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Things
LF: "Things"? It is a title that intrigues that feeds misunderstanding. Rather than a book about things, basically do you not write a book on happiness? G. P: It is there, I think, between the things of the modern world and happiness, one of obligation. A certain richness of our civilization makes a kind of happiness possible: we can speak, in this sense, as a happiness, deep carpets, from a current figure of happiness which I believe that to be happy, he must be absolutely modern. Those who imagined that I condemned the consumer society really do not understand my book. But this happiness is still possible; because, our capitalist society is: things promised are not things due. --
157 pages
First published January 1, 1965
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About the author
Georges Perec
131 books1,649 followersGeorges Perec was a highly-regarded French novelist, filmmaker, and essayist. He was a member of the Oulipo group. Many of his novels and essays abound with experimental wordplay, lists, and attempts at classification, and they are usually tinged with melancholy.
Born in a working-class district of Paris, Perec was the only son of Icek Judko and Cyrla (Schulewicz) Peretz, Polish Jews who had emigrated to France in the 1920s. He was a distant relative of the Yiddish writer Isaac Leib Peretz.
Perec's first novel, Les Choses (Things: A Story of the Sixties) was awarded the Prix Renaudot in 1965.
In 1978, Perec won the prix Médicis for Life: A User's Manual (French title, La Vie mode d'emploi), possibly his best-known work. The 99 chapters of this 600 page piece move like a knight's tour of a chessboard around the room plan of a Paris apartment building, describing the rooms and stairwell and telling the stories of the inhabitants.
Cantatrix Sopranica L. is a spoof scientific paper detailing experiments on the "yelling reaction" provoked in sopranos by pelting them with rotten tomatoes. All the references in the paper are multi-lingual puns and jokes, e.g. "(Karybb et Scyla, 1973)".
Perec is also noted for his constrained writing: his 300-page novel La disparition (1969) is a lipogram, written without ever using the letter "e". It has been translated into English by Gilbert Adair under the title A Void (1994). The silent disappearance of the letter might be considered a metaphor for the Jewish experience during the Second World War. Since the name 'Georges Perec' is full of 'e's, the disappearance of the letter also ensures the author's own 'disappearance'.
His novella Les revenentes (1972) is a complementary univocalic piece in which the letter "e" is the only vowel used. This constraint affects even the title, which would conventionally be spelt Revenantes. An English translation by Ian Monk was published in 1996 as The Exeter Text: Jewels, Secrets, Sex in the collection Three.
It has been remarked by Jacques Roubaud that these two novels draw words from two disjoint sets of the French language, and that a third novel would be possible, made from the words not used so far (those containing both "e" and a vowel other than "e").
W ou le souvenir d'enfance, (W, or, the Memory of Childhood, 1975) is a semi-autobiographical work which is hard to classify. Two alternating narratives make up the volume: one, a fictional outline of a totalitarian island country called "W", patterned partly on life in a concentration camp; and the second, descriptions of childhood. Both merge towards the end when the common theme of the Holocaust is explained.
Perec was a heavy smoker throughout his life, and was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1981. He died the following year in Ivry-sur-Seine at only forty-five-years old. His ashes are held at the columbarium of the Père Lachaise Cemetery.
David Bellos wrote an extensive biography of Perec: Georges Perec: A Life in Words, which won the Académie Goncourt's bourse for biography in 1994.
Born in a working-class district of Paris, Perec was the only son of Icek Judko and Cyrla (Schulewicz) Peretz, Polish Jews who had emigrated to France in the 1920s. He was a distant relative of the Yiddish writer Isaac Leib Peretz.
Perec's first novel, Les Choses (Things: A Story of the Sixties) was awarded the Prix Renaudot in 1965.
In 1978, Perec won the prix Médicis for Life: A User's Manual (French title, La Vie mode d'emploi), possibly his best-known work. The 99 chapters of this 600 page piece move like a knight's tour of a chessboard around the room plan of a Paris apartment building, describing the rooms and stairwell and telling the stories of the inhabitants.
Cantatrix Sopranica L. is a spoof scientific paper detailing experiments on the "yelling reaction" provoked in sopranos by pelting them with rotten tomatoes. All the references in the paper are multi-lingual puns and jokes, e.g. "(Karybb et Scyla, 1973)".
Perec is also noted for his constrained writing: his 300-page novel La disparition (1969) is a lipogram, written without ever using the letter "e". It has been translated into English by Gilbert Adair under the title A Void (1994). The silent disappearance of the letter might be considered a metaphor for the Jewish experience during the Second World War. Since the name 'Georges Perec' is full of 'e's, the disappearance of the letter also ensures the author's own 'disappearance'.
His novella Les revenentes (1972) is a complementary univocalic piece in which the letter "e" is the only vowel used. This constraint affects even the title, which would conventionally be spelt Revenantes. An English translation by Ian Monk was published in 1996 as The Exeter Text: Jewels, Secrets, Sex in the collection Three.
It has been remarked by Jacques Roubaud that these two novels draw words from two disjoint sets of the French language, and that a third novel would be possible, made from the words not used so far (those containing both "e" and a vowel other than "e").
W ou le souvenir d'enfance, (W, or, the Memory of Childhood, 1975) is a semi-autobiographical work which is hard to classify. Two alternating narratives make up the volume: one, a fictional outline of a totalitarian island country called "W", patterned partly on life in a concentration camp; and the second, descriptions of childhood. Both merge towards the end when the common theme of the Holocaust is explained.
Perec was a heavy smoker throughout his life, and was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1981. He died the following year in Ivry-sur-Seine at only forty-five-years old. His ashes are held at the columbarium of the Père Lachaise Cemetery.
David Bellos wrote an extensive biography of Perec: Georges Perec: A Life in Words, which won the Académie Goncourt's bourse for biography in 1994.
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March 29, 2022
Things surround us.
We live among things. We crave to possess things. We get things. We wish for elegant things. We want the best things. We cry for more. Things begin to influence us. Things change us. Things steal our souls. Things turn us into vulgar bourgeois.
And only escaping the captivity of things one manages to be free…
“What a lot of things there are a man can do without.” Socrates.
In this respect their first sallies outside the student world, their first forays into the universe of high-class shops which was soon to become their Promised Land, were particularly revealing. Their still-wavering taste, their over-hesitant meticulousness, their lack of experience, their rather blinkered respect for what they believed to be the standards of true good taste, brought them some jarring moments, some humiliations.
We live among things. We crave to possess things. We get things. We wish for elegant things. We want the best things. We cry for more. Things begin to influence us. Things change us. Things steal our souls. Things turn us into vulgar bourgeois.
From one station to another – antique dealer, bookshops, record shops, restaurant menus, travel agencies, shirt-makers, tailors, cheese-shops, bootmakers, confectioners, delicatessens, stationers – their paths through Paris constituted their real universe: in them lay their ambitions and hopes. That was where real life was, the life they wanted to know, that they wanted to lead: was it not for these salmon, for these carpets, for these crystal glasses that, twenty-five years before, a shopgirl and a ladies’ hairdresser had brought the two of them into this world?
And only escaping the captivity of things one manages to be free…
“What a lot of things there are a man can do without.” Socrates.
December 6, 2025
LA VITA, ISTRUZIONI PER L’USO
Come trasformare un trattatello di sociologia in letteratura, una specie di sondaggio demografico in narrativa. E fare scuola, restare nella storia della letteratura.
I figli della piccola borghesia che diventano classe media. I desideri che si trasformano in bisogni. “Le cose” che diventano necessità, passaporto per una qual forma di felicità, o, se non altro, di realizzazione.
Il ventesimo secolo che diventa finalmente il nuovo secolo, la modernità (ma rimane quello breve):
Erano infatuati di libertà. Gli pareva che il mondo intero fosse fatto a loro guisa; vivevano al ritmo esatto della loro sete, e la loro esuberanza era inestinguibile; il loro entusiasmo non conosceva più limiti: avrebbero potuto camminare, correre, ballare, cantare tutta la notte…La loro vita sarebbe stata solo l’inesauribile somma di quei momenti propizi e che sarebbero stati sempre felici, perché meritavano di esserlo, perché la felicità era in loro.
Quando fu pubblicato, Perec aveva pochi anni più dei suoi ipotetici protagonisti: lui ventiquattro, lei ventuno, il nostro autore ventinove: il romanzo li segue per qualche anno e nell’epilogo sono diventati coetanei di chi li ha creati.
Ho scritto “ipotetici” nel senso di presunti in quanto Jérôme e Sylvie sono i due campioni demografici scelti da Perec per rappresentare la loro generazione, più che essere davvero protagonisti, sono rappresentativi di un gruppo sociale. E loro stessi si guadagnano da vivere facendo ricerche di mercato.
Provano a raggiungere ricchezza e felicità senza impegnarsi a tempo pieno, restando in qualche modo bohémien. Solo che chi non lavora non mangia, ma chi lavora non vive più.
Quando il tran tran parigino, per quanto all’insegna di libertà e tempo libero e amicizie coltivate con persone loro simili in aspirazioni e attività, si rivela a fondo perduto – non raggiungeranno mai il benessere cui ambiscono – decidono di abbracciare l’avventura all’estero. Paese nuovo e nuova vita: la Tunisia, purtroppo però la provincialissima Sfax non la capitale.
Ma anche questo capitolo della loro giovane vita si rivela senza sbocco. E quindi, dopo men di un anno, fanno bagagli e tornano a casa a Parigi. Pronti ad accettare il posto fisso in provincia. Ma una provincia meno provincia di quella tunisina, e un salario che garantisce agio e sicurezza.
È la prima generazione cresciuta a pane e celluloide, col cinema, immersa nei film:
C’era, soprattutto, il cinema. Ed era probabilmente il solo campo nel quale la loro sensibilità aveva imparato tutto. Qui, non dovevano niente a modelli. Appartenevano, per età, per formazione, a quella prima generazione per la quale il cinema fu, più che un’arte, un’evidenza; l’avevano conosciuto da sempre…Quel film che avrebbero voluto fare, o, più segretamente certo, avrebbero voluto vivere.
Pura delizia è la scelta dei tempi e modi verbali: il condizionale nel primo capitolo, quello dove viene immaginato l’appartamento modello; l’imperfetto nella parte centrale del romanzo, quando si racconta la continua frustrazione del desiderio; il futuro per l’ultima parte, quella dell’accettazione delle regole sociali e del “godimento insipido”.
P.S.
È chiaro e palese, e dichiarato, il debito di Vincenzo Latronico e del suo Le perfezioni: i suoi due protagonisti sono in pratica gli stessi di Perec ma declinati al Terzo Millennio, mezzo secolo dopo.
Come è chiaro e palese, e dichiarato, che Perec si genufletta a Flaubert non solo per la cura della sua lingua, per quella consistente vena di bovarismo presente nei suoi due protagonisti, per l’altra consistente vena che innesta Bouvard e Pécuchet, o meglio, il Dizionario dei luoghi comuni e il Catalogo delle idee chic nella società dei consumi e nelle agenzie pubblicitarie, ma anche per la costante ironia che frustra ma non condanna, giudica ma non sentenzia, per la “distanza ironica” che Perec adotta verso la sua ‘materia’.
PP.SS.
Perec è morto all’età di quarantasei anni: suo padre a trentuno, in guerra, quando il piccolo George ha solo quattro anni; la madre a trentadue muore ad Auschwitz, quando George ne ha pochi di più, nove. Entrambi i genitori erano ebrei (polacchi).
George Perec: 7 marzo 1936 – 3 marzo 1982.
Come trasformare un trattatello di sociologia in letteratura, una specie di sondaggio demografico in narrativa. E fare scuola, restare nella storia della letteratura.
I figli della piccola borghesia che diventano classe media. I desideri che si trasformano in bisogni. “Le cose” che diventano necessità, passaporto per una qual forma di felicità, o, se non altro, di realizzazione.
Il ventesimo secolo che diventa finalmente il nuovo secolo, la modernità (ma rimane quello breve):
Erano infatuati di libertà. Gli pareva che il mondo intero fosse fatto a loro guisa; vivevano al ritmo esatto della loro sete, e la loro esuberanza era inestinguibile; il loro entusiasmo non conosceva più limiti: avrebbero potuto camminare, correre, ballare, cantare tutta la notte…La loro vita sarebbe stata solo l’inesauribile somma di quei momenti propizi e che sarebbero stati sempre felici, perché meritavano di esserlo, perché la felicità era in loro.
Quando fu pubblicato, Perec aveva pochi anni più dei suoi ipotetici protagonisti: lui ventiquattro, lei ventuno, il nostro autore ventinove: il romanzo li segue per qualche anno e nell’epilogo sono diventati coetanei di chi li ha creati.
Ho scritto “ipotetici” nel senso di presunti in quanto Jérôme e Sylvie sono i due campioni demografici scelti da Perec per rappresentare la loro generazione, più che essere davvero protagonisti, sono rappresentativi di un gruppo sociale. E loro stessi si guadagnano da vivere facendo ricerche di mercato.
Provano a raggiungere ricchezza e felicità senza impegnarsi a tempo pieno, restando in qualche modo bohémien. Solo che chi non lavora non mangia, ma chi lavora non vive più.
Quando il tran tran parigino, per quanto all’insegna di libertà e tempo libero e amicizie coltivate con persone loro simili in aspirazioni e attività, si rivela a fondo perduto – non raggiungeranno mai il benessere cui ambiscono – decidono di abbracciare l’avventura all’estero. Paese nuovo e nuova vita: la Tunisia, purtroppo però la provincialissima Sfax non la capitale.
Ma anche questo capitolo della loro giovane vita si rivela senza sbocco. E quindi, dopo men di un anno, fanno bagagli e tornano a casa a Parigi. Pronti ad accettare il posto fisso in provincia. Ma una provincia meno provincia di quella tunisina, e un salario che garantisce agio e sicurezza.
È la prima generazione cresciuta a pane e celluloide, col cinema, immersa nei film:
C’era, soprattutto, il cinema. Ed era probabilmente il solo campo nel quale la loro sensibilità aveva imparato tutto. Qui, non dovevano niente a modelli. Appartenevano, per età, per formazione, a quella prima generazione per la quale il cinema fu, più che un’arte, un’evidenza; l’avevano conosciuto da sempre…Quel film che avrebbero voluto fare, o, più segretamente certo, avrebbero voluto vivere.
Pura delizia è la scelta dei tempi e modi verbali: il condizionale nel primo capitolo, quello dove viene immaginato l’appartamento modello; l’imperfetto nella parte centrale del romanzo, quando si racconta la continua frustrazione del desiderio; il futuro per l’ultima parte, quella dell’accettazione delle regole sociali e del “godimento insipido”.
P.S.
È chiaro e palese, e dichiarato, il debito di Vincenzo Latronico e del suo Le perfezioni: i suoi due protagonisti sono in pratica gli stessi di Perec ma declinati al Terzo Millennio, mezzo secolo dopo.
Come è chiaro e palese, e dichiarato, che Perec si genufletta a Flaubert non solo per la cura della sua lingua, per quella consistente vena di bovarismo presente nei suoi due protagonisti, per l’altra consistente vena che innesta Bouvard e Pécuchet, o meglio, il Dizionario dei luoghi comuni e il Catalogo delle idee chic nella società dei consumi e nelle agenzie pubblicitarie, ma anche per la costante ironia che frustra ma non condanna, giudica ma non sentenzia, per la “distanza ironica” che Perec adotta verso la sua ‘materia’.
PP.SS.
Perec è morto all’età di quarantasei anni: suo padre a trentuno, in guerra, quando il piccolo George ha solo quattro anni; la madre a trentadue muore ad Auschwitz, quando George ne ha pochi di più, nove. Entrambi i genitori erano ebrei (polacchi).
George Perec: 7 marzo 1936 – 3 marzo 1982.
February 2, 2022
Uzun zamandır bu kadar güzel, bu kadar uyandırıcı; kendine getirici bir kitap okumamıştım.
Gerçekliğin sahte yüzeyine bir an olsun dokunduğumu hissettirdi bana.
Her bir satırını, her bir cümlesini özümseye özümseye okudum.
Sanki milyonlarca kitabın polenlerinden özümsenmiş incecik; 105 sayfalık bir baldı ellerimdeki.
Gerçekliğin sahte yüzeyine bir an olsun dokunduğumu hissettirdi bana.
Her bir satırını, her bir cümlesini özümseye özümseye okudum.
Sanki milyonlarca kitabın polenlerinden özümsenmiş incecik; 105 sayfalık bir baldı ellerimdeki.
January 1, 2018
“Leur vie était comme une trop longue habitude, comme un ennui presque serein: une vie sans rien.”
The things we have, the things we say, the things we read, the things we see, the things we hear, the things we lack, the things we desire, the things we throw away, the things we keep…
Things are markers of identity, more than anything. When Neil MacGregor set out to describe A History of the World in 100 Objects he faced the entirety of humanity in the seemingly endless object collection of the British Museum. Each thing - each object - tells a story, describes a feeling, expresses a wish, a skill, a past and a future.
George Perec embraced that knowledge but chose a different path than the museum director - he created a text around the objects of an average French couple in the 1960s, zooming in to get a close-up where the museum director zoomed out to see the whole of world history.
And still, despite the narrow perspective, Perec wrote a universal story, linking specific items of a certain era with our timeless wishes and fears, our shifting identities and priorities. Things in time. We can locate the historical and geographical setting of the story by analysing the things that have an appearance: the sofa, the gramophone, the clothes, the books, the kitchenware - together they signify an individual, yet typical home.
The space we inhabit is home to our things, and prosperity or poverty shine through the crowded rooms we fill with our symbolical identity markers.
When we are young, we share things in groups. The things we talk about belong to a loosely knit community of still undefined lives, rushing towards future things. When we move on, and take stable jobs, move abroad, make acquisitions that transfer us to a different social environment, we change the people with whom we mingle as well. People and things must match.
When we travel, we bring things back to remind us of the trip, of the experience we had, of the people we met. In a new environment, things indicate what to expect, tell us the story of the place and its people. Some things are objectively valuable, and others have merely private meaning, fulfil their function only in the owner’s attachment to it.
This is the story of a couple. The reader follows their path from early adulthood to the phase when they settle definitely with well-paid jobs, about to embrace a life defined by ownership.
I found it rather strange to read a story completely without dialogue, just describing the different stages the two protagonists go through in their development towards middle class adulthood. They act as one, their decisions, thoughts, purchases - everything is done in common. After immersing myself in Henry Green’s world, which defines humanity almost entirely through the words we speak, I was intrigued to discover another way of describing everyday human life. By choosing things for their shared space, couples define themselves as a unity, rather than as individuals. Whoever has tried to buy a carpet for the living room or a lamp for the kitchen knows how much compromise and goodwill goes into the process of decision-making. Once the money is spent, both partners are usually willing to defend the carpet or lamp with all their verbal power. Things symbolise family community, and shared space.
Literature quite often (for good reasons) focuses on the dramatic changes in a single person’s story. Tension builds towards some kind of climax, after which the plot is wrapped up. Perec sees the world differently. Each step in life leads to new desire, and each environment contains its own things. The transitions are fluid, and there is only gradual change, often triggered by slowly growing boredom rather than drama. There is no big conflict or show-off needed to describe the essence of humanity. To go back to the 100 objects that tell the history of the world: a broken pot gives us just as interesting clues about life in the past as a masterpiece painting.
Among the things in my library, this was a quiet, yet lovable pleasure. Another thing to keep among my favourite possessions - books!
The things we have, the things we say, the things we read, the things we see, the things we hear, the things we lack, the things we desire, the things we throw away, the things we keep…
Things are markers of identity, more than anything. When Neil MacGregor set out to describe A History of the World in 100 Objects he faced the entirety of humanity in the seemingly endless object collection of the British Museum. Each thing - each object - tells a story, describes a feeling, expresses a wish, a skill, a past and a future.
George Perec embraced that knowledge but chose a different path than the museum director - he created a text around the objects of an average French couple in the 1960s, zooming in to get a close-up where the museum director zoomed out to see the whole of world history.
And still, despite the narrow perspective, Perec wrote a universal story, linking specific items of a certain era with our timeless wishes and fears, our shifting identities and priorities. Things in time. We can locate the historical and geographical setting of the story by analysing the things that have an appearance: the sofa, the gramophone, the clothes, the books, the kitchenware - together they signify an individual, yet typical home.
The space we inhabit is home to our things, and prosperity or poverty shine through the crowded rooms we fill with our symbolical identity markers.
When we are young, we share things in groups. The things we talk about belong to a loosely knit community of still undefined lives, rushing towards future things. When we move on, and take stable jobs, move abroad, make acquisitions that transfer us to a different social environment, we change the people with whom we mingle as well. People and things must match.
When we travel, we bring things back to remind us of the trip, of the experience we had, of the people we met. In a new environment, things indicate what to expect, tell us the story of the place and its people. Some things are objectively valuable, and others have merely private meaning, fulfil their function only in the owner’s attachment to it.
This is the story of a couple. The reader follows their path from early adulthood to the phase when they settle definitely with well-paid jobs, about to embrace a life defined by ownership.
I found it rather strange to read a story completely without dialogue, just describing the different stages the two protagonists go through in their development towards middle class adulthood. They act as one, their decisions, thoughts, purchases - everything is done in common. After immersing myself in Henry Green’s world, which defines humanity almost entirely through the words we speak, I was intrigued to discover another way of describing everyday human life. By choosing things for their shared space, couples define themselves as a unity, rather than as individuals. Whoever has tried to buy a carpet for the living room or a lamp for the kitchen knows how much compromise and goodwill goes into the process of decision-making. Once the money is spent, both partners are usually willing to defend the carpet or lamp with all their verbal power. Things symbolise family community, and shared space.
Literature quite often (for good reasons) focuses on the dramatic changes in a single person’s story. Tension builds towards some kind of climax, after which the plot is wrapped up. Perec sees the world differently. Each step in life leads to new desire, and each environment contains its own things. The transitions are fluid, and there is only gradual change, often triggered by slowly growing boredom rather than drama. There is no big conflict or show-off needed to describe the essence of humanity. To go back to the 100 objects that tell the history of the world: a broken pot gives us just as interesting clues about life in the past as a masterpiece painting.
Among the things in my library, this was a quiet, yet lovable pleasure. Another thing to keep among my favourite possessions - books!
October 16, 2023
This somewhat sad and dreamlike novel will never lose its relevance. As long as THINGS surround us. Often, when we own them, they reflect our personalties, tastes and habits. But, sometimes, THINGS symbolise a better life, even happiness. Then they are sought after and worshipped. In fact, they replace values. And, when, finally we get disapponted with our desire to possess this or that thing, all we are left with is emptiness. The emptiness will be there wherever you go. There is no escape.
