Proust's Binculars, a study of Memory, Time and Recognition in A la Recherche du Temps Perdu

by Roger Shattuck

Proust himself described the method of the Recherche as ' a telescope pointed at time '. Professor Shattuck bases his brilliant book on the recurrent images and metaphors from the science of optics which Proust employed, for' truth, he believed, is a miracle of vision '. The course of the Recherche runs through a series of errors in vision, which Marcel corrects by a gradual adjustment and focusing. This view-point enables Professor Shattuck to bring light to many of the darker corners of his vast he shows us the novel as a deliberate tissue of misconceptions and false ideals, without the exploration of which Marcel would never have reached the final recognition of his task.

Genres: Literary Criticism

153 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1983

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is because of books like this that I had applied to graduate programs in Comparative Literature.

It is, in large part, that books like this were becoming passé in the world of literary academia that I chose not to matriculate into the programs that admitted me.

[m · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was too clever by half.