Staff Pick: Exercises in Style by Raymond Queneau - The Millions
added by MargaretC · updated 4mo ago
added by MargaretC · updated 4mo ago
MargaretC added 4mo ago
In the introduction to that (1963) edition, Queneau explains that the idea for the Exercises came to him in the 1930s, after he and his friend Michel Leiris had attended a concert at the Salle Pleyel where Bach's The Art of Fugue had been played. What particularly struck Queneau about this piece was that, although based on a rather slight theme, its variations "proliferated almost to infinity." It would be interesting, he thought, to create a similar work of literature.