'It now seemed to them that before - and each day, that before receded further into the past, as if their anterior life was falling slowly into the domain of legend, of the unreal, or of the shapeless - before, they had had at least a passion for possessing. Often it was wanting that had been all
their existence. They had felt drawn towards the future, impatient, consumed with desire.
And then what? What had they done? What had happened?
Something resembling a quiet and very gentle tragedy was entering the heart of their decelerating lives. They were adrift in the rubble of a very ancient dream, lost amidst unrecognisable ruins.
There was nothing left. They were at the finishing line, at the terminus of the doubtful trajectory which had been their life for six years, at the end of that uncertain quest which had taken them nowhere, which had taught them nothing.'
It is my second novel by Perec and I absolutely loved both of them.
'It now seemed to them that before - and each day, that before receded further into the past, as if their anterior life was falling slowly into the domain of legend, of the unreal, or of the shapeless - before, they had had at least a passion for possessing. Often it was wanting that had been all
their existence. They had felt drawn towards the future, impatient, consumed with desire.
And then what? What had they done? What had happened?
Something resembling a quiet and very gentle tragedy was entering the heart of their decelerating lives. They were adrift in the rubble of a very ancient dream, lost amidst unrecognisable ruins.
There was nothing left. They were at the finishing line, at the terminus of the doubtful trajectory which had been their life for six years, at the end of that uncertain quest which had taken them nowhere, which had taught them nothing.'
It is my second novel by Perec and I absolutely loved both of them.
May 27, 2025
This is George Perec’s "Things: A Story of the Sixties", or "Les Choses: Une histoire des années soixante" as is its French title. It came out in 1965, and it is the book that inspired Italian author Vincenzo Latronico’s "Perfection", published earlier this year.
I was led to it by Latronico’s acknowledgement that his own story wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for Perec’s literary attempt to record (in a writing style that is more of a sociological presentation than novelistic narration, one that had caused quite a stir back then) the longings, reality and disillusionment of a young couple’s coming of age in 20th century’s capitalistic, postwar society. “Perfection” does the same with their Millennial counterparts. In the former the characters work as market researchers for the then emerging advertising business and are members of the novel caste of bourgeois-bohemians. In the latter they are webpage designers living the life of digital nomads in Berlin.
I deliberately read the two books in sequence and comparing their structure, tone and context was inevitable. They are similar in all three. Both authors offer a non-judgmental account of their characters’ lives, focusing solely on the objects, routines and behaviors that are shaping them. They depict the vanity, superficiality, greed and emotional stagnation of these neophytes of consumerism; they demonstrate in detail how their wants have been drilled into their minds by every medium available.
In the 60s there were posters, magazines, the brightly lit storefronts; in the new millennium there are brightly lit screens of smartphones and laptops. In the 60s, the objects, les choses, held promises of happy, gratified lives; in the 00s, the carefully curated images on social media do the same. In both cases, the receivers of said promises are children of the middle class that have been programmed to always want more than their means can get them, to create new desires the minute the old ones are satiated. Their glimpses into a world of leisure and freedom, far from the monotony of a 9-to-5 working week, are a double-edged sword; in Perec’s words (roughly translated by myself), "they were immersed up to their necks in a dessert from which they would never taste nothing more than its crumbs."
The despair is common for both generations: they will never be happy enough with what they have. They cannot live as free agents, questers of fulfillment achieved on their own terms, since their self-perception is being molded by the images that an industrial system keeps seducing them with. There is a sea of objects they long to plunge into, but they are almost always outside their economic reach. Eventually, they will give up their freedom for jobs and lives that will award them with the coveted luxury of objects (in this book) and that of images (in Perfection). Perec and Latronico come up with debatably happy prospects for the rest of their characters’ lives. The irony is evident, and so is the sadness.
Both authors have painted sensitive portraits of their generations; both authors refrain from condemnation or praise, making the void of certain ‘modern’ lives even more glaring.
I was led to it by Latronico’s acknowledgement that his own story wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for Perec’s literary attempt to record (in a writing style that is more of a sociological presentation than novelistic narration, one that had caused quite a stir back then) the longings, reality and disillusionment of a young couple’s coming of age in 20th century’s capitalistic, postwar society. “Perfection” does the same with their Millennial counterparts. In the former the characters work as market researchers for the then emerging advertising business and are members of the novel caste of bourgeois-bohemians. In the latter they are webpage designers living the life of digital nomads in Berlin.
I deliberately read the two books in sequence and comparing their structure, tone and context was inevitable. They are similar in all three. Both authors offer a non-judgmental account of their characters’ lives, focusing solely on the objects, routines and behaviors that are shaping them. They depict the vanity, superficiality, greed and emotional stagnation of these neophytes of consumerism; they demonstrate in detail how their wants have been drilled into their minds by every medium available.
In the 60s there were posters, magazines, the brightly lit storefronts; in the new millennium there are brightly lit screens of smartphones and laptops. In the 60s, the objects, les choses, held promises of happy, gratified lives; in the 00s, the carefully curated images on social media do the same. In both cases, the receivers of said promises are children of the middle class that have been programmed to always want more than their means can get them, to create new desires the minute the old ones are satiated. Their glimpses into a world of leisure and freedom, far from the monotony of a 9-to-5 working week, are a double-edged sword; in Perec’s words (roughly translated by myself), "they were immersed up to their necks in a dessert from which they would never taste nothing more than its crumbs."
The despair is common for both generations: they will never be happy enough with what they have. They cannot live as free agents, questers of fulfillment achieved on their own terms, since their self-perception is being molded by the images that an industrial system keeps seducing them with. There is a sea of objects they long to plunge into, but they are almost always outside their economic reach. Eventually, they will give up their freedom for jobs and lives that will award them with the coveted luxury of objects (in this book) and that of images (in Perfection). Perec and Latronico come up with debatably happy prospects for the rest of their characters’ lives. The irony is evident, and so is the sadness.
Both authors have painted sensitive portraits of their generations; both authors refrain from condemnation or praise, making the void of certain ‘modern’ lives even more glaring.
November 28, 2017
از اون دسته آثاریه که خوندنش به یک مقدار بردباری احتیاج داره، چون تقریباً هیچ اتفاقی در کتاب نمیافته و فقط توصیفاتی پشت سر هم ردیف میشه. ولی همین توصیفات در به تصویر کشیدن روحیات قشر خاصی از نسل جوان واقعاً در حد شاهکاره. جالبه که توصیفاتی که یک نویسندهی فرانسوی در دههی 1960 از مفاهیم «مصرفگرایی» و «تازهبهدورانرسیدگی» ارائه میده چطور امروز برای خوانندهی ایرانی میتونه جذاب باشه
چند تکه از کتاب رو که میتونه هم در پی بردن به سبک نگارش نویسنده و نثر مترجم به کار بیاد و هم موضوع رو تا حدی روشن میکنه، اینجا میارم
نتایجی که به دست آوردند باارزش بود. در پرتو گرمی آغاز کار، راه خود را دنبال کردند. از اینجا و آنجا، در رشتههای جامعهشناسی، روانشناسی و آمار خوشه چیدند؛ اصطلاحات و نشانههای ویژهی آنها و فوت و فنهایی را که سودمند بود درست آموختند. از جملهی این فوت و فنها شیوهی خاصی بود که سیلوی در گذاشتن و برداشتن عینکش به کار میبرد، یا طرز مخصوص یادداشت برداشتن، ورق زدن یک گزارش، سخن گفتن و در گفتوگوی با کارفرمایان به لحنی که از آن چندان بوی بازجویی شنیده نشود تکیهکلامهایی چون «...این طور نیست؟...»، «به نظر من شاید...»، «... تا حدودی...»، «پرسشی است که میکنم...» را گنجاندن، در فرصت مقتضی از رایت میلز، ویلیام وایت، یا از این هم بهتر، از لازار سفلد، کانتریل یا هربرت هایمان، که از آثارشان سه صفحه هم نخوانده بودند، به طریقهای خاص شاهد آوردن
افسوس که جز یک عشق و سودا در دل نداشتند و آن سودای بهتر زیستن بود که آنها را از توش و توان میانداخت. در روزگار دانشجویی، چشمانداز دانشنامهای حقیر، شغلی در نوژان ـ سور ـ سن، شاتو ـ تیری، یا اتامپ و مزدی ناچیز، چنان بیمناکشان کرد که هنوز درست با هم آشنا نشده ـ در آن زمان ژروم بیستویک و سیلوی نوزده سال داشت ـ میتوان گفت بیآنکه حاجتی به شور و توافق داشته باشند، از تحصیلاتی، که هرگز به حقیقت سر نگرفته بودند، دست کشیدند. عطش دانستن در آنها نبود، بیآنکه از خود پنهان دارند که راه خطا میپویند و دیر یا زود پشیمان خواهند شد با حقارت بهمراتب بیشتری این نیاز را حس میکردند که اتاقی یک کم فراختر، آب لولهکشی، دوش، خوراک رنگارنگتر یا همان پرمایهتر از خوراکهای رستورانهای دانشگاهی، احیاناً یک ماشین، صفحههایی چند، تعطیلات سالیانه و چند دست لباس داشته باشند
چند تکه از کتاب رو که میتونه هم در پی بردن به سبک نگارش نویسنده و نثر مترجم به کار بیاد و هم موضوع رو تا حدی روشن میکنه، اینجا میارم
نتایجی که به دست آوردند باارزش بود. در پرتو گرمی آغاز کار، راه خود را دنبال کردند. از اینجا و آنجا، در رشتههای جامعهشناسی، روانشناسی و آمار خوشه چیدند؛ اصطلاحات و نشانههای ویژهی آنها و فوت و فنهایی را که سودمند بود درست آموختند. از جملهی این فوت و فنها شیوهی خاصی بود که سیلوی در گذاشتن و برداشتن عینکش به کار میبرد، یا طرز مخصوص یادداشت برداشتن، ورق زدن یک گزارش، سخن گفتن و در گفتوگوی با کارفرمایان به لحنی که از آن چندان بوی بازجویی شنیده نشود تکیهکلامهایی چون «...این طور نیست؟...»، «به نظر من شاید...»، «... تا حدودی...»، «پرسشی است که میکنم...» را گنجاندن، در فرصت مقتضی از رایت میلز، ویلیام وایت، یا از این هم بهتر، از لازار سفلد، کانتریل یا هربرت هایمان، که از آثارشان سه صفحه هم نخوانده بودند، به طریقهای خاص شاهد آوردن
افسوس که جز یک عشق و سودا در دل نداشتند و آن سودای بهتر زیستن بود که آنها را از توش و توان میانداخت. در روزگار دانشجویی، چشمانداز دانشنامهای حقیر، شغلی در نوژان ـ سور ـ سن، شاتو ـ تیری، یا اتامپ و مزدی ناچیز، چنان بیمناکشان کرد که هنوز درست با هم آشنا نشده ـ در آن زمان ژروم بیستویک و سیلوی نوزده سال داشت ـ میتوان گفت بیآنکه حاجتی به شور و توافق داشته باشند، از تحصیلاتی، که هرگز به حقیقت سر نگرفته بودند، دست کشیدند. عطش دانستن در آنها نبود، بیآنکه از خود پنهان دارند که راه خطا میپویند و دیر یا زود پشیمان خواهند شد با حقارت بهمراتب بیشتری این نیاز را حس میکردند که اتاقی یک کم فراختر، آب لولهکشی، دوش، خوراک رنگارنگتر یا همان پرمایهتر از خوراکهای رستورانهای دانشگاهی، احیاناً یک ماشین، صفحههایی چند، تعطیلات سالیانه و چند دست لباس داشته باشند
April 29, 2025
A vida deles era como que um hábito demasiado longo, como que um aborrecimento quase sereno: uma vida sem nada.
