?
Posted in Blogs, Perec | Tagged with Wor the Memory of Childhood
