Georges Perec’s W, or the Memory of Childhood takes a very clear divergence from the typical, albeit not necessarily standard, formula of the novel. The Novel is novel, in its use of quick flashbacks to the childhood of the narrator, and just like it says in the title of the Novel, Perec uses the descriptive, yet incredibly short scenes of imagery to give his audience barely just enough background information to make this work readable. Once you understand the structure and memorize and chronically categorize the events that take place, the Novel starts to become intelligible. Despite the loose and seemingly disorganized format of Perec’s W, I actually found it to be quite interesting as a work of mid -20th century literature. All the events and character backstory that occurs in the novel did indeed happen from the 1930-55 period in European history. For the narrator of W, this period in Europe’s as well as his own life, was complex. Because of the events during and surrounding the Second World War, the narrator was unable to truly experience a normal childhood, resulting in his desire to repress and attempt to forget what happened during the traumatic events of the Second World War. While the Olympic and idyllic setting throughout most of the book is an attempt by the narrator, who by this part of the Novel has utterly become an unreliable narrator, to try and create a utopian past to fill the reality of his own lived experience.

The one element that took me by surprise, was the supporting character of Gaspard Winkler. Winkler occupies an interesting role within the Novel, as he appears miraculously, to be helped by the narrator throughout the majority of the story. In my understanding of the Novel, Gaspard Winkler does not exists, he merely acts like another person so the narrator can rewrite the trauma of his childhood into a new tabula rasa of his present. In this understanding of the narrator’s psyche, Winkler’s persona takes precedence over the real identity of the narrator. The easy and frankly most demanding question for me to ask in this scenario, is why does the narrator feel this need to erase and replace his existence with that of another person? However, the more important question to ask is, when did the narrator decide to reject his existence? Was it when he first realized the discriminations and repression towards his self-importance as a person of Jewish descent? or was it when he realized that the horrors of war and economic oppression make life inconsequential to live in the bleak and dark place of the Second World War and post-war era?