Georges Perec traça aqui o panorama social para um jovem casal dos anos 60, mas este livro poderia ter sido escrito nos anos 80 ou até nos nossos dias com alguns retoques e a substituição de umas marcas por outras mais modernas, porque o fito da sociedade em geral permanece o mesmo: ter coisas pela satisfação imediata ou como sinal de realização pessoal.
A impaciência – reflectiram Jérôme e Sylvie – é uma virtude do século XX. Aos 20 anos, quando viram, ou pensaram ver, o que podia ser a vida, a soma das alegrias que ela encerrava, as infinitas conquistas que prometia, etc., perceberam que não teriam força para esperar. Podiam, como os outros, triunfar; mas eles só queriam ter triunfado. É sem dúvida nesse aspecto que eles eram o que se costumava chamar intelectuais.Com efeito, tudo contribuía para não lhes dar razão, e em primeiro lugar a própria vida. Queriam desfrutar da vida, mas, em todo o lado à sua volta, o desgrute confundia-se com propriedade.
Deste autor tinha lido anteriormente “Um Gabinete de Amador”, a obra mais ecfrástica – e não no bom sentido - que já me passou pela mãos e agora, com este tira-teimas, admito que compreendo o carisma da sua produção, mas a mim não me toca nem me estimula a massa cinzenta. Perec é, sem dúvida, o rei das listas, transformando grande parte do livro em extensas enumerações, algumas mais eficazes, outras mais monótonas, mas sempre para ilustrar o assoberbamento dos bens materiais.
As paredes estariam, de alto a baixo, atapetadas de livros e revistas, havendo, aqui e ali, para quebrar a sucessão de encadernações e brochuras, algumas gravuras, desenhos, fotografias – o ‘São Jerónimo’ de Antonello de Messina, um pormenor do ‘Triunfo de São Jorge’, uma prisão de Piranesi, um retrato de Ingres, uma pequena paisagem de Klee a bico de pena, uma fotografia de cor bistre de Renan no seu gabinete de trabalho no Collège de France, um grande armazém de Steinberg, o ‘Melanchton’ de Cranach (…) Gamelas de madeira, grandes estojos para canetas, copos de todos os tipos contendo lápis, clipes, agrafos, grampos.
Disse Perec sobre esta obra que quem achar que é sobre o consumismo, não percebeu nada. Correndo o risco de também não ter percebido nada, porque como leitora tenho esse direito, diria que “As Coisas” é uma reflexão sobre um futuro idealizado à saída do secundário (narrado no condicional), a realidade da vida adulta (narrada no pretérito imperfeito) e o futuro concreto (narrado no futuro), exprimindo as aspirações de juventude, a etapa em que resistem a vender a maior parte do seu tempo a um empregador em troca do conforto material e a fase em que se resignam a ser como os outros, tudo isto num período de apenas seis anos.
Abririam a correspondência, folheariam os jornais. Acenderiam um primeiro cigarro. Sairiam. O trabalho tomar-lhes-ia poucas horas, de manhã. Encontrar-se-iam para almoçar, uma sanduíche ou um grelhado, consoante a disposição; tomariam um café numa esplanada, depois voltariam para casa, a pé, com todo o vagar. O apartamento raramente estaria arrumado, mas seria nessa desarrumação que residiria o seu maior encanto. Cuidariam pouco dele: limitar-se-iam a viver nele.
Se há por aí algum leitor aborrecido com a sua vidinha, desesperançado com a modorra dos dias iguais uns aos outros, ler “As Coisas” pode ser o tilt perfeito para a depressão. Ou então, não, e servir-lhe de validação, visto que a mesmice não é um fenómeno actual e a desgraça adora companhia.
A vida deles escoava-se.
Georges Perec traça aqui o panorama social para um jovem casal dos anos 60, mas este livro poderia ter sido escrito nos anos 80 ou até nos nossos dias com alguns retoques e a substituição de umas marcas por outras mais modernas, porque o fito da sociedade em geral permanece o mesmo: ter coisas pela satisfação imediata ou como sinal de realização pessoal.
A impaciência – reflectiram Jérôme e Sylvie – é uma virtude do século XX. Aos 20 anos, quando viram, ou pensaram ver, o que podia ser a vida, a soma das alegrias que ela encerrava, as infinitas conquistas que prometia, etc., perceberam que não teriam força para esperar. Podiam, como os outros, triunfar; mas eles só queriam ter triunfado. É sem dúvida nesse aspecto que eles eram o que se costumava chamar intelectuais.Com efeito, tudo contribuía para não lhes dar razão, e em primeiro lugar a própria vida. Queriam desfrutar da vida, mas, em todo o lado à sua volta, o desgrute confundia-se com propriedade.
Deste autor tinha lido anteriormente “Um Gabinete de Amador”, a obra mais ecfrástica – e não no bom sentido - que já me passou pela mãos e agora, com este tira-teimas, admito que compreendo o carisma da sua produção, mas a mim não me toca nem me estimula a massa cinzenta. Perec é, sem dúvida, o rei das listas, transformando grande parte do livro em extensas enumerações, algumas mais eficazes, outras mais monótonas, mas sempre para ilustrar o assoberbamento dos bens materiais.
As paredes estariam, de alto a baixo, atapetadas de livros e revistas, havendo, aqui e ali, para quebrar a sucessão de encadernações e brochuras, algumas gravuras, desenhos, fotografias – o ‘São Jerónimo’ de Antonello de Messina, um pormenor do ‘Triunfo de São Jorge’, uma prisão de Piranesi, um retrato de Ingres, uma pequena paisagem de Klee a bico de pena, uma fotografia de cor bistre de Renan no seu gabinete de trabalho no Collège de France, um grande armazém de Steinberg, o ‘Melanchton’ de Cranach (…) Gamelas de madeira, grandes estojos para canetas, copos de todos os tipos contendo lápis, clipes, agrafos, grampos.
Disse Perec sobre esta obra que quem achar que é sobre o consumismo, não percebeu nada. Correndo o risco de também não ter percebido nada, porque como leitora tenho esse direito, diria que “As Coisas” é uma reflexão sobre um futuro idealizado à saída do secundário (narrado no condicional), a realidade da vida adulta (narrada no pretérito imperfeito) e o futuro concreto (narrado no futuro), exprimindo as aspirações de juventude, a etapa em que resistem a vender a maior parte do seu tempo a um empregador em troca do conforto material e a fase em que se resignam a ser como os outros, tudo isto num período de apenas seis anos.
Abririam a correspondência, folheariam os jornais. Acenderiam um primeiro cigarro. Sairiam. O trabalho tomar-lhes-ia poucas horas, de manhã. Encontrar-se-iam para almoçar, uma sanduíche ou um grelhado, consoante a disposição; tomariam um café numa esplanada, depois voltariam para casa, a pé, com todo o vagar. O apartamento raramente estaria arrumado, mas seria nessa desarrumação que residiria o seu maior encanto. Cuidariam pouco dele: limitar-se-iam a viver nele.
Se há por aí algum leitor aborrecido com a sua vidinha, desesperançado com a modorra dos dias iguais uns aos outros, ler “As Coisas” pode ser o tilt perfeito para a depressão. Ou então, não, e servir-lhe de validação, visto que a mesmice não é um fenómeno actual e a desgraça adora companhia.
A vida deles escoava-se.
August 16, 2019
Perec’ten okuduğum ilk kitap. Kısa bir roman. “Şeyler” sadece eşya veya cansız cisimleri anlatmıyor, hatta daha çok canlı duyguları, düşünceleri, kaçışları, umut ve umutsuzlukları, beklentileri, hayal kırıklıklarını, kısaca “herşey”i anlatıyor. Kitabın alt başlığında yazdığı gibi 60’lı yılların bir hikayesi anlatılmış olsa da bu hikaye insanın olduğu her mekan ve zamanda, 70’lerde, 90’larda, 2000’lerde hatta 60’ların öncelerinde de geçerli bir hikaye.
Yazarın keskin gözlem gücü, tanımlamalarındaki gerçeklik ve canlılık, kıvrak kalemi beni çok etkiledi. “Gülerken ısırmak” diye bir deyim vardır ya, Georges Perec tam da bunu yapıyor. Yükselirken alçalıyorsunuz, kabarırken sönüyorsunuz, ısınırken üşüyorsunuz, ya da tam tersi. Sanırım okuyucuların büyük bir kısmı Jerome-Sylvie çifti ile bir veya daha çok sayfada kendilerinden bazı “şeyler” görecekler. Bu çiftin yaşam düşlerinden kendi payıma epeyce “şeyler” buldum.
Sıraya Perec’in diğer kitapları girdi bile. Öneririm.
Yazarın keskin gözlem gücü, tanımlamalarındaki gerçeklik ve canlılık, kıvrak kalemi beni çok etkiledi. “Gülerken ısırmak” diye bir deyim vardır ya, Georges Perec tam da bunu yapıyor. Yükselirken alçalıyorsunuz, kabarırken sönüyorsunuz, ısınırken üşüyorsunuz, ya da tam tersi. Sanırım okuyucuların büyük bir kısmı Jerome-Sylvie çifti ile bir veya daha çok sayfada kendilerinden bazı “şeyler” görecekler. Bu çiftin yaşam düşlerinden kendi payıma epeyce “şeyler” buldum.
Sıraya Perec’in diğer kitapları girdi bile. Öneririm.
