ReemK10 (Paper Pills)’s Comments (group member since Dec 26, 2012)

ReemK10 (Paper Pills)’s comments from the The Year of Reading Proust group.

What do you suppose Proust meant by the words brown study?-- would gaze thus in a sort of brown study...

" But I was not troubled either by the intensity of this contemplation, or by its brevity which was compensated by that intensity. indeed, as to the latter, it often happened that Albertine, whether from exhaustion, or because it was an attentive person's way of looking at other people, would gaze thus in a sort of brown study either at my father or at Francoise; and as for the rapidity at which she turned to look at me, it might be due to the fact that Albertine, knowing my suspicions, might wish, even if they were unjustified, to avoid laying herself open to them." (MKE 221)

Harold Bloom wrote that “Proust’s greatest strength, amid so many others, is his characterization: no twentieth-century novelist can match his roster of vivid personalities.” I think however it is not his depiction of characters that is so memorable as much as it is HIS interaction with them.

Glad to hear that your reading was enhanced by "The Western Canon". I only attempted "The Anatomy of Influence" but didn't get very far.

Ce Ce thanks for sharing all that delicious -looking ices and jello!

To quote or not to quote?

Have we ever discussed why the mother always wrote letters to her son quoting Madame de Sevigne? Didn't she do the same when she wrote to her own mother?

"I began to read Mamma's letter. Behind her quotation from Mme de Sevigne....(MKE180)

As I read this, I couldn't help but think why? Why didn't she use her own words to express herself? Why was she always quoting?

I quote: "Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."

Oscar Wilde

While I was surprised that the mother did this, I have to admit that I too am a sucker for a good quote!

Why do we quote?

Elaine wrote: Rain hail snow , egads!! My road (Ute Pass) is once again closed from rock and mudslides. I'm on top to the mountain, and out of harms way. (though there's water in the basement, I'm safe and warm) The rain is not letting up.

I'm glad to hear that you are safe and can only think that you must live in a sort of paradise because in places of intense beauty there is always intense havoc brought on by the weather. Keep dry and read Proust.

Elaine wrote: "Greetings again, I took the plunge and just cracked open Within A Budding Grove. My feeling are mixed about continuing ISOLT, but your encouragement help me along. Also, this quote from Virginia W..."

Good to see you in here again Elaine! It's funny, but I've been thinking about you what with the fires and flash floods in Colorado. Hope all is well in your neck of the woods. I'm glad that you are enjoying the links and reading our comments. I just want to say that I thought that the beginning of Within a Budding Grove absolute agony to read at first due largely to my Davis-translation withdrawal. I was surprised when at the end of the volume Eugene was nice enough to remind that I had sung the praises of this MKE translation. Hang in there! The payoff is great!

Marcelita wrote:Kalliope, you are a gardener...sowing seeds for Proust!

I second that! You're also an incredible host during this magical year of reading Proust!

Here is my review of S&G written while suffering a migraine. :( I wanted to get it done.

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I think Kalliope's music, Elizabeth's pain, Marcelita's sympathy and the love from Patricia, Ce Ce, and Kalliope has this group forming a very dear sisterhood. September 11. A very sad day. We all seem to be vulnerable today.

I'll just leave a hug for Elizabeth (Elizabeth). Tomorrow is another day. Hang in there.

As I was reading the part: "If only I'm not killed," he says to himself, " how shall I enjoy myself too!" Life has in fact suddenly acquired a higher value in his eyes, because he puts into life everything that it seems to him capable of giving instead of the little tht he normally demands of it."(MKE 101-102)

This reminded me of something I read before about Proust answering this question posed in 1922 by L'Intransigeant:

"A scientist announces that the world will end. How do you think that people would behave between the time when they acquired this news and the moment of apocalypse? And what would you do in these last hours?"

He replies: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-ent...

