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4.24 AVERAGE
4.24 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
In September last year I began an ambitious undertaking - a slow but steady reading of Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time series. It’s commonly published in 7 volumes but my ebook had all volumes in one and clocked in at a massive 4225 pages. I finally finished nine months later but have not yet shared my thoughts, because I’m still not entirely sure what I thought!
In all honesty it was a bit of a love- hate relationship. Sometimes Proust’s interminable descriptions became too much and I really struggled to maintain focus. Listening to the audio while reading the printed word helped stopped my mind wandering - mostly. I often struggled with his subject matter. I have little patience for pretentious, pompous, self-important upper class people behaving like petty, bullying schoolgirls. And the narrator’s desire to possess and control women was stomach-churning. Other subjects like his thoughts on music, painting and literature were interesting at first, but constant repetition made them tiring…”not pages of this again”.
So why did I keep going - apart from pure pigheadedness? Part of it was the writing. There was definite beauty to be found in those long discursive sentences. They could be soothing and oddly calming. I certainly admired Proust’s skills as a wordsmith. There were also plenty of insightful gems on human nature, time, the nature of memory, and of course the importance and value of the arts. It was these nuggets more than anything that grabbed my attention, that made me think and reflect, that kept me persevering. The more I read the more I noticed Proustian references cropping up in all sorts of unexpected places, references I’d never have noticed had I not actually read Proust. This reward, this increasing familiarity with part of the Western canon, also helped propel me towards completion. As did the support and humour of the ISOLT budding reading group. Big thanks to @mylibrarylends and @sarahfullybooked for organising, and to everyone who participated.
In all honesty it was a bit of a love- hate relationship. Sometimes Proust’s interminable descriptions became too much and I really struggled to maintain focus. Listening to the audio while reading the printed word helped stopped my mind wandering - mostly. I often struggled with his subject matter. I have little patience for pretentious, pompous, self-important upper class people behaving like petty, bullying schoolgirls. And the narrator’s desire to possess and control women was stomach-churning. Other subjects like his thoughts on music, painting and literature were interesting at first, but constant repetition made them tiring…”not pages of this again”.
So why did I keep going - apart from pure pigheadedness? Part of it was the writing. There was definite beauty to be found in those long discursive sentences. They could be soothing and oddly calming. I certainly admired Proust’s skills as a wordsmith. There were also plenty of insightful gems on human nature, time, the nature of memory, and of course the importance and value of the arts. It was these nuggets more than anything that grabbed my attention, that made me think and reflect, that kept me persevering. The more I read the more I noticed Proustian references cropping up in all sorts of unexpected places, references I’d never have noticed had I not actually read Proust. This reward, this increasing familiarity with part of the Western canon, also helped propel me towards completion. As did the support and humour of the ISOLT budding reading group. Big thanks to @mylibrarylends and @sarahfullybooked for organising, and to everyone who participated.
The best work of fiction of the 20th century (that I've read). If you are having trouble reading it, you need to relax.
Questa non è una recensione, ce ne sono in giro già abbastanza. Anzi, ciò che è stato scritto a proposito della Recherce supera di gran lunga il numero di pagine della Recherche stessa. Inoltre, se continuano ad esserci lettori che macinano con gioia le 2000 e più pagine del romanzo, un motivo ci sarà: è bello.
Quindi mi limito a lasciare qui qualche appunto, pensieri che mi vengono in mente durante la lettura.
DALLA PARTE DI SWANN
Ho sempre associato questa prima parte alla primavera e anche oggi mi fa lo stesso effetto. Immagino siano le descrizioni delle passeggiate e dei paesaggi. Non vedo l'ora che il tempo mi permetta di leggere all'aperto.
Intanto Swann ha incontrato Odette ed il guinzaglio si fa sempre più corto, fino a sfociare in un matrimonio socialmente esecrabile. Odette è un personaggio triste, una mantenuta senza altra dote che la bellezza, che non si fa scrupolo ad usare.
Odette e Swann avranno una bambina: conclusa la generazione dei padri, si passa al parco a giocare coi figli
ALL'OMBRA DELLE FANCIULLE IN FIORE
Perché leggere Proust oggi? Anche solo per la descrizione del teatro, e dell'emozione di andarci per la prima volta. Il nostro giovane è passato dall'essere mammone ad essere terribilmente romantico.
Proust è in grado di descrivere i bagni pubblici come se fossero una sala da tè.
Non riesco a capire esattamente quanti abbia il fanciullo che va in vacanza a Balbec. Prima gioca alla lotta con Gilberte traendone un piacere da adulto, ora è in crisi nel dover lasciare la madre per una breve vacanza. Intanto si ubriaca, dietro consiglio medico, per affrontare le emozioni di un viaggio in treno (lascio a voi pendolari eventuali battute sull'abbinamento alcool-trenitalia).