May 15, 2022
مردی که خواب است برای من یکی از عجیبترین و محبوبترین فیلمهای تاریخ سینماست. یک ویرانی مطلق و ترکیب حیرتانگیزی از سینما و ادبیات. کاری که فرانسوی در دهه شصت و هفتاد بسیار برایش سعی کردند و فیلمهای درخشانی مثل سال گذشته در مارین باد و فیلم بالا را ساختند. فیلمی با ضمیر دوم شخص. بعد از حیرتزدگی پایان فیلم اولین سوال این بود که کدام دیوانهی نابغهای همچین دنیایی را ساخته؟ فیلم بر اساس رمانی بود از ژرژ پرک
دو نمایشنامه از او کافی بود تا بدانم همواره در یادم ماندگار خواهد شد. نمایشنامهی اضافه حقوق که حمله و تهاجم به دستورات و مبانی تیاتر است. یک روایت از درخواستهای احمقانهی اداری با شخصیتهایی به شرح زیر: احتمالات فرضیه مثبت و منفی انتخاب و نتیجه. و البته نمایش سیب زمینی که درخشان حضور و حالات انسان مدرن را مرور میکند. انسانی محبوس و نامیده شده به دیوانه که برای فرار از با خود بودن کوهی از سیبزمینیها را پوست میکند
و چیزها. چیزها شرح یک زوج جوان است در جهانی که خیالهایش هم مادی شدهاند. زوجی پر از آرزو و اوهام. پرک نشان میدهد چگونه انسان فاقد رویاهای درست معاصر در منجلاب آرزویهای دروغین گرفتار شده که حاصلش توجه و علاقهی ترسناک به چیزهاست. چیزهایی که غیرقابل دستیابی هستند زیرا حتی اگر به آنها برسیم هم عوض و به چیز دیگری مبدل میشوند. پرک زوج خود را آدمهایی ساده و بدون خصوصیات خاصی روایت میکند تا یادمان باشد همهی ما همین دو نفریم. به نقل از یک نقد: داستانی از الینه شدن انسان در چیزها
دو نمایشنامه از او کافی بود تا بدانم همواره در یادم ماندگار خواهد شد. نمایشنامهی اضافه حقوق که حمله و تهاجم به دستورات و مبانی تیاتر است. یک روایت از درخواستهای احمقانهی اداری با شخصیتهایی به شرح زیر: احتمالات فرضیه مثبت و منفی انتخاب و نتیجه. و البته نمایش سیب زمینی که درخشان حضور و حالات انسان مدرن را مرور میکند. انسانی محبوس و نامیده شده به دیوانه که برای فرار از با خود بودن کوهی از سیبزمینیها را پوست میکند
و چیزها. چیزها شرح یک زوج جوان است در جهانی که خیالهایش هم مادی شدهاند. زوجی پر از آرزو و اوهام. پرک نشان میدهد چگونه انسان فاقد رویاهای درست معاصر در منجلاب آرزویهای دروغین گرفتار شده که حاصلش توجه و علاقهی ترسناک به چیزهاست. چیزهایی که غیرقابل دستیابی هستند زیرا حتی اگر به آنها برسیم هم عوض و به چیز دیگری مبدل میشوند. پرک زوج خود را آدمهایی ساده و بدون خصوصیات خاصی روایت میکند تا یادمان باشد همهی ما همین دو نفریم. به نقل از یک نقد: داستانی از الینه شدن انسان در چیزها
August 15, 2022
Sorprendente y magnífica la propuesta de Perec.
Me ha gustado la forma de platearlo, muchos sustantivos y adjetivos que al comienzo del libro no sabes a donde te llevan. Hacia mitad de la novela comienzas a entender lo que antes intuías un poco.
Me ha gustado también la sencilla forma de llevarte a su terreno y a sus reflexiones, buena parte de las cuales casi todos nos hemos hecho en algún momento, resumo un poco: ¿a que le doy prioridad, a mi tiempo libre, o a un gran puesto de trabajo y buenos ingresos?¿dónde pongo el límite en ese contrato?¿como afectan mis aspiraciones a quienes me rodean? Filosofía fina novelada.
A pesar de haber leído antes a Perec, desconocía que era sociólogo titulado. Esa formación previa, creo que saca lo mejor de él en sus obras, ese conocimiento de la persona, aquí en Las cosas, desde luego, con esas dudas existenciales que le surgen a una pareja joven y que se va metiendo en la madurez, pero también el perfecto conocimiento de la persona se ve en otras obras suyas, La vida instrucciones de uso, etc.
Breve, bueno, sacrifica los detalles de la relación de pareja de los protas en pro de no desviar la atención del lector y las preguntas que te lanza.
Por gustarme, hasta el título va perfecto con ese materialismo que el autor ya cuestiona desde el minuto 1 del libro.
Me ha gustado la forma de platearlo, muchos sustantivos y adjetivos que al comienzo del libro no sabes a donde te llevan. Hacia mitad de la novela comienzas a entender lo que antes intuías un poco.
Me ha gustado también la sencilla forma de llevarte a su terreno y a sus reflexiones, buena parte de las cuales casi todos nos hemos hecho en algún momento, resumo un poco: ¿a que le doy prioridad, a mi tiempo libre, o a un gran puesto de trabajo y buenos ingresos?¿dónde pongo el límite en ese contrato?¿como afectan mis aspiraciones a quienes me rodean? Filosofía fina novelada.
A pesar de haber leído antes a Perec, desconocía que era sociólogo titulado. Esa formación previa, creo que saca lo mejor de él en sus obras, ese conocimiento de la persona, aquí en Las cosas, desde luego, con esas dudas existenciales que le surgen a una pareja joven y que se va metiendo en la madurez, pero también el perfecto conocimiento de la persona se ve en otras obras suyas, La vida instrucciones de uso, etc.
Breve, bueno, sacrifica los detalles de la relación de pareja de los protas en pro de no desviar la atención del lector y las preguntas que te lanza.
Por gustarme, hasta el título va perfecto con ese materialismo que el autor ya cuestiona desde el minuto 1 del libro.
April 18, 2020
This seems to be the debut of Perec (1936-1982), and it was an instant hit. It takes a while before you're into the story, but then it turns out to be the story of a pair of students, Jerome and Sylvie, that dream of a rich life, - rich in the material sense of the word: to have beautiful, valuable things. Perec describes nicely how their dream remains unfulfilled and how they are slowly digested by frustration; only in the end there's a slight positive evolution (but that remains rather vague). The story struck me by the precise description of the consumerism mentality: "the things" dominate the story to the extent that there is not even a single dialogue in it, Jerome and Sylvie exist only in collecting things. In some way this story strongly reminded me of "L'education sentimentale" by Flaubert, another story about a failed life.
March 30, 2020
Overwhelming sorrow.
Here is the story of a young couple searching for adventure and novelty, growing materialistic and bored and sated.
A perfunctory overview can hardly give an account on the silent melancholy howling in those pages.
Linked Soundtrack :
Electric Flesh - Jean-Michel Jarre.
---------------------
Une tristesse qui prend à la gorge.
Le récit de vie d'un jeune couple en quête d'aventure qui lentement va s'enferrer dans les possessions matérielles et l'assurance du confort et de l'ennui (la sécurité de l'emploi en somme...).
Un résumé de quelques lignes peut difficilement rendre compte de la mélancolie qui exsude de ces pages...
Musique jumelée :
Pleasure Principle - Jean-Michel Jarre
Here is the story of a young couple searching for adventure and novelty, growing materialistic and bored and sated.
A perfunctory overview can hardly give an account on the silent melancholy howling in those pages.
Linked Soundtrack :
Electric Flesh - Jean-Michel Jarre.
---------------------
Une tristesse qui prend à la gorge.
Le récit de vie d'un jeune couple en quête d'aventure qui lentement va s'enferrer dans les possessions matérielles et l'assurance du confort et de l'ennui (la sécurité de l'emploi en somme...).
Un résumé de quelques lignes peut difficilement rendre compte de la mélancolie qui exsude de ces pages...
Musique jumelée :
Pleasure Principle - Jean-Michel Jarre
January 29, 2019
Essere è avere
Parigi, anni ’60.
Jérome e Sylvie, poco più che ventenni, vivono in un piccolo e disordinato appartamento e per campare si dichiarano psicosociologi in realtà si occupano di sondaggi.
I due viaggiano s’un comune binario che li ossessiona: il desiderio (irrazionale) di una ricchezza improvvisa, caduta dal cielo.
Possedere cose è il pensiero fisso che li tormenta ma non li sprona ad andare oltre l’immaginazione, il sogno ad occhi aperti.
Le giornate si trascinano e si consolida una routine che li vede arenarsi in un lavoro consono più a due universitari che ad una coppia intenzionata a raggiungere un obiettivo materiale.
I mesi diventano anni e si arenano nell’inadeguatezza; come intestarditi a voler indossare sempre lo stesso vestito mentre la taglia non è più la stessa.
Le loro frustrazioni si rifugiano e si condividono nel gruppo di amici con cui si passano serate al cinema, cene in stanze fumose e con i quali ci si annebbia e anestetizza nell’alcool.
Sono anni della guerra franco- algerina; anni in cui cominciano movimenti politico- sociali importanti.
Jérome e Sylvie partecipano ai cortei, gridano slogan ma le loro voci sono più un uniformarsi alla massa che un vero sentire:
” Milioni di uomini si sono battuti, e si stanno ancora battendo, per il pane. Jérome e Sylvie non credevano certo che si potesse lottare per i divani Chesterfield. Eppure sarebbe stata proprio questa la parola d’ordine che li avrebbe più facilmente mobilitati. Nulla li riguardava -così pensavano -nei programmi, nei piani: s’infischiavano delle pensioni anticipate, delle vacanze più lunghe, dei pasti di mezzogiorno gratuiti, delle settimane di trenta ore. Volevano la sovrabbondanza (…)”
La verità è che la ricchezza si calcifica al centro di ogni cosa tanto d'amarla più che la loro vita stessa.
Non un pamphlet anticapitalista ma un fermo immagine s’una generazione che si ritrova immersa in quell’improvvisa abbondanza che appare sempre più accessibile:
basterebbe allungare una mano.
Non un romanzo in senso stretto ma quasi una cronaca sociologica romanzata.
Cose, cose, cose, cose, cose…e tanto, tanto vuoto.
” Così fantasticavano, i felici imbecilli: eredità, lotterie, vincite alle corse. La banca di Montecarlo saltava in aria; in un vagone deserto, una sacca dimenticata nella reticella: risme di bigliettoni; in una dozzina di ostriche, una collana di perle. Oppure un paio di poltrone Boulle da un contadino analfabeta del Poitou.
Grandi slanci li esaltavano. Talvolta per ore intere, per giorni e giorni, una voglia frenetica di esser ricchi, subito, immensamente, per sempre, si impadroniva di loro e non li abbandonava più. Era un desiderio folle, morboso, opprimente, che sembrava governare i loro minimi gesti. La fortuna diventava il loro oppio. Se ne inebriavano. Si abbandonavano senza ritegno ai deliri dell’immaginazione. Dovunque andassero, ormai badavano solo al denaro. Avevano incubi di milioni, di gioielli.”
Parigi, anni ’60.
Jérome e Sylvie, poco più che ventenni, vivono in un piccolo e disordinato appartamento e per campare si dichiarano psicosociologi in realtà si occupano di sondaggi.
I due viaggiano s’un comune binario che li ossessiona: il desiderio (irrazionale) di una ricchezza improvvisa, caduta dal cielo.
Possedere cose è il pensiero fisso che li tormenta ma non li sprona ad andare oltre l’immaginazione, il sogno ad occhi aperti.
Le giornate si trascinano e si consolida una routine che li vede arenarsi in un lavoro consono più a due universitari che ad una coppia intenzionata a raggiungere un obiettivo materiale.
I mesi diventano anni e si arenano nell’inadeguatezza; come intestarditi a voler indossare sempre lo stesso vestito mentre la taglia non è più la stessa.
Le loro frustrazioni si rifugiano e si condividono nel gruppo di amici con cui si passano serate al cinema, cene in stanze fumose e con i quali ci si annebbia e anestetizza nell’alcool.
Sono anni della guerra franco- algerina; anni in cui cominciano movimenti politico- sociali importanti.
Jérome e Sylvie partecipano ai cortei, gridano slogan ma le loro voci sono più un uniformarsi alla massa che un vero sentire:
” Milioni di uomini si sono battuti, e si stanno ancora battendo, per il pane. Jérome e Sylvie non credevano certo che si potesse lottare per i divani Chesterfield. Eppure sarebbe stata proprio questa la parola d’ordine che li avrebbe più facilmente mobilitati. Nulla li riguardava -così pensavano -nei programmi, nei piani: s’infischiavano delle pensioni anticipate, delle vacanze più lunghe, dei pasti di mezzogiorno gratuiti, delle settimane di trenta ore. Volevano la sovrabbondanza (…)”
La verità è che la ricchezza si calcifica al centro di ogni cosa tanto d'amarla più che la loro vita stessa.
