W, or the Memory of Childhood

‘W, or the Memory of Childhood’ by Georges Perec is one of the only postmodern texts I have read. I have to say, I love the premise of many of his books from the complete absence of the letter ‘e’ to the 500-palindrome long poem. While some may find these trivial or a takeaway from the actual story, I think this form of writing brings an interesting style where you are forced to think not just about the contents of the writing, but also how the writing is written (which sounds a little bit silly, but I couldn’t think of another way to phrase it).

With this thought, I think this text was a brilliant way to communicate society’s trauma as a result of the Holocaust, while also showing Perec’s own personal trauma. The construction of the island, W, and its Olympic society, portrays not only Perec’s own trauma but also his community’s. In every way the society is constructed we are shown the lives that many people faced in concentration camps or in general life during the Holocaust. This is confirmed by the end when Perec remarks on the similarities between his fictional island ‘W’ and the treatment of Jews during the Holocaust. The fact that we are not fully aware of this factor until the end is something I found very clever, as we are left to construct a fictional world for ourselves. The horrors and the traumas of the people on ‘W’ become something unreal and almost unimaginable. Because of this, I feel the revelation that this life was actually a reality for many people becomes much more impactful.

The other part of the story, Perec’s side, was also interesting to read. It was like watching someone sort through their thoughts and trauma from the sidelines. It felt almost intrusive to be reading it sometimes. However, along with this, it felt fairly mundane as well. Some of his memories were relatable, unassuming and even boring sometimes. This fact is something I think could be looked into more deeply. The way that Perec presents his memories shows how every day the traumas he went through became; they became such a part of his life that he no longer saw them as something unusual or life changing. Or maybe I am reading too much into this! I loved the way the story was constructed; however, I found the actual writing a little uninspiring/hard to enjoy. It felt rather clinical or impersonal to me, but I may be alone in that. Either way, I think it is interesting to construct meaning even if it is something I only felt.

My question for this week is: how deeply can you be affected by a story if you are not interested in the actual writing?


Comments

  1. BriannaMarch 13, 2022 at 2:33 PM

    Hi Aquila, I really enjoyed reading your post this week! I really like how you touched on the way that the writting styles really add to the narritive of the story. To answer your question, I think that if someone is not interested or fully engaged in the actual writting, it would be pretty difficult to be affected by the story as they are not emursing themselves within it to the full capacity.

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