Days of Reading (Penguin Great Ideas) in The Year of Reading Proust

Nov 05, 2009 Bram rated it liked it

Shelves: 2009, proustophilia

Since this book has yet to be reviewed on this site, I feel compelled to say something, but I also feel more comfortable making this a dry description rather than utilizing my usual erratic and not-so-informative approach. Days of Reading is a collection of five essays, one of which is heavily abridged from a longer work (“Against Sainte-Beuve”). These five essays cover four topics. We have criticism of Ruskin’s art and architecture criticism; two philosophical essays on the pleasures, edificati Since this book has yet to be reviewed on this site, I feel compelled to say something, but I also feel more comfortable making this a dry description rather than utilizing my usual erratic and not-so-informative approach. Days of Reading is a collection of five essays, one of which is heavily abridged from a longer work (“Against Sainte-Beuve”). These five essays cover four topics. We have criticism of Ruskin’s art and architecture criticism; two philosophical essays on the pleasures, edifications, and limitations of reading; some thoughts (basically just a few long quotations) on Sainte-Beuve and his (in)famous style of literary criticism; and some words on the first volume of Proust’s novel, Swann’s Way.

At the time I was reading this book I was concurrently reading a similar Penguin "Great Ideas" book by Ruskin made up of an excerpted work and a speech, and this work, on top of information provided in In Search of Lost Time and its volume introductions, gave me just enough knowledge to enjoy/get something out of the initial Proust essay. From what I can tell, Proust’s views on Ruskin evolved from early uncritical worship to sincere respect with a few major disagreements. Ruskin’s impact on Proust’s writing can’t be overstated: one only has to read a little of Ruskin’s work to grasp the degree of influence he had on Proust’s now-famous prose style. It’s also clear that, to a greater degree than anyone else, Ruskin influenced Proust’s particular aesthetic leanings in art. He showed him where to look and what to look for, and many of Proust’s favorite artists and paintings seem to line up with Ruskin’s favorites.

A key divergence, and not necessarily the only one, is that Proust loved Turner’s later and more abstract work, while Ruskin thought his early epic realism to be the absolute pinnacle of painting and considered the later works to be evidence of Turner’s declining moral and aesthetic mind. This example leads into the major philosophical difference between the two men: Ruskin conflates beauty and aesthetic perfection with moral perfection, and his criticism bears out these beliefs, whether he’s speaking of Turner or Gothic architecture. In fact, the majority of the Ruskin book I read, On Art and Life, is dedicated to explaining the characteristics of Gothic structures and joining these characteristics to philosophical ideas about the morality of human work and the human mind. Proust rejects this connection between aesthetics and morality while remaining respectful of Ruskin’s particular aesthetic brand of Christian faith. He admits that Ruskin’s incredible artistic passion and insight would not have been possible without this specific belief system.

Proust’s next two essays discuss the act of Reading, and when he’s reminiscing autobiographically, certain sections read like drafts of passages from In Search of Lost Time. As someone who hasn't done any serious Proust biography reading, this was kind of like stepping into the bizarro alternate world of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past or Back to the Future II. The Meseglise Way has become Mereglise Way, Proust’s grandfather is still alive, Francoise has a different name. But when he’s discussing boyhood reading, everything else is quite similar, creating a weird, slightly-off déjà-vu effect. Outside the vague joys of re-immersion into Proust’s introspective writing, the one part of this essay that’s stuck with me is Proust’s warnings about reading idolatry—not exactly something I was expecting from someone who dedicated most of his life to creating a work that pretty much requires reader obsession to achieve reading completion. Proust views reading as a means to an end, and he considers it problematic (or less than ideal) to read just for the sake of reading or for enjoyment. It should be instigation for minds to develop their own original thoughts and produce their own original works. Only then is reading fulfilling its proper function. I found this part provocative, challenging and, as someone so enamored with Proust’s own work, somewhat censuring.

The excerpts from Proust’s work on Sainte-Beuve are so minimal as to be arguably pointless in their inclusion. These do, however, make clear Proust’s feelings about the critic. Essentially, Sainte-Beuve theorized that the best way to approach a literary work is to learn as much as possible about the author’s personal life. Proust thought this was bullshit, and his attacks on Sainte-Beuve and his theory range from lightly humorous to withering.

Finally, we’re left with a short essay of Proust discussing Swann’s Way and his plans for the entire novel (he blames the state of publishing for his having to put out volumes one at a time rather than all at once). I found it interesting that he openly and deftly discusses his major theme of Lost Time, which was obviously well thought-out long before he completed (or almost completed) his entire work. Other specifics are escaping me at this point, but any fans of In Search of Lost Time would find this particular essay illuminating (and mercifully concise), even if they remain uninterested in the rest of this eclectic little collection.

In the end, I’d probably recommend against picking this book up as an introduction to Proust, unless, perhaps, you skip over Ruskin to the essays on reading and to the final essay on his masterwork. There’s nothing here to really sell this guy’s strong points, most of which take time to reveal themselves. Diehards probably don’t need much encouragement, but speaking as a recent convert, this is interesting (although not essential) stuff that will frequently remind you why you fell for that cork-encompassed dilettante in the first place. ...more

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Jul 28, 2021 Emma rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2021, classicsclub, books-on-books, france

I read the 7 volumes of In Search of Lost Time several years ago, and thought it would be nice to read this collection of essays on reading. It's a short book, but with Proust's typical style, long sentences, awesome descriptions of people, landscape, memories. It is neat bumping into some people found in ISOLT, like his aunt. Great reflection on the importance of reading - obviously, I read it in the original French, my native language ...more

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