Ed eccomi alle ultime pagine del secondo libro. Il giovanotto è in vacanza al mare e la nonna è ormai dimenticata a favore di un gruppo di ragazze tra cui spicca Albertine, la fanciulla che darà titolo a uno dei prossimi volumi.
Il ragazzino è un marpioncello in divenire. Nota ogni ragazza in egual misura, per tutte sembra trovare un particolare di suo interesse. Quando ne "conquista" una, il che spesso significa semplicemente esserle presentato ed aver scambiato due parole, ammette candidamente che la conoscenza e l'abitudine cancellano la passione. La realtà è infatti molto meno passionale dei sogni ad occhi aperti.
Io intanto provo piacere ed interesse a vederlo crescere. Non è un personaggio simpatico: è spesso superficiale, attirato più dalla moda che dalla sostanza. Si è creato una sorta di persona immaginaria a cui aspira: va a teatro credendo di cadere vittima di una sorta di sindrome di Stendhal e ci rimane male perché ha provato "solo" il piacere di un normale intrattenimento. Ma dato che altri raccontano quella stessa opera come un capolavoro creto dall'attrice protagonista, allora ecco che il nostro eroe si ri-racconta l'esperienza fino a farla combaciare con lo standard che si era inventato. Al giorno d'oggi si parlerebbe di peer-pressure (fare cose e tenere certi atteggiamenti per soddisfare il gruppo a cui si appartiene), lui riesce a farsi peer-pressure da solo.
I GUERMANTES
Ed eccoci nella casa nuova. Francoise è simpatica come sempre, ma sono arrivata al primo scoglio. Saint-Loup e la celebrazione dell'arte militare mi annoiano parecchio, voglio tornare alle seghe mentali del protagonista.
Saint-Loup è l'uomo zerbino, erede di Swann. Il nostro eroe punta alla zia di Saint-Loup, ma senza costrutto. La cosa interessante è la cronaca dell'affare Dreyfuss, che viene superficialmente citato dai personaggi.
Sono alle ultime pagine di questo volume e sto facendo fatica. La scrittura di Proust è sempre ottima e una volta ricominciato a leggere veleggio serenamente tra salotti e frivolezze, ma il problema è proprio riprendere in mano il racconto dopo una pausa. Sono, infatti, 547 pagine (1534-987) di salotti, di viziate signore aristocratiche che fanno battutine di spirito a cui tutti ridacchiano per dovere (non fanno ridere), donne che fanno le eccentriche a tutti i costi credendo così di farsi notare, principesse di spirito popolano che per dimostrarsi d'ampie vedute trattano gli inferiori come simpatici animaletti bisognosi di attenzioni. Facendo un paragone con la cultura popolare italiana mi è venuto in mente l'episodio di Fantozzi in cui i dipendenti della megaditta vengono invitati a cena a casa della Contessa Serbelloni Mazzanti Viendalmare e lei continua a chiamarli "inferiori".
E, diciamocelo, questa Guermantes è davvero antipatica, una gatta morta.
Il mazzo di asparagi di Elstir-Manet che i Guermantes non hanno comprato
SODOMA E GOMORRA
Ma che simpatico questo Proust. Esordisce con una descrizione piuttosto allegra dell'omosessualità maschile, ma quando viene ipotizzata quella femminile allora è scandalo e fastidio.
Però, amico Proust, un filo d'azione potresti anche mettercela. Un colpo di scena, che so. Guarda, accetto anche due lacrimucce in stile "C'è posta per te", ma andiamo avanti. Interessante la digressione sull'etimologia di alcuni termini, ma ora basta con queste conversazioni superficiali da salotto. Mi sento come l'invitata che non conosce nessuno, non condivide i gusti degli altri e se ne sta in un angolo sbocconcellando un pasticcino e sorridendo ebete, cercando una scusa per potersi allontanare presto dal party più noioso della storia.
LA PRIGIONIERA
Titolo esaustivo. Il nostro eroe è sempre più disturbato e ritiene che infilarsi Albertine in casa sia un miglioramento. La fanciulla ci sta perché si fa mantenere mica male e tanto lo frega come vuole. Continuano le ansie per le supposte relazioni omosessuali di Albertine.
Secondo me di lesbico Albertine non ha nulla, ma questo Christian Grey d'antan semplicemente non vuole che lei abbia relazioni con esseri umani diversi da lui e Francoise. E diciamocelo: anche Francoise ci mette del suo per abusare psicologicamente di Albertine.
Poi abbiamo i Verdurin, che con tutti i difetti non riusciamo però ad abbandonare. Sono come dei parenti alla lontana, quelli strani che devi sopportare a matrimoni e funerali.
ALBERTINE SCOMPARSA
E dopo l'omosessualità allegra del tomo precedente, esordiamo con una simpatica accusa di corruzione di minore.
No, fermi tutti! E adesso?
E adesso nulla, il chiodo è sempre lo stesso: Albertine è lesbica? Ha mai fatto sesso con altre ragazze? Se sì, come/cosa ha fatto?
