Geoff Dyer's memoir, 'Homework,' delves into the author's upbringing in Cheltenham, England, and how his early life experiences influenced his writing. The narrative focuses on his transition from a non-reading family to becoming a prolific writer.
A key element explored is Dyer's lifelong relationship with boredom, which he cleverly uses as a creative force in his writing, illustrated by his earlier work "Out of Sheer Rage." His childhood collections, from Brooke Bond tea cards to model airplanes and vinyl records, are presented as significant objects reflecting a bygone era of English culture.
The memoir examines the nature of memory, contrasting insignificant childhood details with more significant life events. Dyer highlights the unusual longevity of seemingly trivial memories, such as a popped beach ball, over more significant moments.
While some readers might find the focus on personal memorabilia tedious, Dyer's insightful exploration of memory and the unconventional path to becoming a writer makes 'Homework' an engaging read, offering a unique perspective on the power of seemingly mundane experiences in shaping one's life.
HOMEWORK: A Memoir, by Geoff Dyer
“The single most important thing about my formation as a writer,” Geoff Dyer told The Paris Review in 2013, “is that I come from a nonreading family.” “Homework,” the latest book from the prolific and award-winning writer, tells the story of that formation in Cheltenham, England, and describes the world Dyer left behind for Oxford at the age of 19.
Or did he leave it behind? He would not be the only writer who has spent a lifetime returning to events that happened before he had words to express them, let alone write them down. What relation does the genre-disdaining, intelligently unintellectual, painfully hilarious 67-year-old writer have to the boy who once collected the promotional cards in boxes of Brooke Bond tea?
One continuity is an exquisite and exasperating intimacy with boredom. Dyer has played ennui like a piano in his previous books, turning his impatience with writing about D.H. Lawrence into the sui generis book “Out of Sheer Rage” — a display of frustration, by the way, entirely appropriate for a Lawrentian. As a child, Dyer was a collector of not only cards, but also model airplanes (built impatiently of course) and plastic soldiers, before he moved on to prog-rock vinyl and modernist books as a teenager. The young Dyer’s objects of desire feel achingly English, not just from half a century ago but from a civilization that has since vanished.
Although hearing about someone else’s personal memorabilia is as dull as it ever was — at its low points, reading this book can feel like being trapped in a conversation with an uncle who is enjoying his reminiscences rather more than you are — Dyer is wonderful on the strangeness of remembering itself. As an adult, he notices that his younger self’s attachment to a card about the Galápagos tortoise far outweighs his emotion on seeing one in real life. “Homework” records the kinds of memories we all have — first sip of beer, first fight, first sexual encounter — but also the vividly remembered oddities, like the summer afternoon when the children in Dyer’s neighborhood played on the street with a beach ball until it popped. The important fades so quickly and the trivial turns out to be unforgettable.
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