Non un pamphlet anticapitalista ma un fermo immagine s’una generazione che si ritrova immersa in quell’improvvisa abbondanza che appare sempre più accessibile:
basterebbe allungare una mano.
Non un romanzo in senso stretto ma quasi una cronaca sociologica romanzata.
Cose, cose, cose, cose, cose…e tanto, tanto vuoto.
” Così fantasticavano, i felici imbecilli: eredità, lotterie, vincite alle corse. La banca di Montecarlo saltava in aria; in un vagone deserto, una sacca dimenticata nella reticella: risme di bigliettoni; in una dozzina di ostriche, una collana di perle. Oppure un paio di poltrone Boulle da un contadino analfabeta del Poitou.
Grandi slanci li esaltavano. Talvolta per ore intere, per giorni e giorni, una voglia frenetica di esser ricchi, subito, immensamente, per sempre, si impadroniva di loro e non li abbandonava più. Era un desiderio folle, morboso, opprimente, che sembrava governare i loro minimi gesti. La fortuna diventava il loro oppio. Se ne inebriavano. Si abbandonavano senza ritegno ai deliri dell’immaginazione. Dovunque andassero, ormai badavano solo al denaro. Avevano incubi di milioni, di gioielli.”
June 17, 2024
60'ların paris'inin arka planında geçen kitapta, güzel eşyalarla dolu bir hayat arzusunun hayallerine hükmettiği genç bir çift olan jérôme ve sylvie'nin hayatını izliyoruz. hayal edilen dairelerin gösterişli mobilyalarından giymeyi arzuladıkları modaya uygun kıyafetlere kadar her bir ayrıntı, onların materyalist arzularının hem cazibesini hem de boşluğunu yansıtan bir hassasiyetle işlenmiş. bu bize iki ucu keskin bir bıçak görevi görerek çiftin özlemlerinin aynı zamanda ne kadar yüzeysel olduğunu vurguluyor. kitabın en çarpıcı yönlerinden biri, 60'lı yıllarda yaşanan ekonomik büyüme ve toplumsal değişimin keskin gözlemlerle yansıtılmış olması. jérôme ve sylvie, tüketim yolunda mutluluk vaadiyle büyülenmiş bir neslin simgesi, yaşamları daima bir özlem ve geçici tatmin döngüsünde. zira maddi malların bolluğunun çoğu zaman manevi ıssızlığa yol açtığı modern dünyamızın paradoksu her daim zamansızdır, bu yüzden kitap bize bir ayna görevi görüyor.
tüketim kültürünün kalbindeki boşluğu keşfettiğim bu okumayı herkese öneririm.
tüketim kültürünün kalbindeki boşluğu keşfettiğim bu okumayı herkese öneririm.
February 4, 2012
Perhaps the most depressing, cynical and accurate book on the middle class.
December 19, 2025
Uncle Charles would have been very pleased with this novel, the first one Georges Perec was able to publish.
The plot takes place in the early 60’s, the formative years of Jérôme and Sylvie, both in their twenties. They are trying to make a living and build their own lives. What keeps them busy is the wish to own things. Their identity consists of what they want to have. They want money but they are not willing to work hard for it. They want to be rich, not to become rich…
Jérôme and Sylvie, their friends and the people they look up to, all seem to be interchangeable. You don’t get to know anything about qualities they may have. They have positions and things, objects, instead. The story of Jérôme and Sylvie always takes place in the past or the future. They are never here, now, at this moment. They aren’t truly engaged with others, the society or even with themselves. In fact, their elusiveness made it even for me, as a reader, impossible to feel connected to them. I almost stopped reading…
… but I didn’t, because of uncle Charles. “Wait a minute!”, I hear you say, “Who’s uncle Charles?”. Well: Just a few months ago I’ve read Robet-Jan Henkes’s book ‘Vertalen wat er niet staat’ (‘Translating what isn’t said’). An inspiring book about language and translation. That was the first time I’ve heard of ‘The Uncle Charles Principle’. According to this literary principle the voice, the vocabulary and the perspective of a specific character, subtly merges their language with the narration to reveal the psychology of a character without explicitly telling. This is what made this novel so powerful: The story of Jérôme and Sylvie is being told like they would have told it. By reading it you get to know them even though Perec didn’t say a word about their personalities. This book IS Jérôme and Sylvie. That’s why I kept reading this novel and loved it, despite the fact that I felt like turning my back on Jérôme and Sylvie. Perec’s objective dissection of their lives leads to the feeling that owning things, even wealth, cannot fill existentially empty people…
P.S. The subtitle of this novel is ‘Une histoire des années soixante’ and I must believe Perec, but at the same time it reads at more as a story of our times and/or as a dystopic novel…
A reproduction Jérôme and Sylvie want to have at home: ‘Saint Jerome in his Study’ by Antonello da Messina, 1475, p.13 (Via Wikimedia Commons)
Quotes
The plot takes place in the early 60’s, the formative years of Jérôme and Sylvie, both in their twenties. They are trying to make a living and build their own lives. What keeps them busy is the wish to own things. Their identity consists of what they want to have. They want money but they are not willing to work hard for it. They want to be rich, not to become rich…
Jérôme and Sylvie, their friends and the people they look up to, all seem to be interchangeable. You don’t get to know anything about qualities they may have. They have positions and things, objects, instead. The story of Jérôme and Sylvie always takes place in the past or the future. They are never here, now, at this moment. They aren’t truly engaged with others, the society or even with themselves. In fact, their elusiveness made it even for me, as a reader, impossible to feel connected to them. I almost stopped reading…
… but I didn’t, because of uncle Charles. “Wait a minute!”, I hear you say, “Who’s uncle Charles?”. Well: Just a few months ago I’ve read Robet-Jan Henkes’s book ‘Vertalen wat er niet staat’ (‘Translating what isn’t said’). An inspiring book about language and translation. That was the first time I’ve heard of ‘The Uncle Charles Principle’. According to this literary principle the voice, the vocabulary and the perspective of a specific character, subtly merges their language with the narration to reveal the psychology of a character without explicitly telling. This is what made this novel so powerful: The story of Jérôme and Sylvie is being told like they would have told it. By reading it you get to know them even though Perec didn’t say a word about their personalities. This book IS Jérôme and Sylvie. That’s why I kept reading this novel and loved it, despite the fact that I felt like turning my back on Jérôme and Sylvie. Perec’s objective dissection of their lives leads to the feeling that owning things, even wealth, cannot fill existentially empty people…
P.S. The subtitle of this novel is ‘Une histoire des années soixante’ and I must believe Perec, but at the same time it reads at more as a story of our times and/or as a dystopic novel…
A reproduction Jérôme and Sylvie want to have at home: ‘Saint Jerome in his Study’ by Antonello da Messina, 1475, p.13 (Via Wikimedia Commons)
Quotes
'Il leur semblerait parfois qu'une vie entière pourrait harmonieusement s'écouler entre ces murs couverts de livres, entre ces objets si parfaitement domestiqués qu'ils auraient fini par les croire de tout temps créés à leur unique usage, entre ces choses belles et simples, douces, lumineuses.' p.16
'Ces choses-là ne sont pas faciles, au contraire. Pour ce jeune couple, qui n'était pas riche, mais qui désirait l'être, simplement parce qu'il n'était pas pauvre, il n'existait pas de situation plus inconfortable.' p.17
'L'immensité de leurs désirs les paralysait.' p.23
'L'impatience, se dirent Jérôme et Sylvie, est une vertu du XXe siècle. A vingt ans, quand ils eurent vu, ou cru voir, ce que la vie pouvait être, la somme de bonheurs qu'elle recelait, les infinies conquêtes qu'elle permettait, etc., ils surent qu'ils n'auraient pas la force d'attendre. Ils pouvaient, tout comme les autres, arriver; mais ils ne voulaient qu'être arrivés. C'est en cela sans doute qu'ils étaient ce qu'il est convenu d'appeler des intellectuels.' p.73
'Il suffisait que quelque chose craque, un jour, qu'une agence ferme ses portes, ou qu'on les trouve trop vieux, ou trop irréguliers dans leur travail, ou que l'un d'eux tombe malade, pour que tout s'écroule. Ils n'avaient rien devant eux, rien derrière eux. Ils pensaient souvent à ce sujet d'angoisse.' p.78
'Ils n'éprouvaient ni joie, ni tristesse, ni même ennui, mais il pouvait leur arriver de se demander s'ils existaient encore, s'ils existaient vraiment' p.138
February 3, 2022
Rzeczy to opowieść o straconym pokoleniu, odciętym od tradycji, pozbawionym kapitału kulturowego a zwłaszcza ekonomicznego, żyjąca życiem na niby. Brzmi znajomo?
Rzeczy to opowieść o machinie kapitalizmu, która wciąga młodych ludzi w swoje tryby, pozbawia ich pewnych punktów odniesienia Nieustannie dostarcza impulsów podsycających pragnienie posiadania. Relatable
„Nieprzyjaciel był niewidzialny. A raczej był w nich samych, przeżerał ich, zatruł, spustoszył. Dali się nabić w butelkę. Bezwolne ludziki, refleksy świata, który kpił z nich sobie. Zapadnięci po szyję w cieście, z którego dostaną im się tylko okruchy”
Rzeczy to opowieść o machinie kapitalizmu, która wciąga młodych ludzi w swoje tryby, pozbawia ich pewnych punktów odniesienia Nieustannie dostarcza impulsów podsycających pragnienie posiadania. Relatable
„Nieprzyjaciel był niewidzialny. A raczej był w nich samych, przeżerał ich, zatruł, spustoszył. Dali się nabić w butelkę. Bezwolne ludziki, refleksy świata, który kpił z nich sobie. Zapadnięci po szyję w cieście, z którego dostaną im się tylko okruchy”
April 5, 2016
Mutluluk amaç değil araç !
Perec, bu kitabı tüketim toplumunu eleştirmek için yazmadığını söylese de, bence yerden yere vuruyor. Kendimden ve günümüz insanından çok şey buldum.
Her şeyi bırakıp, kapitalizm çarkından çıkıp taşrada kendi halinde yaşama hayallerinizi de yerle yeksan edecektir kitap. Ekşi'de beğendiğim bir yorum:
https://eksisozluk.com/entry/9895219
Perec, bu kitabı tüketim toplumunu eleştirmek için yazmadığını söylese de, bence yerden yere vuruyor. Kendimden ve günümüz insanından çok şey buldum.
Her şeyi bırakıp, kapitalizm çarkından çıkıp taşrada kendi halinde yaşama hayallerinizi de yerle yeksan edecektir kitap. Ekşi'de beğendiğim bir yorum:
https://eksisozluk.com/entry/9895219
February 28, 2019
"... yaşamları salt bu güzel zamanların bitmez toplamı olacakmış, her zaman mutlu olacaklarmış gibi gelirdi onlara, çünkü mutluluğa hazır olmayı biliyorlardı, çünkü mutluluk içlerindeydi."
"Gerçek gidişler uzun zaman önceden hazırlanır. Bu öyle olmamıştı. Daha çok bir kaçışı andırıyordu."
"Gerçek gidişler uzun zaman önceden hazırlanır. Bu öyle olmamıştı. Daha çok bir kaçışı andırıyordu."