Unregistered* wrote: "I thought I'd start a specific thread Harold Bloom on Proust in the Auxiliary Reading (w/Spoilers) section but don't seem to be able to do it - maybe requires that one be a moderator?

Bloom, in my..."

I think that would be an interesting thread to read Good idea!

If I may, here are 22 out- of- print J.D Salinger stories that you can read online:

http://airshipdaily.com/blog/96201322...

http://m.friendfeed-media.com/c936337...

Unregistered* wrote: "In Harrold's Bloom's work The Western Canon he states in his essay on Proust (warning: full of spoilers) "Torture by factfinding is Proust's comic formula, since this is self torment, and the facts..."

Interesting. Found this by Harold Bloom which we may like to put on our list to read next year: This title, Marcel Proust, part of Chelsea House Publishers’ Modern Critical Views series, examines the major works of Marcel Proust through full-length critical essays by expert literary critics. In addition, this title features a short biography on Marcel Proust, a chronology of the author’s life, and an introductory essay written by Harold Bloom, Sterling Professor of the Humanities, Yale University.

http://www.amazon.com/Marcel-Proust-B...

He says of reading Proust: HAROLD BLOOM: You can pick up Proust the way you can pick up Dickens or the way you can pick up Cervantes or Shakespeare. You can count upon the passion and storytelling skill of the narrator. You can count upon the extraordinarily intense depth of characterization on Proust's part to carry you so deep into the interior of the crucial figures in the book that you will be concerned about their lives and deaths as human beings, not about the time in which they live or the political causes through which they're struggling. Indeed, even their particular sexual orientation in some sense becomes secondary because there's no essential difference between the sorrows and vicissitudes - you know -- that attend all human erotic relationships, whether they are heterosexual or homosexual. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/conversat...

Just a quick post. I was curious about the name Jehan being that it reminded me of Jehan Sadat.

"I wanted to know the original spelling of the name Jean. I learned it when I received a letter from a nephew of Mme de Villeparisis who signs himself—as he was christened, as he figures in the Almanach de Gotha—Jehan de Villeparisis, with the same handsome, superfluous, heraldic h that we admire, illuminated in vermilion or ultramarine, in a Book of Hours or in a stained-glass window."(MKE 39)

" The European continent and in all French-speaking countries, Jean, pronounced [ʒɑ̃], is a male name derived from the Old French Jehan.

Jehan de Villeparisis




Proust actually had a member of his own family who was named Jehan.

"The Proust family, one of the oldest in the small town of Illiers, near Chartres, can be traced back as far as the sixteenth century. Adrien's ancestors, for the most part, belonged to the middle class and held administrative posts that, under the ancien régime, were normally reserved for notables. The records list Prousts who were bailiffs, elected representatives, and lawyers. In 1589 Jehan Proust was listed as a member of the Assembly of Notables, a civic institution dating from the Middle Ages." http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/c/...

Ce Ce wrote: "It may be the Fortuny dresses and the whisper of Venice in ISOLT but we were grocery shopping this week...and in the ice cream section was a tub of mango gelato imported from Venice for $9.99. I wa..."

Speaking of Venice, I can't resist sharing this BBC film with you all. You must watch the entire film. I'll just post Part 1/6
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQtdX...

I've never been to Venice, but watching this film makes me feel as if I've been there! Truly enjoyable!

Kalliope wrote: "ReemK10 (Paper Pills) wrote: "C

You might lik..."

Thanks Reem, you are a Finder...."

:)

Against aesthetics
by William Logan

Part of the burden of being a critic means that you should reject Aesthetic Statements.


http://www.newcriterion.com/articles....

Celebrated Russian author Leo Tolstoy’s entire body of work – all 90 volumes – along with comprehensive biographical materials has been posted online and will be available for free.

You might like to bookmark this:

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20130905/183...

Ce Ce, your posts are keenly perceptive and so beautifully expressed that I can feel the sadness of Proust's final days.

Marcelita, it is so nice to have you share your links with us. Much appreciated!