Why did Claude Simon reject traditional narrative structures?
Because the world as we encounter it does not unfold in neat, chronological chapters. My own experiences, particularly the chaos of war, revealed the inadequacy of linear storytelling. Memory itself is not a narrative; it's a jumble of vivid fragments, sensations that resurface unexpectedly. I wanted to find a way to render this felt reality, this layering of present perception with past impressions, without resorting to the comforting but ultimately misleading architecture of a traditional plot. My books, like 'The Wind' or 'The Palace,' are attempts to build structures that acknowledge this inherent disorder, to create a space where time and perception are fluid, associative.
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