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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Not every sentence needs to be so superfluous. Perhaps I’ll return to it someday.
I enjoyed Part II of the book, Swann's Love, but I think I missed the connection between parts I and III. I think Proust did a wonderful job detailing the extent of Swann's obsession with Odette and how nonsensical it really was considering there was little to nothing Swann found attractive about her by herself (only when he compared her to a certain painting and music did he become rather attached). However, I think I will have to continue the series to truly understand what younger Proust's relationship to the Swanns' is (excepting his infatuation with their daughter, Gilberte). It was a good challenge though, and I did appreciate the desperate, needy characterization of Swann (it's nice to read about a somewhat loser of a man).
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The writing in this book is absolutely exquisite. Proust's narrator inspects each nuance of consciousness and the opening scene in which he discusses waking is fabulous. There is moe in one page of this book to ponder than I'm sure I even caught.
Time stands still in this book - or moves so swiftly that it gives the impression that time is something completely independent of reality.
The author/narrator/Swann is obsessive and paranoid and the telling is so complete. No wonder it is labeled a masterpiece.
Time stands still in this book - or moves so swiftly that it gives the impression that time is something completely independent of reality.
The author/narrator/Swann is obsessive and paranoid and the telling is so complete. No wonder it is labeled a masterpiece.
i need to read the final volume for a class on friday, and though i of course don't have the time to also read the rest of the cycle by the end of the week, i decided i could at least pick up the first book. and i am very glad that i did! it was a uniquely beautiful experience to read this during spring: both in the sunny bloom of the park, and at my kitchen window while watching the rain.
there is a part near the middle in which he talks about a fictional author, bergotte, whose books he most admires for the lengthy passages in which all plot is suspended in favour of describing (for example) the front of a cathedral. this is also true of how i feel about proust: i loved this novel the most during the several pages we'd spend at the river with its lotus flowers, or preparing asparagus for lunch, or walking among the red hawthorn trees. and all the while it is not so much the objects themselves that enchant you, but a sort of light that falls on them, like brushstrokes of a dreamlike painting. in any case, i look forward to reading on!
there is a part near the middle in which he talks about a fictional author, bergotte, whose books he most admires for the lengthy passages in which all plot is suspended in favour of describing (for example) the front of a cathedral. this is also true of how i feel about proust: i loved this novel the most during the several pages we'd spend at the river with its lotus flowers, or preparing asparagus for lunch, or walking among the red hawthorn trees. and all the while it is not so much the objects themselves that enchant you, but a sort of light that falls on them, like brushstrokes of a dreamlike painting. in any case, i look forward to reading on!