I really enjoyed reading W, or the Memory of Childhood by Georges Perec! It was the first book I sat through and finished in a day. The novel felt extremely personable and familiar. From the first few pages, the reader is engaged. “For years, I took comfort in such absence of history”, hold tremendous weight and deeper meaning. Especially, today when it is so common for people to share their baby pictures online, during traditional holidays like Christmas and even on dates! A lot of the time, it’s even part of small talk! So, when confronted with someone who has absolutely no memory of their childhood this automatically makes us question; what happened to you? As we follow along his journey to the fictional island of W, the uses of artefacts and documents help recreate the past he cannot reach and the past he has yet to learn.
While reading I also took note of the ‘puzzle’ structure of the novel. Each story that Perec shares feed into the other. Not only does it help form it but is also formed by it. This is why to me, the details are important to the development of Perec’s voyage, rather than redundant. I particularly noticed that there was no real attempt to keep the truth of W a secret from the reader. At first, I thought that this would be the case to possibly keep the reader engage. However, I believe Perec found other ways to do just that! I also argue that the story and meaning behind W are too entwined with Perec’s memory of childhood. Thus, the details not only accumulate but are presented in blunt bullets of information. Almost like when we remember something out of the blue!
Remembering is a task! It is also a privilege that many take for granted. Memory is painful, not just for someone like Perec, but for any child who has had to experience turmoil during their foundation years. If people relate to one another through memory, what does this imply for Perec? For people with early-onset dementia or Alzheimer’s? Memory can create distance and that distance can make us feel sorry. “I have no childhood memories” (p.6) š still a great read!
- have you ever felt like there was a gap in your memory during crucial moments of your development? how has it contributed to the ways you interact with memory today?
- How did you find the structure of the book? Was it coherent? Did it make sense to you or was it frustrating to follow?
Hi Marie,
Thank you for an interesting read! I have to agree with you when you describe his journey using artefacts and documents to help recreate a past he has to learn because it was never really his. Like you, I also feel that the author never really tried to conceal the island of W from the reader, more focused on building the narrative in the same way he tries to build a past he does not know.
Hello, this was an interesting post, I especially agree that while not hiding the truth of W to create suspense as in some novels the matter of factness of it does have its own kind of impact.
Hi Marie! thanks for the insightful blogpost, I agree with your assessment that Perec uses the structure and format of his novel, to create a fictional past for the narrator and therefore himself. 1. I also find it hard at times for myself to correctly and accurately remember events in my past, however I tend to remember events based more on their impact that they had on my at the time and how much I value those memories now. 2. Overall, I am not sure how much I liked the format of Perec’s novel, however I did enjoy it in general. Thanks again for the blogpost!