Read
May 24, 2025[ In a classroom, somewhere in Paris ]
Teacher :
Alright, kids, today we discuss about Perec's Les Choses. I hope you all read the book, otherwise, les choses will end very quickly, and I'II be quite disappointed. You don't want me disappointed, right ?
Kids:
Nooooooon !!!!!
Chosinel :
M-sieur.....
Teacher : Oui, Chosinel, I knew you'II be the first. Alors, dis-moi, quelles choses do you have on your mind ?
Chosinel : Bah... en fait...I didn't finish the book...
Teacher : C'est pas grave, Chosinel. But pourquoi ?
Chosinel : I....I....I had d'autres chats à fouetter....
Teacher : Chosinel, in this case, let someone else speak. The endings are always important. Chosette, maybe you ?
Chosette : M-sieur, I think that with trop de choses la vie becomes rien. You buy, you admire.....and then - pouf !!!! - you need more...We are prisoners. Prisoners of les choses..Chained by desire !
Teacher : Excellent, Chosette ! Chosinel, have you something to add ?
Chosinel : Uh... I need to finish the book... But, without desire, we are....what ?
Chosette : Chosinel, you have to finish the book .
Teacher: So, mes enfants, are les choses good or bad ?
Chosinel : Both !
Chosette : Neither !
Teacher : What ? My head hurts... So, what would happen if we removed all les choses ?
Chosinel : Catastrophe....I won't give up my phone...Neither my bed...
Chosette : T'as raison, Chosinel. No bed means no sleep. No sleep means madness. Madness means chaos !
Chosinel : .....and chaos means crime ! Crime means prison ! Prison means No Choses !
Chosette : Exactement, Chosinel. The only solution is to have juste Enough de choses.
Chosinel : But...what is Enough ?
Chosette : Enough choses to be happy, but not trop de choses to be obsessed, Chosinel.
Chosinel : But how do we measure this " enough ", Chosette ? With .... more choses ?
Chosette : Mais non, Chosinel...With wisdom, with ...ah....wait...I just received a " like "....ha ! How nice...
Chosinel : Ha ! You see ? The addiction is real !
Chosette : My phone is necessary, Chosinel.
Chosinel : And my phone ?
Chosette : Your phone is le diable. You always change it.
Chosinel : So, you admit it or not ?
Chosette : I admit nothing !
Teacher : Hold on, hold on, kids ! So , do we need les choses or not ?
Chosette : We need, M-sieur. Some....
Chosinel : We don't , M-sieur. Maybe choses like Perec's " Les Choses ", si, ça c'est sûr et for sure.
Teacher :
Alright, kids, today we discuss about Perec's Les Choses. I hope you all read the book, otherwise, les choses will end very quickly, and I'II be quite disappointed. You don't want me disappointed, right ?
Kids:
Nooooooon !!!!!
Chosinel :
M-sieur.....
Teacher : Oui, Chosinel, I knew you'II be the first. Alors, dis-moi, quelles choses do you have on your mind ?
Chosinel : Bah... en fait...I didn't finish the book...
Teacher : C'est pas grave, Chosinel. But pourquoi ?
Chosinel : I....I....I had d'autres chats à fouetter....
Teacher : Chosinel, in this case, let someone else speak. The endings are always important. Chosette, maybe you ?
Chosette : M-sieur, I think that with trop de choses la vie becomes rien. You buy, you admire.....and then - pouf !!!! - you need more...We are prisoners. Prisoners of les choses..Chained by desire !
Teacher : Excellent, Chosette ! Chosinel, have you something to add ?
Chosinel : Uh... I need to finish the book... But, without desire, we are....what ?
Chosette : Chosinel, you have to finish the book .
Teacher: So, mes enfants, are les choses good or bad ?
Chosinel : Both !
Chosette : Neither !
Teacher : What ? My head hurts... So, what would happen if we removed all les choses ?
Chosinel : Catastrophe....I won't give up my phone...Neither my bed...
Chosette : T'as raison, Chosinel. No bed means no sleep. No sleep means madness. Madness means chaos !
Chosinel : .....and chaos means crime ! Crime means prison ! Prison means No Choses !
Chosette : Exactement, Chosinel. The only solution is to have juste Enough de choses.
Chosinel : But...what is Enough ?
Chosette : Enough choses to be happy, but not trop de choses to be obsessed, Chosinel.
Chosinel : But how do we measure this " enough ", Chosette ? With .... more choses ?
Chosette : Mais non, Chosinel...With wisdom, with ...ah....wait...I just received a " like "....ha ! How nice...
Chosinel : Ha ! You see ? The addiction is real !
Chosette : My phone is necessary, Chosinel.
Chosinel : And my phone ?
Chosette : Your phone is le diable. You always change it.
Chosinel : So, you admit it or not ?
Chosette : I admit nothing !
Teacher : Hold on, hold on, kids ! So , do we need les choses or not ?
Chosette : We need, M-sieur. Some....
Chosinel : We don't , M-sieur. Maybe choses like Perec's " Les Choses ", si, ça c'est sûr et for sure.
December 26, 2016
kitabın bir yerlerinde, farkına bile varmadan, karakterlerle özdeşim kurmamak imkansız. aşağı yukarı 2 ay öncesinde kendime verdiğim ültimatomda "daha az sahip ol" da demişken "şeyler"i okumak hoş bir tesadüf oldu. var olmanın yolunun sahip olunan şeylerden geçtiği tüketim zamanlarını ve bu zamanları yaşayan tatminsiz insanları anlatan incelikli bir novella. önümüze sunulan seçenekler öyle çeşitli ve albenili ki aynı jerome ve sylvie gibi bir kararsızlık denizinde yüzüyoruz. ve yine aynı onlar gibi az çalışıp çok kazanma, güzel şeylere sahip olma peşindeyiz. şeyler, farkındalık yaratma adına keşke daha önce okusaydım dediğim kitaplardan.
July 28, 2016
Viaggio nell’insoddisfazione esistenziale di una giovane coppia nella Francia degli anni Sessanta. Incapaci di rassegnarsi al posto fisso e alla vita borghese, ma allo stesso tempo troppo bisognosi di denaro per rifiutarne in toto i ricatti, i due protagonisti non sono né carne né pesce; non trovano la loro dimensione in un mondo urbano e consumista, ma non riescono ad essere felici in tempi e luoghi diversi. Georges Perec pone una domanda senza voler dare per forza la risposta: nella sua storia non c’è giusto o sbagliato, e i personaggi che dipinge sono frivoli e umani come tutti noi. Non siamo davanti a un trattato di sociologia o a un atto di accusa al consumismo, ma piuttosto a un viaggio psicologico dentro al capitalismo; il suo scopo primario non è la contestazione; Perec cerca di definire una condizione esistenziale le cui circostanze sembrano annidarsi nell’animo della contemporaneità; ma esse forse giacciono nella nostra società da tempo immemorabile.
Opera prima dello scrittore francese, il romanzo è sprovvisto di dialoghi, viene quasi interamente narrato all’imperfetto ed è infarcito dei tradizionali elenchi cari al suo autore. Perec procede per accumulazione, asfissiando il lettore fino al climax del racconto, quando improvvisamente l’atmosfera diventa rarefatta. I capitoli conclusivi sono sospesi su trasognati deserti e città invisibili, che svuotano melanconicamente la narrazione congestionata, rivelando che le idee di Perec si appoggiano sempre su di un degno talento letterario.
L’edizione Einaudi, del 2011, si apre con una corposa e interessante prefazione di Andrea Canobbio, dove si parla della genesi di Le cose e dello stile con cui è scritto – stando allo stesso Perec, l’ispirazione è Gustave Flaubert, di cui cita esplicitamente L’educazione sentimentale.
Opera prima dello scrittore francese, il romanzo è sprovvisto di dialoghi, viene quasi interamente narrato all’imperfetto ed è infarcito dei tradizionali elenchi cari al suo autore. Perec procede per accumulazione, asfissiando il lettore fino al climax del racconto, quando improvvisamente l’atmosfera diventa rarefatta. I capitoli conclusivi sono sospesi su trasognati deserti e città invisibili, che svuotano melanconicamente la narrazione congestionata, rivelando che le idee di Perec si appoggiano sempre su di un degno talento letterario.
L’edizione Einaudi, del 2011, si apre con una corposa e interessante prefazione di Andrea Canobbio, dove si parla della genesi di Le cose e dello stile con cui è scritto – stando allo stesso Perec, l’ispirazione è Gustave Flaubert, di cui cita esplicitamente L’educazione sentimentale.
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August 25, 2018Kitap 3 sayfa betimleme ile başladı ve ben betimleme okumakta çok zorlandığım için aramızdaki ilişki soğuk başladı.
Sonrasında sevdim kitabı. Anlatımı öyle coşkulu, insanı sarsan bi anlatım değil ama sorguladığı mesele bi güzel sarsıyor onun yerine. İnsanı birazcık kendinden utandırıyor. Bi de iç sıkıntısına iç sıkıntısı ekliyor.
Tam da ''Ay atansam mı atanmasam mı?'' diye düşünüp, çevremdeki herkesin '' Atan yoksa seni vururum. Deli misin atan. Atan!! Devlet gibisi yok!! ATANNNNN!!'' gibi çılgınca ısrarlarıyla savaşırken, içimde çalışma hayatına tahammül edemeyen taraftaki teraziye bi tık ağırlık ekledi.
N'apıcaz biz bu hayatla ya hu?
Sonrasında sevdim kitabı. Anlatımı öyle coşkulu, insanı sarsan bi anlatım değil ama sorguladığı mesele bi güzel sarsıyor onun yerine. İnsanı birazcık kendinden utandırıyor. Bi de iç sıkıntısına iç sıkıntısı ekliyor.
Tam da ''Ay atansam mı atanmasam mı?'' diye düşünüp, çevremdeki herkesin '' Atan yoksa seni vururum. Deli misin atan. Atan!! Devlet gibisi yok!! ATANNNNN!!'' gibi çılgınca ısrarlarıyla savaşırken, içimde çalışma hayatına tahammül edemeyen taraftaki teraziye bi tık ağırlık ekledi.
N'apıcaz biz bu hayatla ya hu?
May 4, 2016
“Las cosas” es la primera novela de Georges Perec, y tal vez la mejor manera de introducirse en su literatura, ya que a pesar de ser la menos experimental de sus obras, pueden percibirse algunos de los elementos y procedimientos que utilizará posteriormente en su novela más reconocida: “La vida, instrucciones de uso”.
Las primeras ocho o diez páginas de este libro consisten en una especie de inventario de objetos, conductas, sensaciones y colores minuciosamente descritos en tiempo condicional (HABRÍA una mesa de roble, el sol del atardecer INUNDARÍA las habitaciones, LEERÍAN en un sillón mullido, etc.), lo que crea la sensación de deseo e imposibilidad. Los dueños de esos deseos son Sylvie y Jérôme, una joven pareja parisina que sueña con una vida de lujos y riquezas. Sus aspiraciones, su ideal de realización y sus esperanzas están depositadas exclusivamente en lo material. Ya es casi un lugar común calificar a esta novela como una radiografía escrupulosa de los anhelos de la clase media en la sociedad de consumo, y sin duda lo es, pero sorprende su vigencia casi 50 años después de haber sido escrita y además presagia el sinsentido y el nihilismo que se apoderó de las vidas de las clases acomodadas en las sociedades occidentales durante las últimas décadas del siglo XX y las primeras del siglo XXI.
