Experiments in Style: I Remember
Channeling Georges Perec
Greetings!
If youโre new here then you can find out all about this project of mine here:
But in a nutshell itโs this: Iโve been taking a short and very bland story and rewriting it in different styles. This time Iโve chosen to write it using the I Remember rubric.
Georges Perec, the Oulipian writer, published a book consisting of nearly 500 statements beginning with the words I Remember1. I thought Iโd try it out myself, on a smaller scale.
Some questions to consider:
How does the style affect the meaning?
How does the style affect the feel of the story?
A bang on the head (template)
In the middle of the night, I woke up (if you can call being semi-conscious being awake), walked purposefully towards the door to go to the bathroom โ and almost knocked myself out. The reason was that in the twin states of entire darkness and semi-somnambulance I was facing in a different direction from the one Iย thoughtย I was facing. As a result, instead of walking through the door, I tried to walk through the wall. The next few days brought nausea and headaches. After much prevarication I went to Accident and Emergency, where I waited petrified among people for whom โsocial distancingโ means not quite touching you, and who wore their masks as a chin-warmer. An hour and a half later I emerged into the twilight, secure in the knowledge that I had nothing more serious than mild concussion. I failed to do much writing, but I was pleased to have read a further 17% of my book.
I remember
I remember waking up in the middle of the night.
I remember needing to visit the bathroom.
I remember thinking I wouldnโt turn the light on.
I remember getting out of bed on the wrong side because I was disoriented.
I remember feeling disoriented because I was half asleep.
I remember walking in the wrong direction as a result of getting out of bed on the wrong side.
I remember walking into the wall instead of through the door as a result.
I remember banging my head on the wall.
I remember feeling nauseous and a bit headachey.
I remember that this went on for a couple of days.
I remember not being able to write very much because of that.
I remember that Elaine suggested I go to the hospital to get myself checked out.
I remember walking to the local Accident & Emergency.
I remember feeling disconcerted at the fact that people were wearing their masks as chin-warmers instead of covering their nose and mouth.
I remember feeling annoyed that people were not adhering to the social distancing rules.
I remember feeling very concerned about catching Covid because of that.
I remember waiting only for around an hour to be seen.
I remember being surprised at being seen so quickly, as the usual wait time was several hours.
I remember wondering if my wait time was short because Iโd presented with a head injury.
I remember being pulled about and tapped on the elbows and knees by a nurse.
I remember the nurse asking me to follow her finger with my eyes.
I remember the nurse telling me that I had mild concussion.
I remember her telling me to take it easy for a week or so.
I remember feeling glad it was nothing more serious.
I remember it was twilight when I left the hospital.
I remember the length of time from arrival to departure was an hour and a half.
I remember feeling peeved that I hadnโt done much writing for several days.
I remember feeling pleased that I had managed to read around 17% of my book.
I remember knowing that because I was reading it on a Kindle.
I remember thinking that the story would make a good basis for a series of experiments in style.
Over to you
Well, what do you think? Do leave a comment. Thanks for reading. Share this post if you enjoyed it. Actually, please share it even if you didnโt. ๐
See the index of these posts here: Experiments in Style Index. You can access older posts through apaid subscription. In addition, Iโve started a new section called Experiments in Style Extra. This is an occasional for paid subscribers which features posts explaining how I went about doing some of these styles.
This is not my favorite style either, but I love the experimentation and how it brings up ideas that might work from a different angle. As in scientific experimentation, sometimes you have to stretch further than you think to find out where the limits are and gain a new perspective.
It has a therapeutic feel, like it's blunting the edges of past trauma (drained of emotion). And yet conversely, there's a tension, because it highlights the slipperiness of that flirtatious old fish, memory.