Simon’s
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(group member since Dec 27, 2014)
Simon’s
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from the One Year In Search of Lost Time ~ 2015 group.
Showing 21-40 of 176
No problem, Teresa, though it would be nice if you still joined our discussions. I can understand that it's too appealing to read ahead and not stick to the schedule now towards the end of this Proust journey.Yes, it is Mademoiselle de Forcheville, i'm actually using MKE on Kindle, as somehow volume 5/6 and 3 i think of the Penguin are not available on Kindle.
I think if i really reread Proust next year (though the Against the Day and A Dance to the Music of time groups already make for a lot of scheduled reading), i'd probably take Jacob's advice and read 1-6 of MKE and 7 of Penguin. Then i can compare it with my Penguin reads, too.
I just got here, did anyone else already?The Chapter Two title sure is foreboding... ;)
MKE:"I recalled it at last exactly, no longer injecting it with suffering, but rather, on the contrary, as we recall certain days in summer which we found too hot while they lasted, and from which only after they have passed do we extract their unalloyed essence of pure gold and indestructible azure.
(p. 656, Kindle Edition)"
boy, it's hard to find the MKE quotes from the Penguin/Moncrieff ones sometimes. I was trying "summer days" and "days of summer", but of course they had to make "days in summer" out of it... ;)
i'm almost at this goal by the way.
In this section, I find it especially perplexing how the narrator can go from one extreme emotion to the next so easily. The lesser form is "when Albertine is there, i'm bored, when she isn't, i'm jealous and suffering", and now it's "one moment ago, my life has no meaning except endless suffering if Albertine won't come back, but now that my letter will certainly bring her back,
immediately I changed my mind; I hoped that Albertine would not return, but I wanted the decision to come from her, so as to put an end to my anxiety,
(p. 617)
Even the lesser form, but especially this makes me question the narrator's emotional maturity.
And the big event (big plot spoiler from this section):
(view spoiler)
Good points, you two.I guess Proust may have been very different in person than in writing. He followed his own philosophy of trying to make friends with everyone, friendship for exchange of affection rather than intellectual benefits. He was a great listener and invited others to tell him their stories in more detail. At his house parties, he seated himself from one person to the next, to be able to talk to everyone. If he was witty and funny on top of that - no wonder he was popular.
now i'm confused ^^ yes, the Yale quote, reflecting what happens in ISOLT, refers to the narrator found charming by the Duchess once he stopped trying to meet her, which "confirms" Proust's theory that you need to decline invitations to become more sought-after. I just find the theory implausible in general. People rather forget thinking about you and inviting you if you shut yourself up all the time.
Ah, that's a high requirement, Marcelita, but I understand, I may join you at the start of 2016 then ;)though i'm sure there would be enough hardcore Proustians for such a group, you'd just need to find and recruit them.
Ah, yes, so Proust can back this quote up with evìdence from his own story ;) though in this case the Duchess feeling harassed by someone in love with her may be the bigger factor. I just wonder whether Proust's assertion about real life really holds here, and I've encountered a few of these aphorisms by Proust, that seem witty and surprisingly true on first sight, but maybe too far-fetched to be true in the end.
This was a fantastic section showing how the relationship and changing feelings between the narrator and Albertine work.I think this quote from shortly after this section says it all: (not really a spoiler)
(view spoiler)
This one goes in a similar direction (from this section):
"one only loves that in which one pursues the inaccessible, one only loves what one does not possess, and very soon I began to realise once more that I did not possess Albertine."
(p. 517)
I wonder if this is one of Proust's few aphorisms that are witty, but somehow misguided:
"if a man were to regret that he was not sufficiently courted in society, I should not advise him to pay more calls, to keep an even finer carriage; I should tell him not to accept any invitation, to live shut up in his room, to admit nobody, and that then there would be a queue outside his door.
(p. 499)
At least, that doesn't seem to work out well for me ;)
Yeah, I just read someone's post on goodreads who said that you haven't really read Proust until you've read him twice.The Man Without Qualities is also on my list, would be nice to have a year-long reading group for that too (though i guess demand would be lower than for Proust).
Haha, good one, Marcelita.I very likely will join (or create) new year's goodreads Proust group.
Oh boy, i got behind in the reading schedule again!And it's not for lack of interest, i'm currently near the end of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the stuff between Albertine and the narrator is highly emotional and interesting.
But I'm not worried about not catching up at some point, if necessary i'd gladly read the whole rest around christmas. And I do read almost every day even now.
Any Proust news for you?
End of The Fugitive - Chapter 2 (~74.63%).
Ending on the 19th sounds good. Though i think a good option too is adding 20-30 pages to the last week. At that point one is eager to get to the end and doesn't mind the extra pages. But even split sounds good too.
Thank you, Marcelita!Yes, I'm already thinking of joining (or starting) the 2016 GR reread, also to see what the next slew of (re-)readers brings to the table.
Strange, i didn't see the first Oct. 10 thread when i checked.I also got behind but hope to catch up now like Jacob.
Yes, it has been great to have a little group stick to the Proust reading together for such a long time and discuss it with each other. We would still make a decent meetup reading group, and there we probably wouldn't have even that many people stick to it for so long, haha.
"You would have said that her lovely head, as she slept, was full of nothing but gaiety, tenderness and laughter. And waking her had been simply like opening a ripe fruit, sending the thirst-quenching juice spurting into one's mouth" (93.5%).MKE:
It was as though her charming head, when she slept, was filled with nothing but gaiety, affection and laughter. And in waking her I had merely, as when we cut open a fruit, released the gushing juice which quenches thirst.
(p. 522, Kindle Edition)
Wow, that's great info for the music in Proust, thanks Marcelita! That seems to cover just about everything regarding the "little theme" of Vinteuil's and other passages.Though i think it may equally be Saint-Saens' sonata No. 2 instead of 1 (or both).
Jacob, i posted that last quote in the week 2 thread with the same idea of the unreliability of the narrator, expecting you to find it interesting ;)Regarding your first point, maybe making Albertine free would make her favor the girls instead of him though. Maybe he has to be Albertine's master to keep her as the slave he wants her to be.
I also found the notion on unity in works interesting and the ones on art inspiring, sometimes almost like an artist's self-help book.
"If art was indeed but a prolongation of life, was it worth while to sacrifice anything to it? Was it not as unreal as life itself? The more I listened to this septet, the less I could believe this to be so."
(p. 339)
Yes, I also felt that the narrator had a lust and obsession toward Odette of his own.Good to see you back!
"M. de Charlus soon began to slide down the slippery slope again, and with ever-increasing speed, as we shall see. But the Verdurins' attitude to him was to remain a distant memory, which later, more immediate resentments pushed into the background" (77.92%).MKE:
"M. de Charlus redescended the downward slope with a speed which , as we shall see, continued steadily to increase. But the Verdurins’ attitude towards him was by that time no more than a somewhat distant memory which more immediate outbursts prevented from reviving."
(p. 435, Kindle, Vintage Classics)
i had a pretty hard time finding the MKE spot from the Penguin quote, so i hope this helps.
Also, Teresa, snatched that one away from ya! ;)
