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An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris
One overcast weekend in October 1974, Georges Perec set out in quest of the "infraordinary": the humdrum, the non-event, the everyday--"what happens," as he put it, "when nothing happens." His choice of locale was Place Saint-Sulpice, where, ensconced behind first one cafe window, then another, he spent three days recording everything to pass ...more
Paperback, 72 pages
Published
September 30th 2010
by Wakefield Press
(first published 1975)
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An experiment, and one ultimately doomed to failure; its failure, however, is also its greatest strength. It's essentially an extended list of details ("some cars dive into the parking lot./ an 86 [bus] passes by. A 70 passes by," etc, etc), something that would seem to make for a rather dull read.
But I found it one of the most invigorating reading experiences I've had in a long while. Not particularly, I admit, because of the text itself, but in the way that it suddenl...more
But I found it one of the most invigorating reading experiences I've had in a long while. Not particularly, I admit, because of the text itself, but in the way that it suddenl...more
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Georges Perec wrote this fascinating little (very little but beautifully designed) book regarding one location in Paris, and documenting what was happening around that section. And that is basically it! Buses come and go, taxi stand, children walk by as others. Totally uninteresting and that is what's interesting about it.
Perec only records what's not interesting and by doing that he is capturing a series of moments that one never pays attention to. And there is a beauty to th...more
Perec only records what's not interesting and by doing that he is capturing a series of moments that one never pays attention to. And there is a beauty to th...more
Essai d'observation sociologisante sur la place St Sulpice. Perec, assis à la terrasse d'un café pendant trois jours, essaie de repérer et de noter systématiquement ce qui fait le quotidien d'un quartier parisien dans sa banalité et par là-même ce qui fait son essence.
Sans informateur ni hypothèse de départ, il note tout sans voir rien, d'où certains moments de frustration toute sociologique et un brin poétique.
Si jamais j'ai encore la chance d'enseigner la méthodo, un livre à rajouter dans ma b...more
Sans informateur ni hypothèse de départ, il note tout sans voir rien, d'où certains moments de frustration toute sociologique et un brin poétique.
Si jamais j'ai encore la chance d'enseigner la méthodo, un livre à rajouter dans ma b...more
This is an edited version of my review, originally posted here: http://ginachoe.com/2012/01/oulipo-mania...
An Attempt At Exhausting a Place in Paris is, essentially, a list. Perec set out to catalog the infraordinary, “what happens when nothing happens other than the weather, people, cars, and clouds”; or, those things that are oft ignored or unnoticed. Attempt is the result of this endeavor, which Perec carries out from various vantage points in the bustling Place Saint-Sulpice. Over...more
An Attempt At Exhausting a Place in Paris is, essentially, a list. Perec set out to catalog the infraordinary, “what happens when nothing happens other than the weather, people, cars, and clouds”; or, those things that are oft ignored or unnoticed. Attempt is the result of this endeavor, which Perec carries out from various vantage points in the bustling Place Saint-Sulpice. Over...more
What an amazing book. As the translator says, the attempt by Perec to detail everything he sees in three days from various points on the Place Saint-Sulpice in Paris, is ultimately doomed; if not artistically then simply by the impossibility of listing, and noticing, “everything”. But despite this fact, this book is still a triumph.
This is my first Perec read and I didn’t really know what to expect. It appealed to my quirky sensibilities that an author would try to list and categorize ...more
This is my first Perec read and I didn’t really know what to expect. It appealed to my quirky sensibilities that an author would try to list and categorize ...more
An Attempt makes sense as part of Perec's ouvre, but isn't paricularly an exciting read as a stand-alone. The title accurately declares what the short volume sets out to do, and completes well: the book is about as exhausting of a description of the simple ins-and-outs and ticking timework of any single place that 50 pages can give. The listing, the documentation of the seemingly mundane, and the simultaneous irreverance toward and embracing of grammar constructs seem to be a natural lead-in for...more
This was a perfect book to read while sitting outside for an hour with some hot tea. The differences between Hyde Park and Paris, however, are too numerous to mention. A very entertaining read, but don't ever confuse it for what it isn't. This is a log, and a fairly mundane one, of three days of sitting. It's good for people who want to read that, and it's good for Perec completist, and it's good for people who like charming little books from charming little presses. That's it.
The premise is exactly as it sounds: Georges Perec, on a bench in a Parisian square, methodically recording everything he sees, attempting to capture "that which happens when nothing is happening." On paper, it appears so simple. In practice, absolutely impossible. Which is precisely the point.
A desperate and hilarious meditation on the unstoppability of time. An elegant reflection of the everyday and all its complexity.
A desperate and hilarious meditation on the unstoppability of time. An elegant reflection of the everyday and all its complexity.
a nice short piece--observations and descriptions recorded over three days in paris, Oct 18th-20th 1974. I'm avoiding his [George Perec's] longer novels and thus am his shorter books and essays.
Turning a catalog into a poem, describing a townsquare from a variety of locations, times of day, and days of the week.
Tough to give a book like this a rating. It is short enough to be successful.
D'une manière paradoxale, c'est un livre extraordinaire.
Read on sleep meds in hospital waiting room.
Cameling
marked it as to-read
r.b. Suz
For fans only. Interesting only in the context of his luther work. Beautiful book to look at. Short, enjoyable but isolated.
Reading these two books over and over and over again before I tell you how much I love them...
LA
marked it as to-read
Lucy
marked it as to-read
Tyler
marked it as to-read
Jessi
marked it as to-read
Mira
marked it as to-read
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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
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