Species of Spaces and Other Pieces (Penguin Classics)

Species of Spaces, a collection of non-fiction pieces by the author of what is certainly among the finest novels of our time, Life A User's Manual, is a delight. Especially appealing are Perec's considerations of the quotidian. The Essay (that's not quite the right word) "Species of Spaces," for example, is a taxonomy of the spaces in which we live (and record) our lives. Among the spaces Perec considers are: The Page, The Bed, The Apartment, The World, and Space. In the section on bedroooms, Perec asks a few questions: "What does it mean to live in a room? Is to live in a place to take possession of it? What does taking possession of a place mean? As from when does somewhere become truly yours? Is it when you've put three pairs of socks in a pink plastic bowl? Is it when you've heated spaghetti over a camping gaz? Is it when you've used up all the non-matching coat hangers in the cupboard? Is it when you've drawing pinned to the wall an old postcard showing Carpaccio's 'Dream of St. Ursula'? Is it when you've experienced there the throes of anticipation, or the exaltations of passion, or the torments of a toothache? Is it when you've hung suitable curtains up on the windows, and put up the wallpaper, and sanded the parquet flooring?" Add to that the cod erudition of "A Scientific and Literary Friendship: Léon Burp and Marcel Gotlib" and the good fun and occasional seriousness of all the other pieces and it adds up to an evening or two unmitigated pleasure.