Qualcuno dia un abbonamento Pornhub a quest'uomo!
Muore giovane chi è caro agli dei.
IL TEMPO RITROVATO
Non riesco a crederci, sono alla fine. Guerra e sadomaso.
No, ma dai, adesso parte il pippone malinconico. In effetti, a poche (relativamente parlando) pagine dalla fine la necessità di congedarsi e fare il punto della situazione è sentita. Ritorna la madeleine iniziale, ancora più carica di significato ora che sappiamo tutta la storia.
6 mesi, 2000 pagine, tanti personaggi peculiari che sono diventati una sorta di famiglia letteraria: il treno è in ritardo? Ottimo, approfittiamone per andare a vedere cosa fanno questi eccentrici francesi.
Ebbene, sono arrivata alla fine. Troppo presto, non ero pronta. E adesso? Con chi li passo i prossimi 6 mesi, ora che non ho più la compagnia di questi vanesi, superficiali francesi?
http://www.marcelproust.it/
Quindi mi limito a lasciare qui qualche appunto, pensieri che mi vengono in mente durante la lettura.
DALLA PARTE DI SWANN
Ho sempre associato questa prima parte alla primavera e anche oggi mi fa lo stesso effetto. Immagino siano le descrizioni delle passeggiate e dei paesaggi. Non vedo l'ora che il tempo mi permetta di leggere all'aperto.
Intanto Swann ha incontrato Odette ed il guinzaglio si fa sempre più corto, fino a sfociare in un matrimonio socialmente esecrabile. Odette è un personaggio triste, una mantenuta senza altra dote che la bellezza, che non si fa scrupolo ad usare.
Odette e Swann avranno una bambina: conclusa la generazione dei padri, si passa al parco a giocare coi figli
ALL'OMBRA DELLE FANCIULLE IN FIORE
Perché leggere Proust oggi? Anche solo per la descrizione del teatro, e dell'emozione di andarci per la prima volta. Il nostro giovane è passato dall'essere mammone ad essere terribilmente romantico.
Proust è in grado di descrivere i bagni pubblici come se fossero una sala da tè.
Non riesco a capire esattamente quanti abbia il fanciullo che va in vacanza a Balbec. Prima gioca alla lotta con Gilberte traendone un piacere da adulto, ora è in crisi nel dover lasciare la madre per una breve vacanza. Intanto si ubriaca, dietro consiglio medico, per affrontare le emozioni di un viaggio in treno (lascio a voi pendolari eventuali battute sull'abbinamento alcool-trenitalia).
Ed eccomi alle ultime pagine del secondo libro. Il giovanotto è in vacanza al mare e la nonna è ormai dimenticata a favore di un gruppo di ragazze tra cui spicca Albertine, la fanciulla che darà titolo a uno dei prossimi volumi.
Il ragazzino è un marpioncello in divenire. Nota ogni ragazza in egual misura, per tutte sembra trovare un particolare di suo interesse. Quando ne "conquista" una, il che spesso significa semplicemente esserle presentato ed aver scambiato due parole, ammette candidamente che la conoscenza e l'abitudine cancellano la passione. La realtà è infatti molto meno passionale dei sogni ad occhi aperti.
Io intanto provo piacere ed interesse a vederlo crescere. Non è un personaggio simpatico: è spesso superficiale, attirato più dalla moda che dalla sostanza. Si è creato una sorta di persona immaginaria a cui aspira: va a teatro credendo di cadere vittima di una sorta di sindrome di Stendhal e ci rimane male perché ha provato "solo" il piacere di un normale intrattenimento. Ma dato che altri raccontano quella stessa opera come un capolavoro creto dall'attrice protagonista, allora ecco che il nostro eroe si ri-racconta l'esperienza fino a farla combaciare con lo standard che si era inventato. Al giorno d'oggi si parlerebbe di peer-pressure (fare cose e tenere certi atteggiamenti per soddisfare il gruppo a cui si appartiene), lui riesce a farsi peer-pressure da solo.
I GUERMANTES
Ed eccoci nella casa nuova. Francoise è simpatica come sempre, ma sono arrivata al primo scoglio. Saint-Loup e la celebrazione dell'arte militare mi annoiano parecchio, voglio tornare alle seghe mentali del protagonista.
Saint-Loup è l'uomo zerbino, erede di Swann. Il nostro eroe punta alla zia di Saint-Loup, ma senza costrutto. La cosa interessante è la cronaca dell'affare Dreyfuss, che viene superficialmente citato dai personaggi.
