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michael5000's review
4.0
This would have been one trippy book if it was finished. That it isn't finished doesn't make it any less trippy, and indeed you find yourself thinking nonsense like "I wonder if Perec died and left it unfinished on purpose!" You almost wouldn't put it past him. That all being said, it isn't nearly as fun to dig around in the notes for the unfinished bits as I thought it would be.
I wonder if there's such a thing as an enthusiast for unfinished books. Maybe this one would pair well with The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
I wonder if there's such a thing as an enthusiast for unfinished books. Maybe this one would pair well with The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
darren_cormier's review
4.0
It's difficult to know how to rate this book. Perec died while he was midway through writing it, having completed almost 12 of a planned 28 chapters, and leaving behind copious notes and drafts for the rest of it. The first 11 chapters are as fun, playful, and intellectually engrossing as anything Perec had written: you know in any of his books you are reading something by an author who has read more than you ever could, understood more of the books he wrote, but instead of writing long, tendentious treatises on the state of man, used this literary, historical, and problem-solving skills to entertain, like a magician-acrobat writing crossword puzzles.
The rest of the book is an interesting research project, a making-of documentary for a book. Recommended for those who like mystery novels and French literary references.
The rest of the book is an interesting research project, a making-of documentary for a book. Recommended for those who like mystery novels and French literary references.
koechliniana's review
5.0
Ever since I encountered Perec's brilliant novel, [b:Life A User's Manual|3649855|Life A User's Manual Revised Edition|Georges Perec|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388210129s/3649855.jpg|1953902], I have been consistently impressed by his amazing mastery of form and his ability to write fascinating prose. A practitioner of Oulipo, Perec carefully constructs elaborate literary systems; the present work features nested "mystery-novels-within-mystery-novels" and even . Reading one of Perec's stories is like spending an evening engaged in stimulating conversation, and the reader inevitably walks away with a new understanding of history, archaeology, mathematics, literature, etc.
The reader should note that the author died before completing "53 Days" [sic]. Eleven of the planned 28 chapters are finished, (pgs. 1-92 in my edition). However, Perec's copious notes (94-258) are provided to end the mystery and provide a fascinating look into the mind of an artist at work.
Spoiler
a surprise cameo from George Perec himselfThe reader should note that the author died before completing "53 Days" [sic]. Eleven of the planned 28 chapters are finished, (pgs. 1-92 in my edition). However, Perec's copious notes (94-258) are provided to end the mystery and provide a fascinating look into the mind of an artist at work.
psr's review against another edition
4.0
Do you know, I was sure I had reviewed this but it seems I hadn't. An unfinished review for an unfinished book, perhaps? Some of those reviewing the book claim to have been "unable" to finish reading it - now there's an irony, isn't it? Poor Perec had a more compelling reason for the incompletion of his task.
There's a double tragedy here, then. Firstly, that GP died far too young, at a mere 45 from lung cancer. Secondly, that his demise prevented his finishing "53 Days". How could any writer hope to follow a masterwork such as Life a User's Manual? GP wasn't just any writer, though, and there's compelling evidence here that his next book would have proven equally accomplished. In the vein of La Disparition, but to my mind much stronger, it's a cryptic detective story, filled with red herrings, digressions and puzzles. Once again, it involves the search for a missing person, set in a sinister unnamed country. Just as the plot starts to unfold in Chapter Eleven, the novel grinds to a halt.
The remaining seventeen chapters of the novel, such as it is, have been compiled from GP's notes. The unfinished nature of the work - and we're talking truly unfinished, not in the mode of a Kafka novel - clearly undermines the reading experience and prevents a full appreciation of what the novelist might have achieved. On the other hand, something that does enhance the experience is the sheer quality of the splendid Godine edition. And it does provide a fascinating insight into GP's compositional methods. To be honest, I'd still rather have this part-finished work by Perec than the vast majority of fully-realised novels by lesser writers. On the subject of which... 16 reviews on Goodreads? Sixteen reviews? Is the world finally brain dead?
Notes for the remainder of the review:
Was GP influenced by the Don Isidro Parodi stories?
What else might have GP written had he not died in his prime?
What is the point in reviews that ape the style/format of the book in question in an attempt to seem clever? None. I'll finish here, then.
There's a double tragedy here, then. Firstly, that GP died far too young, at a mere 45 from lung cancer. Secondly, that his demise prevented his finishing "53 Days". How could any writer hope to follow a masterwork such as Life a User's Manual? GP wasn't just any writer, though, and there's compelling evidence here that his next book would have proven equally accomplished. In the vein of La Disparition, but to my mind much stronger, it's a cryptic detective story, filled with red herrings, digressions and puzzles. Once again, it involves the search for a missing person, set in a sinister unnamed country. Just as the plot starts to unfold in Chapter Eleven, the novel grinds to a halt.
The remaining seventeen chapters of the novel, such as it is, have been compiled from GP's notes. The unfinished nature of the work - and we're talking truly unfinished, not in the mode of a Kafka novel - clearly undermines the reading experience and prevents a full appreciation of what the novelist might have achieved. On the other hand, something that does enhance the experience is the sheer quality of the splendid Godine edition. And it does provide a fascinating insight into GP's compositional methods. To be honest, I'd still rather have this part-finished work by Perec than the vast majority of fully-realised novels by lesser writers. On the subject of which... 16 reviews on Goodreads? Sixteen reviews? Is the world finally brain dead?
Notes for the remainder of the review:
Was GP influenced by the Don Isidro Parodi stories?
What else might have GP written had he not died in his prime?
What is the point in reviews that ape the style/format of the book in question in an attempt to seem clever? None. I'll finish here, then.
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