Georges Perec
Georges Perec
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Full Name and Common Aliases
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Georges Perec was a French writer of Polish Jewish descent, best known by his pen name Georges Perec. He was also the author behind the pseudonym David Martimort, used for some of his lesser-known works.
Birth and Death Dates
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Born on March 7, 1936, in Paris, France, Georges Perec passed away on March 3, 1982, at the age of 45.
Nationality and Profession(s)
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Perec was a French writer, best known for his work in various genres including fiction, poetry, essays, and experimental literature. His writing style often incorporated elements of absurdism, surrealism, and linguistic playfulness.
Early Life and Background
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Georges Perec grew up in Paris's 11th arrondissement, the only child of Polish Jewish parents who had fled their homeland before World War II. After completing his secondary education, he began studying at the École Pratique des Hautes Études, but dropped out to join the French resistance during World War II.
Major Accomplishments
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Perec's contributions to literature are numerous and diverse:
Experimental fiction: He wrote the novel _La Disparition_ (1969), a 300-page book that does not contain the letter "e".
Oulipo: Perec was one of the founding members of the Oulipo group, an organization dedicated to exploring the potential of language and literature through creative constraints.
Language play: He explored the possibilities of language in works like _Les Revenentes_ (1959) and _Penser/Classer_ (1985).
Criticism and theory: Perec also made significant contributions to literary criticism, particularly in his essay _Penser/Classer_.
Notable Works or Actions
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Some of his notable works include:
La Disparition (1969) - A novel that explores the concept of absence through its very structure.
Les Revenentes (1959) - A series of short stories that explore the theme of memory and forgetting.
* Penser/Classer (1985) - An essay on the role of classification in thought and literature.
Impact and Legacy
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Georges Perec's innovative approach to language, literature, and criticism has had a lasting impact on the literary world. His experimental style has inspired numerous writers, including those associated with the Oulipo movement.
Why They Are Widely Quoted or Remembered
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Perec's work is widely quoted and remembered for its originality, intellectual rigor, and innovative use of language. He continues to be an important figure in literary studies, inspiring new generations of writers and scholars alike.
Quotes by Georges Perec
Despite the Saint-Nectaire, this analysis would be absolutely reasonable if it did not sin grievously by omission.
Who, on seeing a Parisian apartment house, has never thought of it as indestructible? A bomb, a fire, an earthquake could certainly bring it down, but what else? In the eyes of an individual, of a family, or even a dynasty, a town, street, or house seems unchangeable, untouchable by time, by the ups and downs of human life, to such an extent that we believe we can compare and contrast the fragility of our condition to the invulnerability of stone.
Above all, they had the cinema. And this was probably the only area where they had learned everything from their own sensibilities.
I re-read the books I love and I love the books I re-read, and each time it is the same enjoyment, whether I re-read twenty pages, three chapters, or the whole book: an enjoyment of complicity, of collusion, or more especially, and in addition, of having in the end found kin again.
A gap will yawn, achingly, day by day, it will turn into a colossal pit, an abyss without foundation, a gradual invasion of words by margins, blank and insignificant, so that all of us, to a man, will find nothing to say.
People who choose to earn money first, people who put off their realplans until later, until they are rich, are not necessarily wrong. People who want only to live, and who reckon living is absolute freedom, the exclusive pursuit of happiness, the sole satisfaction of their desires and instincts, the immediate enjoyment of the boundless riches of the world – such people will always be unhappy.
To want nothing. Just to wait, until there is nothing left to wait for. Just to wander, and to sleep. To let yourself be carried along by the crowds, and the streets. To follow the gutters, the fences, the water’s edge. To walk the length of the embankments, to hug the walls. To waste your time. To have no projects, to feel no impatience. To be without desire, or resentment, or revolt.
I have neither one nor the other, and that has been going on for so long now that I have stopped wondering whether it is hate or love which gives us the strength to continue this life of lies, which provides the formidable energy that allows us to go on suffering, and hoping.
