Written largely in the conditional tense ("they would have liked"), the book highlights a life of "could-bes" that never materialize, illustrating the hollow promise of the consumerist "New Wave" era. A Man Asleep (Un homme qui dort)
Georges Perec’s early works, Things: A Story of the Sixties (1965) and A Man Asleep (1967), serve as a dual portrait of mid-century disillusionment. While distinct in style, both novels dissect the psychological toll of post-war capitalism and the desperate search for meaning in a world of surfaces.
Winner of the Prix Renaudot, Perec’s debut novel is a sociological "still life." It follows Jérôme and Sylvie, a young Parisian couple working in market research. They are obsessed with "things"—the right rugs, the perfect Chesterfield sofa, and the aura of luxury—believing that their identity is forged through possessions. Things: A Story of the Sixties; A Man Asleep
Perec uses a flat, descriptive tone to show how the couple’s dreams of wealth actually paralyze them. They are too poor to live the life they want and too bourgeois to settle for the life they have.
Ultimately, the novel is a study in the impossibility of true indifference. The protagonist discovers that total isolation is just as exhausting as the social ladder-climbing he fled. The Connection Written largely in the conditional tense ("they would
One morning, the protagonist simply decides not to get out of bed for his exams. He chooses indifference, attempting to live without desire, ambition, or even a sense of time.
The story is told entirely in the "you" ( tu ) form, putting the reader directly into the headspace of a man attempting to become a ghost in his own life. Winner of the Prix Renaudot, Perec’s debut novel
Together, these books represent two sides of the same coin: In Things , the characters try to find themselves in objects; in A Man Asleep , the character tries to find himself by stripping everything away. Both reach the same conclusion—that the "world" is inescapable, whether you are trying to buy it or ignore it.