Marcel Proust and Deliverance from Time

by Germaine Brée

Book by Bree, Germaine

Genres: France

252 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1969

Reviews

[Nick Wellings · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid, thorough, clear-sighted, detailed and revealing. Published in the early 1950s "Proust and Deliverance From Time" is pre-deconstruction, pre-"signs" of Deleuze: a no-nonsense, rigorous treatment of Proust happily stripped of obscurantist philosophising, genetic criticism, "narrative turns" and all that freight of Postmodern mumbo-jumbo which, interesting as it was at the time, happily seems to be fading away, though what replaces it is less clear and not my concern here or anywhere. (We live in an unclassifiable age.)

Deleuze probably read it and copped his "Signs" from it. (Brée mentions Proust's system of signs and 'hieroglyphics' quite often.)

As one of my comments says, this is enjoyable and insightful throughout. Every chapter is good. I only give it four stars because I give 5s so seldom, and give it where a piece gives aesthetic joy as well as intellectual pleasures. To her credit, Brée fulfils the last point admirably, with page on page of great discussion of the novel, to produce these insights rigorously and clearly is her concern, and that's always good. (I can't really slight her for not fulfilling a personal foible.)

As examination of the architecture of In Search Of Lost Time, its linkages and suggestions, key themes, and intimations and assonances of form and event it is perhaps the best I have read.

Many times in the book, Brée analyses a sentence, theme or paragraph then shows that it did not exist in isolation, that truly in Proust, each event and moment, every person and memory and theme, their ways of living, their histories, their futures and their very lives, are intimately linked, though deep down (because we only see through the Narrator's eye) they exist apart from one another, resembling lonely astral bodies destined never to ever truly know or to truly love one another.

Reading Brée, we are reminded of Proust's colossal literary achievements, his artistic gifts and - forgivable as they are, even handedly - his artistic shortcomings. Nevertheless, the edifice he created remains, with little danger of collapse any time soon.

In Brée I found perhaps the best guide I have met to lead us through the subtle labyrinth of Proust's marvellous creation. At times the tone of the work may teeter a little on the edge of 'boring' for those used to more whizz-bang modern treatments, like Bowie's, but there's never a lack of insight. This is a very minor point and I must stress, I never was bored by it once.

Recommended for fans of Shattuck and Bowie and for those wanting a thorough look into The Search.

[Zach]

Easily the best, most illuminating analysis I've ever read about In Search of Lost Time. Ms. Germaine Bree is a profoundly erudite reader, and I'm ever grateful for her efforts here and for sharing it. Bree goes far beyond any of the analysis of Beckett, Nabokov, Bowie, Botton, and Bloom, although each of these deep readers offer a new path in their own right.

From her conclusion,

"And we may echo of Proust himself what the narrator says apropos of those authors who, 'watching themselves work as though they were both the workman and the judge, reaped from this contemplation a unique and autonomous beauty, superior to the work itself . . ..'"

[James Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Germaine Bree, one of the foremost authorities on modern French literature, has produced one of the best studies of Proust's novel. It is organized well with economical prose covering topics ranging from "The Proustian World" to Proust's place among his peers as a novelist. Just as she has done for Camus and Gide, Ms. Bree provides an essential guide to the thought and writing of Marcel Proust.

[Paul Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must-read for any Proust fans. Bree explains very convincingly and enjoyable what she thinks Proust was trying to do with his novel and I found her account really helpful and interesting.

[Don Hackett · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good reading and existentialist interpretation of Proust.