Sono alle ultime pagine di questo volume e sto facendo fatica. La scrittura di Proust è sempre ottima e una volta ricominciato a leggere veleggio serenamente tra salotti e frivolezze, ma il problema è proprio riprendere in mano il racconto dopo una pausa. Sono, infatti, 547 pagine (1534-987) di salotti, di viziate signore aristocratiche che fanno battutine di spirito a cui tutti ridacchiano per dovere (non fanno ridere), donne che fanno le eccentriche a tutti i costi credendo così di farsi notare, principesse di spirito popolano che per dimostrarsi d'ampie vedute trattano gli inferiori come simpatici animaletti bisognosi di attenzioni. Facendo un paragone con la cultura popolare italiana mi è venuto in mente l'episodio di Fantozzi in cui i dipendenti della megaditta vengono invitati a cena a casa della Contessa Serbelloni Mazzanti Viendalmare e lei continua a chiamarli "inferiori".
E, diciamocelo, questa Guermantes è davvero antipatica, una gatta morta.
Il mazzo di asparagi di Elstir-Manet che i Guermantes non hanno comprato
SODOMA E GOMORRA
Ma che simpatico questo Proust. Esordisce con una descrizione piuttosto allegra dell'omosessualità maschile, ma quando viene ipotizzata quella femminile allora è scandalo e fastidio.
Però, amico Proust, un filo d'azione potresti anche mettercela. Un colpo di scena, che so. Guarda, accetto anche due lacrimucce in stile "C'è posta per te", ma andiamo avanti. Interessante la digressione sull'etimologia di alcuni termini, ma ora basta con queste conversazioni superficiali da salotto. Mi sento come l'invitata che non conosce nessuno, non condivide i gusti degli altri e se ne sta in un angolo sbocconcellando un pasticcino e sorridendo ebete, cercando una scusa per potersi allontanare presto dal party più noioso della storia.
LA PRIGIONIERA
Titolo esaustivo. Il nostro eroe è sempre più disturbato e ritiene che infilarsi Albertine in casa sia un miglioramento. La fanciulla ci sta perché si fa mantenere mica male e tanto lo frega come vuole. Continuano le ansie per le supposte relazioni omosessuali di Albertine.
Secondo me di lesbico Albertine non ha nulla, ma questo Christian Grey d'antan semplicemente non vuole che lei abbia relazioni con esseri umani diversi da lui e Francoise. E diciamocelo: anche Francoise ci mette del suo per abusare psicologicamente di Albertine.
Poi abbiamo i Verdurin, che con tutti i difetti non riusciamo però ad abbandonare. Sono come dei parenti alla lontana, quelli strani che devi sopportare a matrimoni e funerali.
ALBERTINE SCOMPARSA
E dopo l'omosessualità allegra del tomo precedente, esordiamo con una simpatica accusa di corruzione di minore.
No, fermi tutti!
Spoiler
Albertine è morta?!? Così, in 4 righe? Ma non vale! Non è possibile!E adesso nulla, il chiodo è sempre lo stesso: Albertine è lesbica? Ha mai fatto sesso con altre ragazze? Se sì, come/cosa ha fatto?
Qualcuno dia un abbonamento Pornhub a quest'uomo!
Muore giovane chi è caro agli dei.
IL TEMPO RITROVATO
Non riesco a crederci, sono alla fine. Guerra e sadomaso.
No, ma dai, adesso parte il pippone malinconico. In effetti, a poche (relativamente parlando) pagine dalla fine la necessità di congedarsi e fare il punto della situazione è sentita. Ritorna la madeleine iniziale, ancora più carica di significato ora che sappiamo tutta la storia.
6 mesi, 2000 pagine, tanti personaggi peculiari che sono diventati una sorta di famiglia letteraria: il treno è in ritardo? Ottimo, approfittiamone per andare a vedere cosa fanno questi eccentrici francesi.
Ebbene, sono arrivata alla fine. Troppo presto, non ero pronta. E adesso? Con chi li passo i prossimi 6 mesi, ora che non ho più la compagnia di questi vanesi, superficiali francesi?
http://www.marcelproust.it/
I had this in digital so actually switched between the Silver Edition paperback and this quite frequently. Hence posting both as 'read'. And here, I can review the entire work, not just each of the 3 volumes separately.
This was a bucket list read. As a french major, I read Swann's Way, Book 1 of Vol 1, in French. While a student in Paris I bought and read in French A L'hombre des Jeunes Filles en Fleur, Book 2 of Vol. 1. I remember little of those readings except the madeleine and tea and how difficult reading the french was due to the long sentences and paragraphs. Or at least I thought that was all I remembered. Turns out not true, although that may also be in part to my also reading in college an English translation of Swann's Way for another class. I always had it in mind to read, and even have a hardcover set of the English translation published in 1982, and several of the books in French, picked up in my travels. All unread.
A couple years ago, I heard about a 2 year discussion group reading of it at the Center for Fiction in NYC. I could not do that at the time, but kept my eye open for an opportunity to participate in a similar group read, not so much because I wanted the group discussion but because I knew that if I had to read a certain amount by a specific date, I would do so whereas I was unlikely to be that disciplined on my own. Turns out I am not alone in that. Last summer, a 9 month reading for first timers was announced, I decided I could fit it in and here we are! It worked. I did enjoy the group discussions too of course.
