Georges Perec's 1959 Letters Reveal Chaotic Creative Ferment

A collection of 56 letters written by Georges Perec in 1959, during his military service in Pau, France, to an unnamed friend, has been published. The correspondence reveals Perec's chaotic and sharp verbal style, marked by fragmented sentences, abbreviations, lists, puns, and rebellious spelling. At age 23, Perec was serving as a paratrooper and wrote about daily life, boredom, loneliness, books, films, works in progress, Marxist influences, and intellectual encounters with Henri Lefebvre, Georges Lambrichs, and Paul Bénichou. He also discusses preparations for the review "La Ligne générale," inspired by Eisenstein's film, which never materialized. The letters show Perec's early explosive energy, which would soon crystallize into the polyphonic virtuosity of his novel "Les Choses." The collection is edited by Didier Arnaudet.