Sylvie y Jérôme tienen empleos precarios y temporales en la industria de la publicidad que empezaba, por ese entonces, a ser el motor del deseo y de la sociedad de consumo. Esa precariedad laboral y la negativa a comprometerse en empleos fijos de jornada completa es lo que paradójicamente obtura la posibilidad de realizar sus deseos. La dicotomía sigue siendo válida: libertad o riqueza, sin la riqueza esos deseos artificiales devienen en frustración, pero para obtener riqueza es necesario resignar libertad, en cuyo caso no se dispone de tiempo para disfrutar esa riqueza, el planteo es tan simple y básico como eso. La joven pareja vive en un departamento muy chico, en donde los objetos se acumulan y tornan asfixiante el ambiente; pasa su tiempo libre visitando zonas comerciales de artículos de lujo, leyendo periódicos progresistas, yendo al cine y juntándose a cenar con un grupo de amigos que vive como ellos. No hay sexo, no hay proyectos de hijos, no hay relaciones familiares, todo gira en torno a las ambiciones materiales, a esos deseos artificiales, todo se ordena en relación a las cosas.
En la segunda parte del libro el grupo de amigos del matrimonio empiezan a resignar esa libertad a cambio de la comodidad material que le ofrece un empleo fijo, de a poco se van quedando solos y entonces deciden mudarse a Túnez, en donde Sylvie consigue un trabajo universitario que les permite sobrevivir dignamente. Deciden alejarse de todo aquello que motiva deseos espurios y vivir una vida retirada de los grandes centros urbanos, creen que eso curará sus frustraciones. Pero ahí tampoco encuentran su camino, sus proyectos se diluyen de a poco, lejos de París, todo se vuelve borroso e irreal, entonces deciden volver a Francia, conseguir un empleo fijo como sus amigos y resignarse a una vida gris y monótona pero más cómoda desde lo material. El final del libro está narrado en tiempo futuro como contraste del potencial del comienzo.
Casi toda la novela consiste en la enumeración de objetos y situaciones, lo que le otorga un tono distante y casi frío, a priori parece un texto destinado a aburrir, sin embargo Perec logra, con oficio y talento literario, cierto magnetismo seductor y es casi imposible para el lector despegarse del libro.
“Las cosas” es una novelita hermosa, que alcanza por momentos registros poéticos admirables que resisten muy bien la traducción al español. Confirma, además, el viejo axioma literario que dice que para hacer buena literatura no hacen falta argumentos sorprendentes o personajes singulares, en este sentido es una lección de estilo y de procedimientos literarios. Es el mejor libro para introducirse en Perec, pero puede ser, por momentos, un espejo cruelmente realista y vigente de nuestras propias vidas.
Las primeras ocho o diez páginas de este libro consisten en una especie de inventario de objetos, conductas, sensaciones y colores minuciosamente descritos en tiempo condicional (HABRÍA una mesa de roble, el sol del atardecer INUNDARÍA las habitaciones, LEERÍAN en un sillón mullido, etc.), lo que crea la sensación de deseo e imposibilidad. Los dueños de esos deseos son Sylvie y Jérôme, una joven pareja parisina que sueña con una vida de lujos y riquezas. Sus aspiraciones, su ideal de realización y sus esperanzas están depositadas exclusivamente en lo material. Ya es casi un lugar común calificar a esta novela como una radiografía escrupulosa de los anhelos de la clase media en la sociedad de consumo, y sin duda lo es, pero sorprende su vigencia casi 50 años después de haber sido escrita y además presagia el sinsentido y el nihilismo que se apoderó de las vidas de las clases acomodadas en las sociedades occidentales durante las últimas décadas del siglo XX y las primeras del siglo XXI.
Sylvie y Jérôme tienen empleos precarios y temporales en la industria de la publicidad que empezaba, por ese entonces, a ser el motor del deseo y de la sociedad de consumo. Esa precariedad laboral y la negativa a comprometerse en empleos fijos de jornada completa es lo que paradójicamente obtura la posibilidad de realizar sus deseos. La dicotomía sigue siendo válida: libertad o riqueza, sin la riqueza esos deseos artificiales devienen en frustración, pero para obtener riqueza es necesario resignar libertad, en cuyo caso no se dispone de tiempo para disfrutar esa riqueza, el planteo es tan simple y básico como eso. La joven pareja vive en un departamento muy chico, en donde los objetos se acumulan y tornan asfixiante el ambiente; pasa su tiempo libre visitando zonas comerciales de artículos de lujo, leyendo periódicos progresistas, yendo al cine y juntándose a cenar con un grupo de amigos que vive como ellos. No hay sexo, no hay proyectos de hijos, no hay relaciones familiares, todo gira en torno a las ambiciones materiales, a esos deseos artificiales, todo se ordena en relación a las cosas.
En la segunda parte del libro el grupo de amigos del matrimonio empiezan a resignar esa libertad a cambio de la comodidad material que le ofrece un empleo fijo, de a poco se van quedando solos y entonces deciden mudarse a Túnez, en donde Sylvie consigue un trabajo universitario que les permite sobrevivir dignamente. Deciden alejarse de todo aquello que motiva deseos espurios y vivir una vida retirada de los grandes centros urbanos, creen que eso curará sus frustraciones. Pero ahí tampoco encuentran su camino, sus proyectos se diluyen de a poco, lejos de París, todo se vuelve borroso e irreal, entonces deciden volver a Francia, conseguir un empleo fijo como sus amigos y resignarse a una vida gris y monótona pero más cómoda desde lo material. El final del libro está narrado en tiempo futuro como contraste del potencial del comienzo.
Casi toda la novela consiste en la enumeración de objetos y situaciones, lo que le otorga un tono distante y casi frío, a priori parece un texto destinado a aburrir, sin embargo Perec logra, con oficio y talento literario, cierto magnetismo seductor y es casi imposible para el lector despegarse del libro.
“Las cosas” es una novelita hermosa, que alcanza por momentos registros poéticos admirables que resisten muy bien la traducción al español. Confirma, además, el viejo axioma literario que dice que para hacer buena literatura no hacen falta argumentos sorprendentes o personajes singulares, en este sentido es una lección de estilo y de procedimientos literarios. Es el mejor libro para introducirse en Perec, pero puede ser, por momentos, un espejo cruelmente realista y vigente de nuestras propias vidas.
October 24, 2018
kamünün yazdığı romana godard film çəkib elə bil
January 20, 2015
Perec aurait dû intituler son livre Les Mots, quitte à en voler la primeur à Sartre. Les choses de ce livre sont des objets rêvés, jamais possédés, toujours espérés. De simples mots, donc, qui permettent d'imaginer aisément les lieux, les objets, les oeuvres, les films, la musique, les espaces, les aventures que les personnages rêvent d'avoir et de vivre immédiatement. On déguste ces mots, ses sonorités, avec délice et volupté, se prenant à rêver aussi des textures, des odeurs qui y sont associées. C'est que cette histoire, vieille de plusieurs décennies déjà, résonne d'actualité. On se surprend à se reconnaître dans ce jeune couple qui rêve de richesse, de liberté, de luxe. Si le luxe est inatteignable pour eux, il est clairement offert au lecteur dans un foisonnement d'adjectifs, une énumération de couleurs, de sonorités, d'espaces, et de saveurs. Une lecture satisfaisante, qui se termine avec le même soupir de contentement qui clôt un repas copieux et bien arrosé.
May 13, 2020
Es difícil hacer una reseña de este libro, y también de este autor, que de juegos literarios supo como pocos.
Formalmente puedo decir que la novela está dividida en tres partes: en la primera usa el tiempo presente simple para contar como son y como viven Sylvie y Jerome, una pareja bohemia que ha adquirido anhelos refinados con los que sueña; la segunda, una ruptura, en la que usa el tiempo pasado; y la última, que ocurre después de la ruptura, en la que usa el tiempo futuro.
La obra, más que en la acción, se centra en disecar y describir impiadosamente a una generación de los '60, que soñó con dejar atrás la pobreza, pero se resistía a entrar en la maquinaria del sistema laboral formal. Y Perec, como en otras obras, lo hace con un lenguaje cuya riqueza de matices, que le permite esquivar los estereotipos.
Formalmente puedo decir que la novela está dividida en tres partes: en la primera usa el tiempo presente simple para contar como son y como viven Sylvie y Jerome, una pareja bohemia que ha adquirido anhelos refinados con los que sueña; la segunda, una ruptura, en la que usa el tiempo pasado; y la última, que ocurre después de la ruptura, en la que usa el tiempo futuro.
La obra, más que en la acción, se centra en disecar y describir impiadosamente a una generación de los '60, que soñó con dejar atrás la pobreza, pero se resistía a entrar en la maquinaria del sistema laboral formal. Y Perec, como en otras obras, lo hace con un lenguaje cuya riqueza de matices, que le permite esquivar los estereotipos.
December 4, 2020
Θα ξεκινήσω λέγοντας ό,τι δεν είναι μυθιστόρημα. Ο Περέκ περιγράφει την καθημερινότητα ενός νεαρού ζευγαριού και του περίγυρου τους με κοινωνιολογική προσέγγιση. Μας παρουσιάζει τις καταβολές τους, το παρόν τους, τις επιθυμίες, τα όνειρα τους. Άνθρωποι που βρίσκουν ευχαρίστηση και αυτοπραγματώνονται μέσα από υλικά αγαθά. Άνθρωποι που αναζητούν την καταξίωση στην ανευφημία του κοινωνικού συνόλου.
Ένας κόσμος εύθραυστος και παροδικός.
Άνθρωποι με διάθεση για μποέμ ζωή παγιδευμένοι στα γρανάζια της επαγγελματικής ανέλιξης, των νόμων του εμπορίου και του μηχανισμού της οικονομίας.
Εγκλωβισμένοι σε έναν φαύλο κύκλο. Αγκιστρωμένοι στη χίμαιρα της ευημερίας.
Ο άνθρωπος παράγει για να καταναλώνει ή καταναλώνει για παράγει;
Ποιά η αστική αντίληψη της ευημερίας και ποιό ρόλο έχει η αισθητική στην πραγμάτωση αυτής της ευημερίας;
Ένας κόσμος εύθραυστος και παροδικός.
Άνθρωποι με διάθεση για μποέμ ζωή παγιδευμένοι στα γρανάζια της επαγγελματικής ανέλιξης, των νόμων του εμπορίου και του μηχανισμού της οικονομίας.
Εγκλωβισμένοι σε έναν φαύλο κύκλο. Αγκιστρωμένοι στη χίμαιρα της ευημερίας.
Ο άνθρωπος παράγει για να καταναλώνει ή καταναλώνει για παράγει;
Ποιά η αστική αντίληψη της ευημερίας και ποιό ρόλο έχει η αισθητική στην πραγμάτωση αυτής της ευημερίας;
September 5, 2018
Perec oldukça akici bir sekilde, bir hayatin gectigi adimlari ve şeyleri ve bu seyler uzerinde dolasan kara bulutlari anlatiyor. Tercihin ve esyanin ekseninde yollar adimlaniyor. Anlati bir gercek arayisindan bir dunya gercegi olan yasama evriliyor. Ki yasam da uzun soluklu, seylerle devam eden bir olgu.
Kitap böyle böyle kendini cabucak okutuyor ve guzel bir tat birakiyor.
Kitap böyle böyle kendini cabucak okutuyor ve guzel bir tat birakiyor.
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