My rating:
add to my books
Loading...
Thoughts Of Sorts (Verba Mundi)
Thoughts of Sorts, one of Georges Perec's final works, was published posthumously in France in 1985. With this translation, David Bellos, Perec's preeminent translator, has completed the Godine list of Perec's great works translated into English and has provided an introduction to this master of "systematic versatility." Thoughts of Sorts is a compilation of musi...more
Paperback, 143 pages
Published
by David R. Godine Publisher
(first published 1985)
There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!
sign in »
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is currently not featured on any Listopia lists.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
76)
"Every book collection corresponds to two needs that are often also obsessions: the need to hang on to things (books), and the need to keep them in some order."
Born in Paris in 1936 to Polish-Jewish immigrants; his father was killed at the front in 1940 and his mother died either on the way or in Auschwitz. Georges Perec himself was in the south of France, in a French boarding school. He studied sociology at the Sorbonne and his first novel, Things: A Story of the Sixties w...more
Born in Paris in 1936 to Polish-Jewish immigrants; his father was killed at the front in 1940 and his mother died either on the way or in Auschwitz. Georges Perec himself was in the south of France, in a French boarding school. He studied sociology at the Sorbonne and his first novel, Things: A Story of the Sixties w...more
Lots of overlap with the other collection of essays by GP, Species of Space and Other Places, the highlight here is an essay called Reading where he does his sociological bit about different methods and contexts of reading. It has the passionate whimsy of his best fiction. There's a great sociological look at fashion which is funny and insightful and had a laugh out loud moment where he discusses Chinese food in France, Germany, UK and USA. Another essay, "I Remember Malet and Isaac" i...more
I could especially relate to Perec's essay about book collecting and categorizing. (Quite embarrasing, actually).
A book of loose ends. A collection of Perec's writings that were published in small publications in France. So for sure not a major work, yet Perec is a major 20th Century writer. And a very charming one at that. If the avant-garde has any charm, then Georges Perec is a good gateway to that world.
Obsessed with lists, puzzles, knowledge of things not important -is the glue or magnet that attracts Perec''s attention. The short piece on what is on his work desk is worth the price ...more
Obsessed with lists, puzzles, knowledge of things not important -is the glue or magnet that attracts Perec''s attention. The short piece on what is on his work desk is worth the price ...more
wow really great! I am very glad to have discovered Georges Perec.
I really liked a few of these essays ("Brief Notes on the Art and Craft of Sorting Books," "Reading," "Thoughts of Sorts/Sorts of Thoughts," "Notes from the Objects to Be Found on My Desk"), others not so much. Some of them are more like notes for future essays, and while that was charming, sometimes I wished I could just read the actual essay that was never written.
"Thoughts of Sorts is a very enjoyable collection, from the useful 'Statement of Intent' to its consideration of the physical act of reading and Perec's 'Thoughts of Sorts / Sorts of Thoughts' . . . yet another must-read for any Perec-fan."
— M.A. Orthofer, The Complete Review
— M.A. Orthofer, The Complete Review
Annabelle Allouch
added it
Perec, mon écrivain préfère, n'est jamais aussi chiant que lorsqu'il fait trop dans l'analytique. Qqs listes suffisent a elles seules a assurer plus sûrement poésie et réalisme qu'un expose pontifiant.
Un indispensable.
Mark O'neill
is currently reading it
Faye
is currently reading it
anonymous
marked it as to-read
Carmina Durán
added it
Kaitlyn
added it
Faintly Seen
marked it as to-read
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Georges 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.
Perec's first novel, Les Choses (Things: A Story of the Sixties) was awarded the Prix Renaudot in 1965.
In 1978, Per...more
More about Georges Perec...
Perec's first novel, Les Choses (Things: A Story of the Sixties) was awarded the Prix Renaudot in 1965.
In 1978, Per...more
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
