Join Amazon Prime and get unlimited Free One-Day Delivery. Already a member? Sign in.

 

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
   
More Buying Choices
26 used & new from £3.58

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
A Void
 
See larger image
 

A Void (Paperback)

by Georges Perec (Author), Gilbert Adair (Translator)
5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
RRP: £8.99
Price: £5.39 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £3.60 (40%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Want guaranteed delivery by Wednesday, July 15? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
22 new from £3.58 4 used from £3.70

Frequently Bought Together

A Void + Life: A User's Manual + Species of Spaces and Other Pieces (Penguin Classics)
Price For All Three: £18.47

Show availability and shipping details


Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Life: A User's Manual

Life: A User's Manual

by Georges Perec
3.8 out of 5 stars (6)  £5.39
Species of Spaces and Other Pieces (Penguin Classics)

Species of Spaces and Other Pieces (Penguin Classics)

by Georges Perec
4.3 out of 5 stars (3)  £7.69
Oulipo Compendium

Oulipo Compendium

by Harry Matthews
5.0 out of 5 stars (4)  £13.99
If on a Winter's Night a Traveller (Vintage classics)

If on a Winter's Night a Traveller (Vintage classics)

by Italo Calvino
4.2 out of 5 stars (26)  £4.79
Invisible Cities (Vintage Classics)

Invisible Cities (Vintage Classics)

by Italo Calvino
4.0 out of 5 stars (12)  £4.79
Explore similar items

Product details

  • Paperback: 304 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage Classics (3 Jan 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0099512165
  • ISBN-13: 978-0099512165
  • Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 13 x 2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 48,863 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #3 in  Books > Fiction > Cult Authors > Perec, Georges
    #86 in  Books > Horror > Classic Horror

Product Description

Product Description
Anton Vowl is missing. Ransacking his Paris flat, a group of his faithful companions trawl through his diary for any hint as to his location and, insidiously, a ghost, from Vowl's past starts to cast its malignant shadow. This virtuoso story, chock-full of plots and subplots, shows the skill of both author and translator who impart all the action without a crucial grammatical prop: the letter 'e'.

About the Author
Georges Perec (1936-82) won the Prix Renaudot in 1965 for his first novel Things: A Story of the Sixties, and went on to exercise his unrivalled mastery of language in almost every imaginable kind of writing, from the apparently trivial to the deeply personal. He composed acrostics, anagrams, autobiography, criticism, crosswords, descriptions of dreams, film scripts, heterograms, lipograms, memories, palindromes, plays, poetry, radio plays, recipes, riddles, stories short and long, travel notes, univocalics, and, of course, novels. Life: A User's Manual, which draws on many of Perec's other works, appeared in 1978 after nine years in the making and was acclaimed a masterpiece to put beside Joyce's Ulysses. It won the Prix Medicis and established Perec's international reputation.

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
Check the boxes next to the tags you consider relevant or enter your own tags in the field below

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?


 

Customer Reviews

5 Reviews
5 star:
 (5)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars "E's are good" ...?, 14 Nov 2008
By Dr. Kenneth W. Douglas "drkennydouglas" (Glasgow) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
Okay, the temptation here is to write a lipogrammatical review, but to be honest - much as I enjoyed the examples below - there is probably a need for a few "straight" reviews as well, to let everyone know what an extraordinary book this is.

A novel of more than 300 pages without the letter "E" is already impressive just as an intellectual feat, in sheer Guinness-book-of-records, well-fancy-that terms. It's hard enough in French, but arguably even harder in English, so full marks to Gilbert Adair for his black-belt skills in translation. (Think about it a moment: no "the"; no "he", "she", "we" or "they".)

However, while this is always a witty book and occasionally an overtly funny one (Perec's E-free translations of Hamlet's soliloquy and Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" are hilarious), this is a serious book, full of Perec's usual combination of gentle melancholy with serious philosophical questions.

Anton Vowl and his chums, representing the six vowels (with "Y" included) and disappearing one by one in bizarre and mysterious circumstances, know something is missing from their lives but can't figure what; indeed generally fail to make sense of their world. What does the missing "e" represent? What is our own missing "e"?

And isn't it scary how quickly, reading this book, we get used to the absence of something as commonplace as the most frequently used letter in the alphabet? (A possible metaphor for Europe after the Holocaust, or the like?)

Like all Perec, "A Void" is serious fun, but ultimately decidedly unsettling. He certainly makes you appreciate the simple things in life. Eeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Georges Perec - A Void, 12 Nov 2008
By RachelWalker "RachelW" (England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   
Remarkable! Though it is a more an intellectual exercise than an intelligible work of fiction (though, of course it *is* an intelligible work of fiction, otherwise the exercise would render itself pointless), a Void is delightful and delightfully clever experience. It strains credibility, credulity, and sometimes, through its oft-necessarily torturous syntax and plotting that internally reflects the conceit of a novel written with a vital piece missing, though concomitant then with an inability to mention it, but it's still fun throughout, often hilarious, and a very rewarding book to have read. Philosophical, full of big plots and little, it's a difficult read but a worthwhile one. Oh yes!
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome !, 2 Sep 2008
By J. Pickering "Random Julie" (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I read this book years ago, after it was mentioned in an editorial of a magazine I was reading. Totally intregued, I went straight out and bought it. Read it. Marvelled at it.
Perec has become one of my favourite authors since.
And to make it all the more perfect - he then wrote Three - a short story where the only vowel is E !! He had to use them up!
Read it - if only to be suitably awed.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars This you should study, ask not why
This significant book, who's linguistically cunning author calls for no introduction, strains against a troublingly unjust handicap... in fact, two. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Critch

5.0 out of 5 stars An amusing floccinaucinihilipilification
Random thoughts on first coming into contact with this book:
1. Which imp is disposing of a particular mark throughout this folio?
2. Read more
Published 11 months ago by JAMES MACKAY

Only search this product's reviews



Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
This product's forum (0 discussions)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
  No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]


   
Related forums


Listmania!


Look for similar items by category


Feedback


The Body Shop

The Body Shop - Vitamin C Skin Boost
Protect and boost your glow with The Body Shop Vitamin C Skin Boost.

Shop The Body Shop

 

Up to 75% off Shoes

Shoe Clearance - 75% off Shoes
Save up to 75% on shoes for the whole family.

Shop clearance shoes

 

We've Got Converse

Converse
Stock up on your favourite styles with great deals on Converse shoes.

Shop Converse

 

Treat Someone

Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificates--available in any amount from £5 to £500 With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is).

Learn more about Gift Certificates

 
Ad

Where's My Stuff?

Delivery and Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.

Continue Shopping: Top Sellers
The Girl Who Played with Fire
Breaking Dawn (Twilight Saga)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Host
The Host by Stephenie Meyer

amazon.co.uk Amazon Home
International Sites:  United States  |  Germany  |  France  |  Japan  |  Canada  |  China
Business Programs: Sell on Amazon  |  Fulfilment by Amazon  |  Join Associates  |  Join Advantage
Customer Service  |  Help  |  View Basket  |  Your Account
About Amazon.co.uk  |  Careers at Amazon
Conditions of Use & Sale |  Privacy Notice  © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates