Let me start by saying I apologise for the late post. I was caught up in another assignment and completely lost track of time.
About the novel, I found it to be a very interesting and even somewhat appealing read in small degrees. I am well aware that I use the word ‘interesting’ about almost every book in we have read thus far in this course however it doesn’t diminish that it holds true, in various ways for each narrative of course.
Perec’s narrative style combined with historical experiences post World War Two create quite an engaging read that draws the reader in. Time seems to expand and contract as we follow the protagonist to the island of W and see the way he tries to connect with a past he has no memories of. In any world, we would find it strange that someone could exist with no remote idea of a past but I feel it is especially true of the present world we live in where one’s identity is brought under sharp scrutiny.
What I found more intriguing was that the author had no particular intention in creating the ambiguity surrounding W. Maybe it is just me, however I find that any mystery the reader might feel surrounds the island is accidental rather than purposeful, unlike in most other novels where there is an active effort on the author’s part to create some character or thing whose truth is hidden in order to build up suspense.
Peres merely seems to document the details of his voyage to the island of W, each story melding into the other and building his narrative in the same way his journey helps him piece together a past he has never truly had.
My question is; is it possible to ever really reconnect with a part of you that wasn’t really yours to begin with? Can that sort of past really be reclaimed?
Heyy, to answer I think you can. I beleive that as human beings most of us are able to emphatoize in deep levels which situations/things/people that are not related dirrectly to us if we care enough so if you wanted I think you could reconnect with a part of you even if it feels like it doesnt belong to you anymore.
-Montserrat Avendano
Hi! I really enjoyed reading your post. I also like the depth in your question. I think that it is possible. I think that even if someone suppressed their past, there is still sort of a subconscious to them that they are able to connect to.
Hi ! I really enjoyed reading your blog post! I agree with you when you say that his narration style is engaging which draws the reader in. I personally feel like this is the best book we’ve read so far. Less confusing and engaging. To answer your question, I think that it is possible to reconnect with a part of you, you never really knew. It also might be dependent on the circumstance/situation. It might be more difficult to connect with a relative you met when you were really young. They might remember you but you might not remember them. All of a sudden there’s a language barrier. How do you navigate? Do you forget about the relative or do you make the effort to connect in a different way? If there’s genuine interest and good intention then it is possible! But it takes work just like Perec ‘worked’ to remember his childhood.
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Great post! It’s really interesting to hear that you saw a parallel between the narration about “W” and Perec’s autobiography of his past. Until reading your post, I was not able to figure out what the relationship between the two different narratives was. I did find some parallels between “war” and the sport-oriented “W”, but I still didn’t quite understand why such different “fragments” were pieced together. Your interpretation is very compelling; it does seem like Perec is building this world of “W” with every extra detail he narrates about it, as he does with his own recollection of his past (that perhaps “he never had”. I really like your question as well. I would argue, though, that Perec’s past might have not been “something that wasn’t a part of him”. I viewed it more as it was a significant part of him that he decided to oppress and attempt to abandon.
– Daniel Choi
Daniel Choi