Overall, it is an astoundingly relevant work, even timeless. It's deeply philosophical and theoretical, but it is also just a coming of age as an artist story. It is also filled with brilliant social satire and portraiture, painting a picture of the Belle Epoque, WWI and society in the aftermath that is wickedly brilliant.
It's funny. It's touching -- and heartbreaking -- the sections where he describes the narrators grief at his Grandmother's death, even her death herself, required a box of kleenex. It's incredibly lyrical, often overly descriptive of nature, but it's also fascinated with modern inventions - - the descriptions of the first uses of the telephone, the advent of motor cars, seeing aeroplanes, indicate an awe and intrigue with all these modern inventions, at the same time he has a long passage about how women's fashions in the early 20th Century are so inadequate compared to the fashions of the Belle Epoque.
His descriptions of Venice - should be mandatory reading of anyone who is a tourist in Venice. Then there is the glorious 'orchid and bee' scene -- where he uses the 'birds and bees' imagery so to speak to mirror the illicet homosexual encounter between two aging men that the narrator witnesses secretly. Definitely one of the most erotic passages I've evern read! Although erotic writers need to read some Proust!
Proust has a gift for 'set pieces' that are very visual -- the role in front of the reader's mind as if you are watching on a screen. One example is when narrator is in Donciere and his friend Saint-Loup comes back into the crowded bar with a coat to wrap around the frail narrator who is chilled - and is leaping across tables and along backs of chairs.
Are the characters likeable? Many are, not everyone likes the same ones. I personally find the narrator himself a very questinable character -creepy, immature, something of a sadist - kind of a nasty little twerp. Others found him sympathetic and maybe just being overly harsh on himself. Again, that's a pretty amazing feat -- that everyone who reads it comes way with a slightly different perception of the main characters.
So what is it about? Ask me in a few years and maybe I will have figured it out. As I mentioned, it's about an artist coming into his own which is in fact the writing of the book we just read, which we only find out at the very end. It's also about a time that is past but is also very much present. And it's about a man named Swann whose influence seems so tangential and unimportant on the narrator. Yet something else happens by the very end.
Read it. Do it slowly - you can read it a few pages at a time, maybe 5 or 6 a day even. I bought my copies of the paperback Silver editions used online for about $15 total all 3 volumes. I found reading the paper print editions far easier and more pleasant than in digital for some reason. In part I think that was being able to tab and mark up my copy -- which I did freely as if it were a college text book. Did I always make sense in my comments or remember why I thought that passage needed highlighter? No, but it somehow seemed the way to read it.
Merged review:
I had this in digital so actually switched between the Silver Edition paperback and this quite frequently. Hence posting both as 'read'. And here, I can review the entire work, not just each of the 3 volumes separately.
This was a bucket list read. As a french major, I read Swann's Way, Book 1 of Vol 1, in French. While a student in Paris I bought and read in French A L'hombre des Jeunes Filles en Fleur, Book 2 of Vol. 1. I remember little of those readings except the madeleine and tea and how difficult reading the french was due to the long sentences and paragraphs. Or at least I thought that was all I remembered. Turns out not true, although that may also be in part to my also reading in college an English translation of Swann's Way for another class. I always had it in mind to read, and even have a hardcover set of the English translation published in 1982, and several of the books in French, picked up in my travels. All unread.
A couple years ago, I heard about a 2 year discussion group reading of it at the Center for Fiction in NYC. I could not do that at the time, but kept my eye open for an opportunity to participate in a similar group read, not so much because I wanted the group discussion but because I knew that if I had to read a certain amount by a specific date, I would do so whereas I was unlikely to be that disciplined on my own. Turns out I am not alone in that. Last summer, a 9 month reading for first timers was announced, I decided I could fit it in and here we are! It worked. I did enjoy the group discussions too of course.
Overall, it is an astoundingly relevant work, even timeless. It's deeply philosophical and theoretical, but it is also just a coming of age as an artist story. It is also filled with brilliant social satire and portraiture, painting a picture of the Belle Epoque, WWI and society in the aftermath that is wickedly brilliant.
It's funny. It's touching -- and heartbreaking -- the sections where he describes the narrators grief at his Grandmother's death, even her death herself, required a box of kleenex. It's incredibly lyrical, often overly descriptive of nature, but it's also fascinated with modern inventions - - the descriptions of the first uses of the telephone, the advent of motor cars, seeing aeroplanes, indicate an awe and intrigue with all these modern inventions, at the same time he has a long passage about how women's fashions in the early 20th Century are so inadequate compared to the fashions of the Belle Epoque.
His descriptions of Venice - should be mandatory reading of anyone who is a tourist in Venice. Then there is the glorious 'orchid and bee' scene -- where he uses the 'birds and bees' imagery so to speak to mirror the illicet homosexual encounter between two aging men that the narrator witnesses secretly. Definitely one of the most erotic passages I've evern read! Although erotic writers need to read some Proust!
