Reading Proust's In Search of Lost Time in 2014 discussion
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Swann’s Way
Swann's Way
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Week ending 02/08: Swann's Way, to page 457 / location 6310
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Jonathan
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Feb 12, 2014 02:46PM
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Even in the beginning of his relationship with Odette, the days he later glorifies, he was having affairs with other girls, even bringing them in his carriage on his way to see Odette. Thus Swann clearly cheated on Odette, but I'm more worried about all those peasant girls, cooks, seamstresses, etc that he played around with and threw away. They probably had dreams of being swept up by this charming, rich gentleman to a less troublesome life. M. Swann didn't give a damn.I find Swann's situation more comical than tragic, since his plight is not specific to him, but typical for men at large. We want women to be available in large quantities for our pleasure (more about this later in the novel), and later we want to settle down and marry some innocent virgin. What Proust makes clear to us it that it's the same women. Shockingly, life doesn't separate women into two distinct classes for our convenience. IMO this observation is hilarious.
The point-of-view is interesting though. For much of the novel, Proust is going for a personal narrator. Swann has supposedly told his story to Marcel, who retells it to us. But every now and then we get to hear things that nobody would have told Marcel, such as private conversation between the Verdurins or Odette's secret thoughts. So all in all the narrator is omniscient. I think Proust chooses to narrow down the p.o.v. in order to intensify the story. He doesn't want us to feel sorry for Swann in particular, but uses Swann's case as a general example.
Or at least that's how I feel about it now. This is the fourth time I read Swann's Way, and each time I see things a little bit differently. It would have been interesting to have written down a summary of ones interpretation of the work after each reading and see how it changes over time.
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I was starting to think that events had been engineered by Odette, but as I've just been re-reading this section I think that she's just playing the game of mistress with Swann, which she does quite naturally. And Swann is happy initially to play along by keeping his allotted times and venues with her. Surely though, given that Swann is unmarried and rich, she must have considered the possibility of marriage, especially when it's apparent that he's actually in love with her. I think this is where I miss not seeing things also from her p.o.v. I can, however, see the benefits from Proust's view; we become just as unsure as to Odette's true feelings and we become almost as paranoid as Swann.
I enjoyed the first half of this section as it was quite humorous, almost a farce; what with Swann spying (very badly) on Odette and trailing around behind her, the final expulsion from the Verdurins etc. I even get the feeling that Proust was enjoying himself with this part of the book, especially when he claims that Swann 'would plunge into the most intoxicating romance in the lover's library, the railway time-table...' or when Swann is hoping that Odette will decline an offer to go on a trip, he says to himself 'Think of listening to Wagner for a whole fortnight with a woman who takes about as much interest in music as a tone-deaf newt - that would be fun!'
Although this is my first read of ISOLT, I find that I'm re-reading each section after a few days and I'm finding that my opinion of it has generally changed on the second read. I don't know if I'll keep up this read/re-read schedule throughout though.
Well, relationships between men and women have changed since la Belle Époque or at least we hope they have, although I'm not so sure about France who still shrugs over the antics of a DSK. You have to understand that we are talking here about a different culture, different times and a very different attitude towards infidelity. After all Swann was a single man, acting very much as a man of his time, and the fact of his being "unfaithful" shouldn't preclude his ability of being jealous at the same time. One is about sex, the other about love.That being said, "Swann in Love", the novel within the novel, though apparently written from the point of view of the omniscient narrator, still depicts the character of Swann from the point of view of the Narrator himself. If Swann is a composite of different people Proust has known, he is also very much Proust himself, inasmuch as his insane jealousy is concerned. You will find in further volumes that his relationship to women (or men disguised as women) is a reflection of Swann's obsession for Odette.
Don't you mean Gilberte? That the narrator's interest in Gilberte stemmed from her parents' friendship with Bergotte? Interest by association."before I had even seen Gilberte, I
reflected that her intimacy with that godlike elder would have made
her, for me, the most passionately enthralling of friends"
I had no idea I would enjoy this as much as I am so far! It was a pleasant 'surprise' to be reading along, as Proust goes on and on and on and on and on, and I feel confident that I know what's happening - just as Swann does - and then BAM! those two old people looked out the window that he thought was Odette's. AHAHAHAH! It took me completely by surprise - maybe more so than Swann himself! LOL! I think this week's reading has been the most enjoyable one for me so far.Can I ask a question, though, of anyone who may have a strong knowledge of France in the period? Did these people actually work? I mean, there is the occasional allusion to Swann's essay on Vermeer... but all of those social gatherings, salon gatherings, spending the day at the theater, going out of town with friends, arranging expensive gifts be sent to friends, etc. When did these people WORK? How did they get their money?
Sunny in Wonderland wrote: "... Did these people actually work? ..." I've been wondering about this too. Like when they go on holiday trips, I'm thinking, "Oh yeah, it must feel good to get some weeks away from that daily grind!" :)
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Work was for the lower orders my dear. :-)
I guess if they owned land and/or property then they would have collected rent or income from that. They may have had shares (Swann mentions giving Odette advice on buying shares at some point), they may have dabbled in the arts, though I doubt if that brought in any money. On top of just inheriting money they may have been politicians, army officers, been directors of companies etc...in short all the lucrative jobs that didn't require doing much...unless they chose to.
Tor wrote: "Sunny in Wonderland wrote: "... Did these people actually work? ..." I've been wondering about this too. Like when they go on holiday trips, I'm thinking, "Oh yeah, it must feel good to get some ..."
As Jonathan said: "Work was for the lowly orders."
Aristocrats didn't work, except perhaps to manage their properties (and even then, they usually hired people to do that) or dabble in high-brow activities such as art collecting or...literature.
Proust himself - a bourgeois not an aristocrat - never had a paying job in his life,except perhaps for playing the stock market with disastrous results. His father and brother however were both physicians.
Andree wrote: "Tor wrote: "Sunny in Wonderland wrote: "... Did these people actually work? ..." "Proust himself - a bourgeois not an aristocrat - never had a paying job in his life,except perhaps for playing the stock market with disastrous results."
Curious about the stock market and Proust? A new book will be coming out in June! Rubin Gallo shared some of his research at Columbia University's Proust Conference (Proust Reread/Proust Relu) last fall. http://www.columbia.edu/event/proust-...
Video: Ruben Gallo talks about Proust's stock market decisions and how they may relate to the narrator's decisions in the novel: "Reading Proust from Latin America"
Wonderful insights...Spoilers....naturally.
@34:00
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCGYdw...
"Proust's Latin Americans" by Rubén Gallo.
To be published June 8, 2014.
http://www.amazon.com/Prousts-America...
