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.

Dave wrote: "The extended section dealing with "people look different when you haven't seen them in a long time" was tedious and belabored the obvious...."

I agreed with this point Dave. Proust was making the same point again and again. It was as if he'd never considered that people grow old before. I'm sure he would have adapted this if he'd had the time. The initial part when the narrator thinks everyone's in fancy dress was amusing though.

Dave wrote: "The Library - I found the climax of the novel absolutely astonishing! Astonishing in scope and in execution. I was overwhelmed when I realized Proust's purpose was to capture the moment of inspirat..."

I think I may re-read the 'Library scene' over the next couple of weeks. it was certainly pivotal and although I found it a bit annoying in places it was a great section of the book. This part, together with the last section gave an amazing insight into how Proust came to write ISOLT.

Both we and the author are experiencing a lot of changes but it is still shocking to hear that the narrator now finds Odette's company dull and boring and we get a glimpse into the future when she is considered a bit gaga!

If the narrator was getting confused over the ageing of the others then this reader was getting confused, sometimes, over who exactly was who. Of course, I knew that Mme Verdurin was now a Guermantes but when the narrator mentioned that the Duchess Guermantes was talking to Rachel I though that that was Mme Verdurin, but of course this was Oriane and Mme Verdurin was now Princess de Guermantes. Also when the narrator mentioned Mme de Forcheville I had to check; does he mean Odette?

I think this confusion over all these people that we feel helps us to experience the confusion that the narrator is having.

Marcelita wrote: "Congratulations, Jonathan!!
Celebrating with...stilts, beer, and the bell! ;) ..."

Ha! Ha! Great pics Marcelita & thanks. I'll have to start practicing on my stilts.

Dwayne wrote: "I did! Thank you! Yesterday morning at about 9 o'clock in the morning..."

Congratulations Dwayne! I'm glad you made it! You must have stormed through the last volumes.

Thanks Dave. I'm going to allow things to sink in before adding too much but I can hear the bell of the garden gate tinkling...

WOW! I've finished! What a ride. I'll most probably add notes for the last couple of weeks reading tomorrow as it's getting late here.

I felt giddy at the sight of so many years below me, yet within me, as if I were miles high.

Dave wrote: "Interesting Jonathan. Which translation are you reading? Does she have a drawling voice? My MKE search did not pick up this instance. Its worth considering that the quote you originally quoted refe..."

It's the Penguin version but I've checked the MKE version that has the same wording: 'She had deep-set piercing eyes...' No mention of her voice though.

Dave wrote: "Then I searched for "deep-set" and found only two occurrences (including yours) the first was a detailed description of a female statue by the young Marcel at Combray. This description is very latently sexual. .."

Hi Dave. I'm now near the end of Vol.6 and, given the quote above, got a jolt when I read this: (view spoiler)[

Yet here was Mlle de Saint-Loup, in front of me. She had deep-set, piercing eyes...

(hide spoiler)]

I shall never forgive them for killing my beautiful comics, they were my life, my everything. I'd pledged to never leave them, to be faithful to them....how I cried! :-)

Marcelita wrote: "From Carter's biography:

"The early draft of what became the 'farewell to the hawthorns' in the Search recounted an incident involving Robert, forced by his parents to leave behind a pet goat. ..."

Thanks Marcelita, that's great. I can still remember flying into a rage when I was a child. I remember my parents getting rid of loads of comics I had and being furious about it. To them it was just rubbish lying about but to me it was more important. I just love the hawthorns scene though as I think we can all remember doing something similar: declaring that we'll never forget or change, that adults are silly and don't understand.

I'm looking forward to reading the Carter bio - probably won't be until 2015 though.

Marcelita wrote: "Yes! I remember reading this for the first time....along with the enmeshed tale about Robert and the goat...."

er...Marcelita, what is the tale about Robert and the goat?

Hi Ben. Welcome to the group. Feel free to post comments in the threads. I'm glad to see you're enjoying it. Everyone seems to be contemplating re-reads. I intend to re-read parts of Vol 1 but not the whole work - not immediately anyway.

Good sleuthing Dave. I guess it must refer to Albertine as you say, unless it is a real non sequitur.

I'm intrigued by this bit when he's talking about how his grandmother was unhappy with the narrator's unproductive life and about how the characters in his life had found their way in one form into his book when we suddenly get this part:

That girl with the very deep-set eyes and the drawling voice, is she here? And if she really does repose here, then do we any longer know in what part, or how to find her underneath the flowers?

I don't suppose we'll know whom he's talking about but my first thought was that it was the girl with piercing eyes who stared at Albertine when they were in Balbec.

Renato wrote: "The moment where he decided how he would write his novel and how everything started with Swann gave me chills to read! It's a long quote, but worth to be put here, for sure:
"In short, if I ref..."

Yes, this whole section is great. I've got up to the point where the butler has come in so that the narrator can join the party.

As I also like quotes, here's a couple of my faves:

In reality each reader, when he is reading, is uniquely reading himself. The writer's work is only a kind of optical instrument which he offers the reader to enable him to discern what without this book he might not perhaps have seen in himself.

Because happiness alone is good for the body; whereas sorrow develops the strength of the mind.

A writer must not take offence when inverts give his heroines masculine faces.

Ok, that's enough for now...

Sunny in Wonderland wrote: "Hmmmmm. Seems Proust didn't want us putting too much stock in guessing who he was writing about...

"That is one of the reasons why studies in which an attempt is made to guess whom an author has ..."

It doesn't stop us though. :-)

Dave wrote: "Interesting to note that his talking and crying was no more effective on the behavior of the hawthorns than it was on the behavior of the women in his life (grandmother excepted)."

Ha! Ha! I did notice throughout the book that the hawthorns were mentioned again and again, very often just as an aside - I'm sure it was when he was getting all emotional over Albertine, Gilberte etc. I guess these were other 'involuntary memory events' (or IMEs).

Dave wrote: "Great quote Jonathan and very insightful. We now know that Proust was one of the pioneers in the field of talking to your plants to give them emotional support!"

Talking and crying.