Proust has a gift for 'set pieces' that are very visual -- the role in front of the reader's mind as if you are watching on a screen. One example is when narrator is in Donciere and his friend Saint-Loup comes back into the crowded bar with a coat to wrap around the frail narrator who is chilled - and is leaping across tables and along backs of chairs.
Are the characters likeable? Many are, not everyone likes the same ones. I personally find the narrator himself a very questinable character -creepy, immature, something of a sadist - kind of a nasty little twerp. Others found him sympathetic and maybe just being overly harsh on himself. Again, that's a pretty amazing feat -- that everyone who reads it comes way with a slightly different perception of the main characters.
So what is it about? Ask me in a few years and maybe I will have figured it out. As I mentioned, it's about an artist coming into his own which is in fact the writing of the book we just read, which we only find out at the very end. It's also about a time that is past but is also very much present. And it's about a man named Swann whose influence seems so tangential and unimportant on the narrator. Yet something else happens by the very end.
Read it. Do it slowly - you can read it a few pages at a time, maybe 5 or 6 a day even. I bought my copies of the paperback Silver editions used online for about $15 total all 3 volumes. I found reading the paper print editions far easier and more pleasant than in digital for some reason. In part I think that was being able to tab and mark up my copy -- which I did freely as if it were a college text book. Did I always make sense in my comments or remember why I thought that passage needed highlighter? No, but it somehow seemed the way to read it.
This was a bucket list read. As a french major, I read Swann's Way, Book 1 of Vol 1, in French. While a student in Paris I bought and read in French A L'hombre des Jeunes Filles en Fleur, Book 2 of Vol. 1. I remember little of those readings except the madeleine and tea and how difficult reading the french was due to the long sentences and paragraphs. Or at least I thought that was all I remembered. Turns out not true, although that may also be in part to my also reading in college an English translation of Swann's Way for another class. I always had it in mind to read, and even have a hardcover set of the English translation published in 1982, and several of the books in French, picked up in my travels. All unread.
A couple years ago, I heard about a 2 year discussion group reading of it at the Center for Fiction in NYC. I could not do that at the time, but kept my eye open for an opportunity to participate in a similar group read, not so much because I wanted the group discussion but because I knew that if I had to read a certain amount by a specific date, I would do so whereas I was unlikely to be that disciplined on my own. Turns out I am not alone in that. Last summer, a 9 month reading for first timers was announced, I decided I could fit it in and here we are! It worked. I did enjoy the group discussions too of course.
Overall, it is an astoundingly relevant work, even timeless. It's deeply philosophical and theoretical, but it is also just a coming of age as an artist story. It is also filled with brilliant social satire and portraiture, painting a picture of the Belle Epoque, WWI and society in the aftermath that is wickedly brilliant.
It's funny. It's touching -- and heartbreaking -- the sections where he describes the narrators grief at his Grandmother's death, even her death herself, required a box of kleenex. It's incredibly lyrical, often overly descriptive of nature, but it's also fascinated with modern inventions - - the descriptions of the first uses of the telephone, the advent of motor cars, seeing aeroplanes, indicate an awe and intrigue with all these modern inventions, at the same time he has a long passage about how women's fashions in the early 20th Century are so inadequate compared to the fashions of the Belle Epoque.
His descriptions of Venice - should be mandatory reading of anyone who is a tourist in Venice. Then there is the glorious 'orchid and bee' scene -- where he uses the 'birds and bees' imagery so to speak to mirror the illicet homosexual encounter between two aging men that the narrator witnesses secretly. Definitely one of the most erotic passages I've evern read! Although erotic writers need to read some Proust!
Proust has a gift for 'set pieces' that are very visual -- the role in front of the reader's mind as if you are watching on a screen. One example is when narrator is in Donciere and his friend Saint-Loup comes back into the crowded bar with a coat to wrap around the frail narrator who is chilled - and is leaping across tables and along backs of chairs.
Are the characters likeable? Many are, not everyone likes the same ones. I personally find the narrator himself a very questinable character -creepy, immature, something of a sadist - kind of a nasty little twerp. Others found him sympathetic and maybe just being overly harsh on himself. Again, that's a pretty amazing feat -- that everyone who reads it comes way with a slightly different perception of the main characters.
So what is it about? Ask me in a few years and maybe I will have figured it out. As I mentioned, it's about an artist coming into his own which is in fact the writing of the book we just read, which we only find out at the very end. It's also about a time that is past but is also very much present. And it's about a man named Swann whose influence seems so tangential and unimportant on the narrator. Yet something else happens by the very end.
Read it. Do it slowly - you can read it a few pages at a time, maybe 5 or 6 a day even. I bought my copies of the paperback Silver editions used online for about $15 total all 3 volumes. I found reading the paper print editions far easier and more pleasant than in digital for some reason. In part I think that was being able to tab and mark up my copy -- which I did freely as if it were a college text book. Did I always make sense in my comments or remember why I thought that passage needed highlighter? No, but it somehow seemed the way to read it.
