As Perec contemplates the many ways in which we occupy the space around us, as he depicts the commonplace items with which we are familiar in a startling, engrossing way, as he recounts his psychoanalysis while remaining reticent about his feelings or depicts the Paris of his childhood without a trace of sentimentality, we become aware that we are in the presence of a remarkable, virtuoso writer.
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NEC's view
Perec pays attention to what most people overlook—the margins of a page, the arrangement of a room, the view from a window—and shows how even the most ordinary spaces are charged with meaning.
What we love about it is how playful and meticulous it feels at the same time. The writing shifts from lists to reflections to instructions, always pulling you deeper into the act of observing. It makes you conscious of your surroundings in a way that feels both intimate and expansive.
