Week ending 04/19: Within a Budding Grove, to page 661 / location 16247

[Renato]

Yay! I'm finally on the same page as you all are now. :)

[Sunny]

Renato wrote: "Yay! I'm finally on the same page as you all are now. :)"

:)

[Sunny]

The picture in Elstir's studio... Odette sure did get around, didn't she?!? LOL! I'm completely obsessed with this woman's history - just like the narrator, apparently.

[Jonathan]

That's great going Renalto. I haven't started this week's reading yet but I'm planning on finishing the book over the Easter weekend. I've enjoyed Vol. 2 so far; slightly more than Vol. 1.

[Sunny]

Jonathan wrote: "That's great going Renalto. I haven't started this week's reading yet but I'm planning on finishing the book over the Easter weekend. I've enjoyed Vol. 2 so far; slightly more than Vol. 1."

I'm having the exact opposite reaction. I'm still enjoying it, but not as much as I did in the beginning. Probably a sign that I need to take another short break and read some other books before starting on the third volume. LOL!

[Jonathan]

Sunny in Wonderland wrote: "I'm having the exact opposite reaction. I'm still enjoying it, but not as much as I did in the beginning. Probably a sign that I need to take another short break and read some other books before starting on the third volume. LOL! .."

I prefer Proust when there are characters interacting with the narrator; I then find it fascinating when he analyses all the ramifications of these 'external' interactions. What I find a bit of a drag is when he goes into the 'iloveherdoesshelovemeandwhatdoeslovereallymean' type of internal monologue that we had with Swann over Odette and the narrator over Gilberte. This is partly because nearly every 19th Century novel that deals with love deals with it in this way and it's a bit of a drag for me. I'm hoping that the Albertine 'affair' doesn't develop the same way.

[Renato]

Is any of the volumes more critically acclaimed than the others? For some reason, in my mind, I believed Swann's Way was the masterpiece - I don't really know why, which had me surprised when I realized I was enjoying Vol. 2 more than Vol. 1.

[Marcelita]

Renato wrote: "Is any of the volumes more critically acclaimed than the others? For some reason, in my mind, I believed Swann's Way was the masterpiece - I don't really know why, which had me surprised when I rea..."

"Critically acclaimed?" Not sure, but I know my favorite is "The Captive." Maybe this volume holds such poignancy, because Proust was working with the galleys just before he died. Although I cannot disclose my four favorite passages/events, they are worth the wait.

[Stephen]

Renato, I'm 2/3 of the way through Sodome + Gomorrhe, v4, so I don't know about the Captive etc. but I've heard great things about the last volume, Time Regained. I think Swanns Way is the most famous because A) it has the Madeleine, and B) because the vast majority of readers never get beyond it. Time Regained, by contrast, is loved by the hardy few who make it through, and I imagine that part of the reason they love it comes from the sense of culmination and achievement. We'll see.

[Sunny]

Stephen wrote: "the vast majority of readers never get beyond it."

Spot on. I can totally see that. :)

[Renato]

Makes sense, guys. I'm even more excited to read them all and find out. :)

[Jonathan]

I'm only at the point where the narrator has actually met Albertine and, lo and behold he's disappointed; she doesn't live up to expectations. He was even getting bored of her before he actually went to the party. He really doesn't enjoy experiencing things first-hand, he either enjoys the anticipating future pleasures or reflecting upon past pleasures (that aren't really pleasurable).

[Renato]

Speaking of pleasures, I really enjoyed the analogy about pleasures and the dark room for developing photos!

[Renato]

Speaking of pleasures, I really enjoyed the analogy about pleasures and the dark room for developing photos!

[Stephen]

Jonathan, he enjoys nature in real time, the hawthorns, the sea, etc. As regards people, I would say that has to do with love, which is almost a disease. people catch it, despite themselves, and find themselves enslaved to a person who, as Odette was to Swann, aren't even their types. I can find little reason for the narrator's passion for any of the women he claims to love, Gilberte onwards. and it's one part of the book that I have trouble feeling. In fact, i find myself wanting him to dump Albertine... I see she's coming up in my next chapter. Hope she grows on me.

[Jonathan]

I liked the 'pleasures are like photographs' quote as well, Renato. It's basically the opposite of what I experience though. Pleasures are only really pleasurable while I'm experiencing them. Remembering them is only a pale comparison. I guess I'm more like the 'gang of girls' than the narrator.

[Renato]

I agree with you on this - I don't see how 'developing a photograph' can be so much better than 'being there and taking it', but I found this analogy very interesting! Maybe if he wasn't like this though he wouldn't be able to write this well?

[Jonathan]

Renato wrote: "I agree with you on this - I don't see how 'developing a photograph' can be so much better than 'being there and taking it', but I found this analogy very interesting! Maybe if he wasn't like this ..."

Yes and I was going to add on the end of my last message that that's probably why Proust was a writer and I'm not. :-)