'Esther
BIENENFELD
1896–1974
––––––––––
Georges
PEREC
1936–1982'
The name above Perec's is his aunt's: his father died in the war in 1940, his mother was killed in Auschwitz, and his aunt and uncle adopted him. Much has been written about his being an orphan, and many speculations made about the importance of 'disappearance' in his work, of how the constraints he lived under in some way mirror the constraints Oulipo use. It's an interesting construction I suppose. But obviously the biggest constraint was his death at 45.
If only he had lived until he was in his seventies! The world probably lost a good half dozen masterpieces because of his early demise.
ReplyDelete