Merged review:
I had this in digital so actually switched between the Silver Edition paperback and this quite frequently. Hence posting both as 'read'. And here, I can review the entire work, not just each of the 3 volumes separately.
This was a bucket list read. As a french major, I read Swann's Way, Book 1 of Vol 1, in French. While a student in Paris I bought and read in French A L'hombre des Jeunes Filles en Fleur, Book 2 of Vol. 1. I remember little of those readings except the madeleine and tea and how difficult reading the french was due to the long sentences and paragraphs. Or at least I thought that was all I remembered. Turns out not true, although that may also be in part to my also reading in college an English translation of Swann's Way for another class. I always had it in mind to read, and even have a hardcover set of the English translation published in 1982, and several of the books in French, picked up in my travels. All unread.
A couple years ago, I heard about a 2 year discussion group reading of it at the Center for Fiction in NYC. I could not do that at the time, but kept my eye open for an opportunity to participate in a similar group read, not so much because I wanted the group discussion but because I knew that if I had to read a certain amount by a specific date, I would do so whereas I was unlikely to be that disciplined on my own. Turns out I am not alone in that. Last summer, a 9 month reading for first timers was announced, I decided I could fit it in and here we are! It worked. I did enjoy the group discussions too of course.
Overall, it is an astoundingly relevant work, even timeless. It's deeply philosophical and theoretical, but it is also just a coming of age as an artist story. It is also filled with brilliant social satire and portraiture, painting a picture of the Belle Epoque, WWI and society in the aftermath that is wickedly brilliant.
It's funny. It's touching -- and heartbreaking -- the sections where he describes the narrators grief at his Grandmother's death, even her death herself, required a box of kleenex. It's incredibly lyrical, often overly descriptive of nature, but it's also fascinated with modern inventions - - the descriptions of the first uses of the telephone, the advent of motor cars, seeing aeroplanes, indicate an awe and intrigue with all these modern inventions, at the same time he has a long passage about how women's fashions in the early 20th Century are so inadequate compared to the fashions of the Belle Epoque.
His descriptions of Venice - should be mandatory reading of anyone who is a tourist in Venice. Then there is the glorious 'orchid and bee' scene -- where he uses the 'birds and bees' imagery so to speak to mirror the illicet homosexual encounter between two aging men that the narrator witnesses secretly. Definitely one of the most erotic passages I've evern read! Although erotic writers need to read some Proust!
Proust has a gift for 'set pieces' that are very visual -- the role in front of the reader's mind as if you are watching on a screen. One example is when narrator is in Donciere and his friend Saint-Loup comes back into the crowded bar with a coat to wrap around the frail narrator who is chilled - and is leaping across tables and along backs of chairs.
Are the characters likeable? Many are, not everyone likes the same ones. I personally find the narrator himself a very questinable character -creepy, immature, something of a sadist - kind of a nasty little twerp. Others found him sympathetic and maybe just being overly harsh on himself. Again, that's a pretty amazing feat -- that everyone who reads it comes way with a slightly different perception of the main characters.
So what is it about? Ask me in a few years and maybe I will have figured it out. As I mentioned, it's about an artist coming into his own which is in fact the writing of the book we just read, which we only find out at the very end. It's also about a time that is past but is also very much present. And it's about a man named Swann whose influence seems so tangential and unimportant on the narrator. Yet something else happens by the very end.
Read it. Do it slowly - you can read it a few pages at a time, maybe 5 or 6 a day even. I bought my copies of the paperback Silver editions used online for about $15 total all 3 volumes. I found reading the paper print editions far easier and more pleasant than in digital for some reason. In part I think that was being able to tab and mark up my copy -- which I did freely as if it were a college text book. Did I always make sense in my comments or remember why I thought that passage needed highlighter? No, but it somehow seemed the way to read it.
O que dizer de um livro tão grandioso?
Tudo que posso dizer é que Proust através de sua obra quebrou vários recordes em minha vida: o de livro mais longo, mais complexo, mas também, do melhor. Em uma jornada que durou quase 6 meses, Proust me fez encarar diferentes lados do meu ser, da minha personalidade, da minha história. Ele me fez rever os meus posicionamentos sociais, me tornou mais atencioso aos detalhes, me atentou para as minhas falhas no amor e me provou que é possível que palavras possam acender emoções fortes dentro de nós.
Depois de anos complexos de vida, eu havia começado a terapia, havia mudado para uma casa nova e estava pronto para encarar o que pareciam ser aqueles anos perdidos.
Por isso, digo: é preciso escolher bem o momento correto para encarar 'Em Busca do Tempo Perdido'. Não basta apenas querer, como na maior parte dos livros — é preciso fazer uma escolha sincera. Primeiro, é necessário saber se os seus hábitos de leitura são bem consolidados, em tempo, em espaço, em ritmo. Segundo, é preciso estar disposto a enfrentar as divagações de Proust (que são muitas e cansativas) enquanto se faz uma análise própria de sua vida pela ótica Proustiana.
