Dave’s Comments (group member since May 24, 2014)

Dave’s comments from the Reading Proust's In Search of Lost Time in 2014 group.

Renato wrote: "Dave, turns out Swann's death was mentioned in this week's read. It was such a brief comment that I re-read it to see if I wasn't imagining things. It was interesting how he simply mentioned it whi..."

Ah, here we go. Thanks Renato. Are you referring to the sentence which begins "She even mentioned her name...."?

Renato wrote: "Dave wrote: "BAM, BAM, BAM MARCEL, what the hell are you doing locked in that room with that book? You've been in there for an hour! Do I have to get Francoise up here to unlock this door?"

LOL! I've been meaning to read it for quite some time;

Ha, keep in mind Renato, what was shocking and steamy in ISOLT time would not even get a second glance today.

Marcelita wrote: "Have you ever thought about listening to the novel, with or without the book in your hands?

Michael Mott on his experience:

"This was the fourth time I had read Proust’s À La Recherche du Temps P..."

Thanks again Marcelita! Fascinating, but my hard-core Proust habit is getting expensive. Now I have subscribed to the Suwanee Review to read the entire article. All these Proust books and paraphernalia are adding up. To whom do I send the bill?

As always Marcelita, you provide the most fascinating background info. Thank you.

Jonathan wrote: "Dave wrote: "Jonathan wrote: "Dave wrote: "Has any mention been made of Swann's death? If so, any thoughts?"

Yes, wasn't Swann's death mentioned at the end of Guermantes Way? I found it interestin..."

I searched for it in my ebook. What I'm referring to in still ahead in this volume, sorry.

Jonathan wrote: "Dave wrote: "This probably should go last week, but what the heck. As the narrator grieves his grandmother's death he asks his mother for a copy of "Thousand and One Nights." Strange book for a man..."

I'm sure we are dealing with the uncensured version. I believe it was illustrated too. When the explorer Richard Burton translated and published that version it caused a ruckous. I'm not sure which is stranger, for him to ask her for the book, or her to give it to him (BAM, BAM, BAM MARCEL, what the hell are you doing locked in that room with that book? You've been in there for an hour! Do I have to get Francoise up here to unlock this door?) Well, perhaps there are some limits to our narrator's sense of modesty.

Anyway, I think the significance of TAON may have to do at least as much with the structure of that book as content. But I'm still trying to sort it out. This issue continues to the end.

Jonathan wrote: "Dave wrote: "Has any mention been made of Swann's death? If so, any thoughts?"

Yes, wasn't Swann's death mentioned at the end of Guermantes Way? I found it interesting that when the narrator was h..."

No, I remember that, What I'm thinking of is in this volume, I'm just not sure where. Just wanted to make sure we hadn't past it as I think its worth a brief discussion.

This probably should go last week, but what the heck. As the narrator grieves his grandmother's death he asks his mother for a copy of "Thousand and One Nights." Strange book for a man to ask his mother for! Especially when mother knows what it is about. As the story moves forward, Thousand and One Nights becomes one of the most frequently cited books. As you come across these references, I'd be interested in your thoughts on that book's significance and how your thoughts change, if they change. I'm still trying to figure this out.

Has any mention been made of Swann's death? If so, any thoughts?

Renato wrote: "Jonathan wrote: "Given that this volume started off with the narrator peeping on a homosexual liaison where there was no doubt what was going on I can't see why Proust/the narrator would be so circ..."

I thought I would extend Jonathan's good point about the first hand observation that opens S & G vs Albertine and the narrator by suggesting you keep mental track, beginning with Cottard's observation, concerning what does the Narrator/reader know about Albertine, what is the basis of that knowledge and how reliable do you consider various sources to be? It took me a long time to start tracking those questions and I had to do a lot of backtracking. Just trying to save you the bother by starting now.

Renato wrote: "Dave wrote: "This conversation was a high part of the Audio Book. To hear the Marquise slurping and gurggling had me in stitches."

Hahaha I can imagine. I laughed out loud several times while read..."

I've been following the posts and found them interesting and insightful. But when you get to the posts I made on S & G in the last week you will see I didn't have much to say about this week's read.. I am glad you both seem to be enjoying the read. I wish some of the other group members would jump in with comments.

Jonathan wrote: "I think my favourite quote from this week's reading was this:Then came the deglutition of saliva, and the old lady instinctively wiped the stubble of her toothbrush moustache with her handkerchief...."

This conversation was a high part of the Audio Book. To hear the Marquise slurping and gurggling had me in stitches.

lol, Marcelita, thank you! Fortunately we have a gourmet grocery store in San Antonio and I can buy even the most exotic ingredients.

Jonathan wrote: "I keep reading and re-reading this quote which comes just after the narrator has had the involuntary memory of his grandmother after touching his boots. When I read it the exact meaning just slips ..."

The sentence you cite is certainly Proust at his obtuse best. The way I interpret it is that the power of his grief has "crowded out" all the "selfs" he has successively become as he has grown up and, just as a moment before he had forgotten his grandmother, now his self as grandson is all he can remember.

Jonathan wrote: "Re: Intermittencies of the Heart

I'm just going through this part of the reading again. I think we mentioned the narrator's reaction to his grandmother on arrival to Balbec in earlier comments. Wh..."

Good point Jonathan! I was really impressed with this section. Based on my own experiences in grief and my work as a volunteer grief counselor, I found this section very authentic psychologically.

Jonathan wrote: "The suspect wasn't re-reading Proust then?"

lol, Apparently not. But it would make a great new novel. The frustrated protagonist that wants to read Proust but is simply too busy, devises the perfect plan - commit a crime and turn yourself in on the expectation of lots of time in prison to read and perhaps reread! ;)

This evening I was watching an episodeof Rizzoli and Isles (Homicide Detictive TV Show set in Boston). Two detectives interviewing suspect.
Det 1: Where were you on the night your mother was killed?
Suspect: Home alone reading.
Det 1: What were you reading?
Suspect: Proust.
Det 2: I didn't know anyone read Proust anymore.
Det 1: And which of Proust's many volumes were you reading?
Suspect: (No answer)
Det 1: That's a pretty pretentious alibi.
(Suspect wasn't the killer but he was covering up three affairs)

LOL, Marcel Proust, French Author 1871-1922 is now following me on Twitter! He's alive! And tweeting the entire text of In Search of Lost Time.

Renato wrote: "I'm torn between an instant re-read or one in a couple of years. All I know is I'll be re-reading it for sure. Here are some of my cluttered thoughts:

- re-read immediately so, like Dave, I'll be ..."

You seem to be on track Renato. I don't believe there is no correct answer, everyone has to decide for themselves.

Marcelita wrote: "...I thought more modestly of my book and it would be inaccurate even to say that I thought of those who would read it as 'my' readers. For it seemed to me that they would not be 'my' readers but the readers of their own selves, my book being merely a sort of magnifying glass like those which the optician at Combray used to offer his customers—it would be my book, but with its help I would furnish them with the means of reading what lay inside themselves. "

I had looked for this section to quote. I was telling Jonathan last night that I thought that a second read would be very personal for each reader because it would be more a quest of self discovery.

I love the Proust as a Musician. I put it on my Amazon wish list, Along with Beethoven's Thirteenth String Quartet. Also loved the paragraph on Proust's critical doctrine and that he may prove to be a precursor of New Criticism. I am self-educated in New Criticism and, as such, quite insistent on the primacy of the text.

In a sure sign I've fallen down the Proustian rabbit hole, I've order Lime Blossum Tea, and gotten a recipe for creamed eggs off Pinterest.