Things: A Story of the Sixties/a Man Asleep [Hardcover]

Georges Perec (Author), David Bellos (Author), Andrew Leak (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0879238577 | ISBN-13: 978-0879238575 | Publication Date: November 1990 | Edition: First edition.

"Things: A Story of the Sixties" is the story of a young couple who want to enjoy life, but the only way they know how to do so is through ownership of 'things'. Perec's first novel won the Prix Renaudot and became the cult book for a generation. In "A Man Asleep", a young student embarks upon a disturbing and exhaustive pursuit of indifference, following his experience in non-existence with relentless logic.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Two intriguing and poignant novellas, Perec's first published works, show him forging the iconoclastic literary style that fully emerges in his magisterial Life: A User's Manual --the technique of crowding fictional space with an almost rococo wealth of detail and decor. Things (1965) coolly pinpoints the yearnings and malaise of young Jerome and Sylvie, market researchers who analyze their interviewees' needs just as Perec inventories their own. Media slogans and trendy magazines dictate the luxuries they would buy if they had money. To escape the consumerist mythology, they move to Sfax, a drab desert outpost in Tunisia. But although they locate a beautiful villa, their dream eludes them. The narrative slips into future tense: "They will pine for Paris," go back and recall Sfax with nostalgia. In A Man Asleep (the basis of a 1973 award-winning film), an introspective graduate school dropout denies the pressures of time, first by examining each instant as he lies in bed, then by drifting through Paris streets in an imitation of sleep's shadowy oblivion. Despite his characters' trapped, "decelerating" lives, Perec's fertile imagination is fresh and surprising.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 221 pages
• Publisher: David R Godine Pub; First edition. edition (November 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879238577
• ISBN-13: 978-0879238575
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #687,188 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ideas still fresh and even more relevant today, 30 yrs later, July 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Things: A Story of the Sixties/a Man Asleep (Hardcover)

We tend to forget,in our "rat race" for things that money can buy, that happiness can only come from within. We may race for the things that money can buy, but very often we forget to enjoy the ride.

1 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thinks about things..., May 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Things: A Story of the Sixties/a Man Asleep (Hardcover)

Rolex,BMW,VERSACE,DKNY,LACOSTE,RR,... tHINGS... WE'RE SLAVE TO THINGS... IDEALISM IS DEAD... 'CAUSE WE'RE LIVIN' IN SYNTHETIC TIMES...

POST-CRITICUM: PAINFUL...'CAUSE ýT'S TRUE