Jonathan’s Comments (group member since Oct 24, 2013)

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

Renato wrote: "Interesting point. It seems a thing the narrator would at least consider - if not obsess over 20 pages! Are you also a jealous person, Jonathan? -- Haha, just kidding! :-) "

It's a bit easier to keep our prisoners under 24-hour surveillance these days Renato, what with all our cameras etc. ;-)

It's weird, when he found out that Mlle Vinteuil wasn't going to turn up I thought he was going to want to escape and check up on Albertine's whereabouts - or we'd at least get about twenty pages of him agonising over what she was getting up to - but nothing! After all, he didn't want her to be at the Verdurin's, even under his supervision, because Mlle Vinteuil & friend were going to be there.

I've got a copy of Davenport-Hines' 'Night at the Majestic' which I think is the same as the 'Proust at the Majestic' - probably just the difference between US & UK versions. I may read some smaller books before reading the Carter bio, which does look massive at approx. 1000 pages. It's available on kindle in UK so I'll be able to avoid crushing my knees when reading it.

Marcelita wrote: "Renato wrote: "I reread some bits, specially where the vendors were screaming outside!"

@2:45
A take-off of the street-cries:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpwUnf..."

Thanks Marcelita, that's a fun look at La Belle Époque.

Renato wrote: "Jonathan wrote: "Could the narrator actually be female?"

What an interesting thought. What made you come up with that?"

Well, it was re-reading the end bit of last week's reading when Charlus calls the narrator and Brichot a couple of 'naughty girls', which I realise is just Charlus being camp, but it made me just wonder if there was a bit of gender-confusion going on on Proust's side. This could explain why the narrator wasn't named and why it's only Albertine who calls him by a male name, i.e. a playful male name. It could also explain why there doesn't seem to be any penetrative sex between them and why the narrator seems to be able to spot every lesbian in existence BUT I don't really believe this and Dave has said that's on the wrong track as well. There are enough examples within the text that point to the narrator being definitely male anyway...I was just letting my imagination run wild.

BTW one of my favourite books, The Wasp Factory plays around with these themes.

Dave wrote: "Jonathan wrote: "Proust seems quite happy killing off his characters. So far we've had Swann, Bergotte, Cottard, Sherbatoff, Saniette. Have I missed any?"

Aunt Leonie and grandmother. Death is one..."

Oh, of course, how could I have forgotten his grandmother!

A lot of the Verdurins' clan are being killed off at quite a rate in this volume. As you mentioned some will be resurrected - the note in my book mentioned that Saniette appears again. It's such a shame that Proust couldn't finish ISOLT before he died - I bet he was a bit annoyed by it as well!

It will be interesting reading Carter's bio next year to find out more about Proust's life at this point. I'm guessing that he knew he didn't have too long to live and wanted to get it as close to completion as possible.

Favourite quote of the week:

The only true voyage, the only bath in the Fountain of Youth, would be not to visit strange lands but to possess other eyes, to see the universe through the eyes of another, of a hundred others, to see the hundred universes that each of them sees, that each of them is; and this we can do with an Elstir, with a Vinteuil; with men like these we do really fly from star to star.

Curious sentence of the week:

In any case Mlle Vinteuil had acted only out of sadism, which did not excuse her, though it gave me a certain consolation to think so later on.

Why is it consoling to think that someone acted out of sadism? Hopefully we'll find out.

The narrator says 'I kept putting off to the morrow my plans for Albertine' - does this sound sinister to others? My feeling was that he just couldn't decide whether to break up with her or to marry her, but it sounds that he has definite plans for her!

There's a lot of tension in this week's reading; what has Mme Verdurin got planned for Charlus - there are a lot of hints that something's about to happen - and what is going to happen between the narrator, Albertine and Mlle Vinteuil.

Proust sure likes to tease us:

Indeed, in the concluding section of this work, we shall see M. de Charlus himself engaged in doing things which would have stupefied the members of his family and his friends far more than he could possibly have been stupefied by Léa's revelations.

Is this little titbit to make sure we'll keep reading?

Given that the narrator is anxious that Albertine doesn't meet Mlle Vinteuil and her friend (do we know her name?), why does he not seem concerned that Albertine is at home and Mlle Vinteuil & friend have not turned up at the Verdurins' as expected? Doesn't he suspect that they may be all meeting up somewhere else? He seems to be pretty sure of the effectiveness of his 'prison', but as far as we know he's not literally chaining her to her bed or anything is he? She can surely leave or have visitors. I'm a bit confused with his actions to say the least.

Proust seems quite happy killing off his characters. So far we've had Swann, Bergotte, Cottard, Sherbatoff, Saniette. Have I missed any?

The passage that was mentioned in last week's discussion concerning Charlus's perspicacity and his nickname 'the dressmaker' appeared in this week's section in the MKE version; a quick comparison with the Penguin version shows that it was moved back a bit in the conversation between the narrator, Charlus and Brichot. I think it's better placed in the MKE version.

There was also an addenda in my Vintage MKE version after the sonata performance which is the (another) argument between M. Verdurin and Sanniete and the expulsion of Saniette from the soiree. This was just included in the Penguin version with no mention of its inclusion being odd. However, the note in the MKE version mentions that Saniette appears again later on. Personally I'd rather have all the material included and any inconsistencies just pointed out, after all we realise that it was unfinished and that Proust would have finished polishing it if he'd lived.

I've decided I'm not going to spend too much time analysing the differences between the versions, or what's missing etc. I'm just going to go with the flow.

Dave wrote: "A key point of the novel is what the Narrator is NOT doing!"

Could the narrator actually be female?

Charlus's favourite phrase seems to be: concatenation of circumstances. I think I'll start using it myself.

It's difficult stopping at this week's scheduled point (I will stop though, as I've stuck to the schedule, more or less, so far, so I'm not going to deviate from it now) as Charlus is in full flow - arrogant and verbose - whilst Mme Verdurin is curiously quiet; she must be fuming! We can feel her waiting for her moment to strike. I thought it might have been amusing for her to join the queue thanking Charlus and to leave with the others - but given that most of the nobility don't even know who she is that might have fallen flat.

Dwayne wrote: "Now I'm REALLY far behind ... still back here. Alas! :) I'll continue along, though. Still plan to finish this year!"

No problem Dwayne...just keep on going. :-) How are you finding S&G?

Yes, the Penguin one isn't that good. I've found the Penguin translations of mixed quality which is why I switched back to the MKE.

Could your missing translation be the Kilmartin one? Or by whoever wrote the article in the companion book?

I think Renato may be using the original Moncrieff version for his English version and Dave may be using one of the revisions. I'll add the Penguin version later if you like - though I'm off to work now :-(

Dave wrote: "Yes, I like the shark simile! Almost all of these details you and Renato point out I have overlooked or forgotten. I find it amusing in his longer sentences Proust sometimes includes four or five s..."

Reading the early volumes, I did, at times, think that Proust could have done with an editor. Reading this volume, where he didn't have the opportunity to add more material, I'm wondering if all he needed was to have someone to stop him tinkering, as this volume seems a lot more 'immediate' and fresh than the others. Admittedly, it's a bit more chaotic, but then I don't mind that.

Sometimes Proust's similes and metaphors leave me a bit cold, or baffled, but I really liked the way that Charlus, whilst striding along the street with some ruffians in his wake, was likened to a shark with smaller fish following it.