Por fim, é preciso estar pronto para encarar a inevitabilidade da passagem do tempo, que não poupou nem o seu autor Proust antes de acabar a obra, deixando sem revisar os volumes V, VI e VII da obra. Sob essa ótica, é importante se questionar:
'Quão boas são as memórias formadas por você?'
'Quão detalhada é a vida que você diz viver?'
Se a trama que envolve a jornada de formação de Marcel como escritor através das sensações nostálgicas que o gosto de uma madeleine mergulhadas em um chá trouxeram a ele, é porque a trama se faz menor ante o significado da obra para cada pessoa, cada um de nós, assim como Marcel gostaria.
Não existe um prazer literário maior do que passar pelas milhares de páginas da obra e, enfim, terminá-la.
William Faulkner e Virginia Woolf não estavam errados: 'Em Busca do Tempo Perdido' talvez seja a obra definitiva da literatura mundial.
Tudo que posso dizer é que Proust através de sua obra quebrou vários recordes em minha vida: o de livro mais longo, mais complexo, mas também, do melhor. Em uma jornada que durou quase 6 meses, Proust me fez encarar diferentes lados do meu ser, da minha personalidade, da minha história. Ele me fez rever os meus posicionamentos sociais, me tornou mais atencioso aos detalhes, me atentou para as minhas falhas no amor e me provou que é possível que palavras possam acender emoções fortes dentro de nós.
Depois de anos complexos de vida, eu havia começado a terapia, havia mudado para uma casa nova e estava pronto para encarar o que pareciam ser aqueles anos perdidos.
Por isso, digo: é preciso escolher bem o momento correto para encarar 'Em Busca do Tempo Perdido'. Não basta apenas querer, como na maior parte dos livros — é preciso fazer uma escolha sincera. Primeiro, é necessário saber se os seus hábitos de leitura são bem consolidados, em tempo, em espaço, em ritmo. Segundo, é preciso estar disposto a enfrentar as divagações de Proust (que são muitas e cansativas) enquanto se faz uma análise própria de sua vida pela ótica Proustiana.
Por fim, é preciso estar pronto para encarar a inevitabilidade da passagem do tempo, que não poupou nem o seu autor Proust antes de acabar a obra, deixando sem revisar os volumes V, VI e VII da obra. Sob essa ótica, é importante se questionar:
'Quão boas são as memórias formadas por você?'
'Quão detalhada é a vida que você diz viver?'
Se a trama que envolve a jornada de formação de Marcel como escritor através das sensações nostálgicas que o gosto de uma madeleine mergulhadas em um chá trouxeram a ele, é porque a trama se faz menor ante o significado da obra para cada pessoa, cada um de nós, assim como Marcel gostaria.
Não existe um prazer literário maior do que passar pelas milhares de páginas da obra e, enfim, terminá-la.
William Faulkner e Virginia Woolf não estavam errados: 'Em Busca do Tempo Perdido' talvez seja a obra definitiva da literatura mundial.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I don't know where to start, and I don't have time to write an essay. This didn't disappoint, though if pressed I couldn't tell you what expectations I had for it going in. As he makes abundantly clear in the last segment, he's trying to capture an aspect of human existence/experience so large and fundamental that there's no way the book couldn't be as long as it is, or else how could he try even to draw an outline of the ways he imagines life, time, memory, etc. to be? Anything less than his meticulous commitment to the minutest details would underserve his effort, and I can't imagine what it would be like to start the project of writing this book, much less sustain it over the years (maybe decades) it took him to write it. A word that's overused, and only scratches the surface here, but that came to mind continually was "astounding." This is an astounding work. It's a translation (which begs a whole second write up on the excellence of that work) so I say this knowing that I'm a step removed, but his command of language is masterful, and the style—rife with clauses—is dizzying. It's insufficient to compare him to a conductor; he's playing every instrument in the orchestra, and without missing a beat. The vocabulary is exuberant, and again the translation complicates this praise, but just the flow of words, completely apart from meaning, is often beautiful to read. It is also often quite hilarious, both in terms of narrative beats and specific passages. It's not a particularly old book, but still, I felt stupid for how surprised I was by its relevance and contemporary sensibility in the way Marcel experiences society, his relationships, and his self-reflection. I'm mostly rambling, I'll leave it with this last note, which is that Proust's range of insight and content is remarkable, and handled with a fluidity without which the book would still be a masterpiece, and with which it becomes both record and simulation of how we experience being alive and awareness of our life and time passing, which is the most exhilarating thing of all.
I was going to read 10 pages a day for all of 2023 and hopefully finish by the Year's End, but it is now February 3rd and I am 250 pages behind. Next time I start reading this book I shouldn't be reading 4 other titles at the same time. Oh well. We can try again next year.