Jacob’s Comments (group member since Nov 14, 2014)

Jacob’s comments from the One Year In Search of Lost Time ~ 2015 group.

I really like Davis's translation of Swann's Way but I'm considering using the Moncrieff/Kilmartin on alternate weeks so I can compare them (without reading them both each week). Maybe I'll dip into the first Moncrieff as well. I've heard that the liberties he took are often very beautiful. If I'm not going to be prudish about the themes of the novel, I see no reason to be prudish about translation.

Judy wrote: "For anyone seeking notes as they go, I've just come across this site which has notes with illustrations - it has answered a few of my questions during the first few pages.

http://www.bookdrum.com/..."

Thanks, Judy, that looks great.

Artifex wrote: "Hello, I am the cajoled husband! Proust was not on the top my must read list ( or anywhere near the lower end) I am sitting here next to my lovely wife with my copy of Swanns Way, anticipating an e..."

You deserve a lot of credit. As demonstrations of devotion go, reading Proust would ordinarily be ranked a few tiers above walking through fire! Best of luck on the journey, and I hope you love what you discover.

Welcome everyone! I'm really looking forward to reading Proust with all of you. I think I'll read it much closer than if I were doing this by myself.

I quote the line that we will end at each week. These lines are all found at the end of a paragraph. The quotes are from the recent translation edited by Christopher Prendergast. The page numbers are from the Modern Library edition translated by C. K. Scott Moncrieff and Terence Kilmartin (1992). The quotes are not too different between the translations and should be easy to recognize. I also cite the approximate page percentage of these lines. The percentage is of the text ISoLT only, excluding introductions and prefaces, end notes and summaries.

SCHEDULE:

January 10
"...even in the most melancholy of circumstances, to rub together with an air of enterprise, celebration and success" (p. 88; ~14.3%).

January 17
"...with a secret languor invisible to the lady, a love-smitten eye in a face of ice" (p. 176; ~28.6%).

January 24
"...put to flight by the pale sign traced above the curtains by the raised finger of the dawn" (end of Part I, p. 264; ~42.9%).

January 31
"...and in fact, what spoke to her imagination was not the practice of disinterestedness, but its vocabulary" (p. 341; ~56.9%).

February 7
"...the idea of seeing her again would spring back from the far distance where it had been kept into the field of the present as an immediate possibility" (p. 422; ~71.7).

February 14
"'My poor dear, forgive me, I feel I'm hurting you, it's over and done with, I'm not thinking about it any more'" (p. 500; ~85.7%).

February 21
End of The Way by Swann's

Judy wrote: "Delighted to have found this group - I was planning to read Proust on my own, but it will be more fun in company! Jacob, I can't see the lines that we will be ending around, can you post them again..."

I moved this thread from the first volume's folder so my first comment doesn't make any sense here. Later tonight I'll post the schedule for the entirety of Swann's Way in its own folder.

I'm using the recent translation edited by Christopher Prendergast. Only a few have been published in the US but they can easily be ordered from the UK (as I've done). I don't know about their availability in other countries but I'm guessing it's an American problem. (Here's the backstory: http://www.readingproust.com/copyrite...)

Some version of C. K. Scott Moncrieff's translation has been the most widely read over the last century. The first few are available online at sites like Project Gutenberg. I'll probably sometimes use this translation too.

I'm finishing my first time through In Search of Lost Time. This time through has taken me (*deep intake of breath*) four years. My typical reading rate has been: read intensely for a week or two, stop reading for nine months or a year, repeat. I started reading more regularly in November so I could finish it in December and start over in January.

I want to read it again for two reasons. 1) I want to have a more seamless but still reasonable reading experience and 2) as I begin to dabble in writing I can think of no better daily influence on my prose then one of the greatest masters of the genre.

I didn't read much literature until after I graduated from college. I've mostly studied philosophy, and that undoubtedly influences my approach to ISOLT.

I've never moderated a group (in fact, I'm quite new to goodreads) so I'm open to suggestions.

Who are you and why do you want to read Proust?

Hi everyone! I was delighted, and more than a little surprised, to check back on the group I was planning to find that you've brought it to life. I'd expected to have a few friends join after some persistent arm twisting. I've added a thread at Kristen's suggestion and I've also added one for introductions, if that's your style.

Let's talk about auxiliary reads. Anything that supports or supplements our read through In Search of Lost Time. Kristen's already suggested Monsieur Proust's Library.

The first 14.3% of The Way by Swann's. We'll end around the following lines: