Not Exactly A Review of Haruki Murakami's "Novelist as a Vocation"

 

Not Exactly A Review of Haruki Murakami's "Novelist as a Vocation"

Raymond Queneau's "Hitting The Streets" (Translated by Rachel Galvin)

Carcanet Press ISBN: 9781847771575

The combination of poet and city is a hard one to find fault.  i never admired the poet who writes about 'nature,' but give me a poet who writes about buildings, streets, concrete, and the waterway around the city, and I am there for them.   Especially if that city is Paris and the poet is Raymond Queneau, the overall essential literary figure of the 20th Century.

"Hitting The Streets" is a proper title for this collection of poems regarding the theme of human and city.  And when the city is Paris, it becomes even more interesting.  Perhaps because it is an iconic location, but in truth a good poet can write about their city block - any city block  - and make it interesting.  So perhaps it's not the city itself but Raymond Queneau.

He is such a giant talent, and what I love about his work is his playfulness.  In theory he must be hell to translate to another language, but Rachel Galvin the translator did a good job.  The book is bilingual so for those who want to read the work in its original language (French) can do so.  I can't read French, but still, I can read it for the music of it, and the sounds.   For the Zazie fans out there I think this book is a must for your collection.

Georges Perec and the OULIPO "Winter Journeys" Atlas Press

Atlas Press, distributed by D.A.P. ISBN 9781900565646

There is nothing more fun than reading a literary work that is about books. Or the idea of books, and how it can lead to an adventure. The OULIPO group that was originally formed by Raymond Queneau is such a group that reads and writes book that becomes a game or even an quasi-science project. Georges Perec is considered the Shakespeare of the group, and therefore he leads the race with this specific book "Winter Journeys." Which, in return has caused a series of little books by writers in the OULIPO group that either continue or expand or just comments on Perec's original piece.


Perec writes of a writer named Hugo Vernier who wrote a book called "The Winter Journey" which book is before everyone else's great book. in fact his writing is the key book of avant-garde literature. Except no one has really seen it, but they have heard of it. Like a chain-letter, the various writers in Perec's world, continue the adventure of this book and what became of it or if even found.  So what we have here is really a book about literature and how powerful it is as an object, or a collection of ideas. Bibliophile galore!


For those who either tipped their toes in the OULIPO world or are full-time addicts to its games and fun, this is the book to get. Also, strange enough the key graphic aspect of the book is done by the guy who originally illustrated Raymond Roussel's great "Impression of Africa." You see everything links up. Not a paranoid conspiracy but fact!

The Updated "Exercises in Style" by Raymond Queneau

The most essential book for ANY writer. Genius-like Raymond Queneau gives us a brief narrative and re-writes it over and over again. The way of looking at a simple story is uplifting to a great height. 

This new addition has added more 'exercises' plus additional works by Johathan Lethem. Harry Mathews, Lynne Tillman, and my current fave Enrique Vila-Matas, among others. And one wonders how many times can one tell a tale?  The answer is endless.

The beauty of looking at a subject matter and tearing it apart and then re-building it again is something a writer likes to do - well, at least I like to do that.   There are two editions of this book out now, and both are published by New Directions.  I would get this one, because the text is the same as the old one, and still done brilliantly by the genius translator Barbara Wright.   But what you get here are the additional pieces plus what is  mentioned above.  Also the design work is elegant and its smaller in size, but not in content.  Small packages leads to unexpected adventures!

"Many Subtle Channels" by Daniel Levin Becker

Superb book that is both the history and the explanation of the great literary group OULIPO. Daniel Levn Becker, the author, actually became an official member of the OULIPO, and it's with great humor and appreciation of these rather 'eccentric' characters that make up this group that are obsessed with word games and how those games turn into literature.

When I first picked up the book I thought it maybe a very dry look or approach to OULIPO, but alas, it is anything but. "Many Subtle Channels" is a personal look into the works of Georges Perec, Raymond Queneau, Harry Mathews, Jacques Roubaud and others. What sounds like party games is actually a deeply involvement with literature and how it works. But done with great humor and wit. An important book on its subject matter, but also a great read.

"Bookworm" with Michael Silverblatt.  Interviewing members of Oulupo.

Oulupo at work

Georges Perec

Raymond Queneau

Jacques Roubaud

TamTam Books' Headquarters (my office)

Today I explored my office a bit. It's a small room but it's nice. I am surrounded by tons of books, cds, and DVD's. It is sort of my private world (hell). Also some of the images are blurry, due to my cell phone camera and that I usually see the world in that fashion.




Rosa and Julian gave me this mouse pad from London. I always think of them while using it.



There is no order on my table. It's basically Chaos at work.


I had this one photograph of Alain Delon for about ten or tweleve years now. It sort of reminds me to be always handsome.



Lovely practical chair. It is so clean looking. I do all my writing and blogging on this chair.



The mountain of death that is made up of various books, DVD's and a handful of cd's.