Introduction of the Readers

[Jacob]

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

[Jacob]

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.

[Judy]

Many thanks for setting up this group, Jacob. I'm in my 50s and live in the UK.

I studied English lit at university and have always been a keen reader, especially of 19th-century literature. But now I'm getting more interested in the 20th century and trying to catch up with some of the greats which I haven't yet read, with Proust at the top of my list!

[Simon]

Hi, i'm Simon, I study Cognitive Science and Philosophy in Vienna, and i'm excited to have found this group!
I've stumbled upon Alain de Botton's How Proust Can Change Your Life, which i've now read twice. This more than whetted my appetite to read the real thing.
I actually intended to read Proust in 2013 already and joined a similar group, The Year of Reading Proust. Unfortunately i was too busy so that didn't work out. Now i'm reading more than ever and hopeful and excited for this year. I'm very much looking forward to discussions and getting to know you all!

[Susan]

Hi Jacob, and fellow members. I'm in my 40s, married with three children, and live in London. I work in education and am a reading mentor for both children and adults. I'm a passionate reader and have been all my life. I enjoy reviewing too, but reading wise 2014 has not been a great year for me. I went back to work this year and found it hard to keep up with all my reading and reviewing commitments. Next year I intend to read simply for pleasure. Proust has long been on my reading radar and I look forward to reading his work with other readers enthusiasm and guidance.

[Charles]

Hi. I've been re-reading Proust periodically since college, 50 years ago. I've read all the translations. I asked my French teacher in college whether I would be able to read the French. After some thought she said I probably could -- the vocabulary is not exotic. It's the long flowing sentences. These are Proust's contribution to the language. I might take a peek at the French now. Frankly I expect to lurk much of the time, but I'm here because I'm interested in all talk about Proust and I hope to hear interesting things.

[Seonag]

Hello, and thanks for this opportunity to read together. I want to read more this year, and more physical books, less skimming online. I think reading in company will help me with that.

I've had Swann's Way on my shelves for a couple of years but not actually tried to start it before. This sounds like the perfect opportunity.

[Jacob]

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.

[Teresa]

Thanks to Judy for telling me about this group. I recently finished Joyce's "Ulysses" with a GR group (I work well within a schedule) and I figured it was time I read Proust.

[Kristen]

Happy New Year everyone! I have wanted to read ISOLT for a number of years but never made the commitment. I was searching for a group read for 2015 and was delighted to find this one. I've even cajoled my husband into joining! With three kids, three dogs, two full-time careers, and a year of Proust, 2015 will be a busy time for us!

Jacob, thanks for organizing this group effort. Good luck everyone!

[Artifex]

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 elbow jab to begin my Proustafarian journey........please wish me luck!

[Jacob]

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.

[Sue]

Thanks to Teresa for letting me know of this group. I recently finished Ulysses also and want to move on with another 20th century classic. I've heard so much about Proust and look forward to the experience of reading him.

[Marcelita]

Alas, I am a "poor obsessive" who has found Proust impossible to eschew....
maybe because, now, I see the novel from a philosophical perspective.

When I read it for the first time, innocently, I only followed the "love/sexuality tales" thread...some which I found shocking!

From C.K. Scott Moncrieff's translation notes in "Swann's Way,"
Proust told Gide that "one can say anything so long as one does not say 'I'."

[Renato]

Hey guys, I'm Renato, from Brazil, and I started a couple of days ago my second read of ISOLT. It's my favorite work in literature and I'm glad to see there's a new group read for this year - I read it with a great group in 2014.

I just wanted to drop in and say you're all very lucky to have Marcelita to participate in this group. She has a vast knowledge in Proust and is really helpful providing wonderful informations of all sorts.

Happy reading!

[Sue]

Waving to Renato.

[Renato]

Waving back to Sue! And hi, Teresa and Susan - and everybody else! Hope you all enjoy Proust as much as I do!

[Jacob]

Welcome Marcelita and Renato. I'll not deny that I was a little intimidated when I first glanced at Marcelita's list of favorite books and discovered that most are by or about Proust. I'm glad that there's such breadth of familiarity with ISoLT, from 'innocent' to expert.

[Marcelita]

Jacob wrote: "Welcome Marcelita and Renato. I'll not deny that I was a little intimidated when I first glanced at Marcelita's list of favorite books and discovered that most are by or about Proust. I'm glad that..."

Jacob wrote: "Welcome Marcelita and Renato. I'll not deny that I was a little intimidated when I first glanced at Marcelita's list of favorite books and discovered that most are by or about Proust. I'm glad that..."

Jacob wrote: "Welcome Marcelita and Renato. I'll not deny that I was a little intimidated when I first glanced at Marcelita's list of favorite books and discovered that most are by or about Proust. ..."

I only joined GoodReads to read Proust.
Then, I discovered the book shelf; I use that to remind myself what editions not to buy.

Like another reader in the 2014 group, we discovered the same book in our libraries that we didn't even remember we had!
We recommend: Milton Hindus' "A Reader's Guide to Marcel Proust."

Oh, and that reminds me to add (soon) my latest "finds." I usually only go to The Stand Bookstore, as that forces a limit on my collection.

I tell my husband, "I'm so easy to please. While others covet jewels, I am pleased with paper." ;)

And, please don't be intimidated; many of the "selfs" that read those books have long since "died." Now, this current self considers some "unread."

[Steph]

Hi everyone,

While I'd of course known of Proust I never really had the strong urge to read him, but came across de Botton's "How Proust can change your life" and figured 'change my life, eh?' maybe I should take a closer look. Then I sat on de Botton's book trying to decide if I should just get to Proust or read de Botton first... I think I hesitated because it was a little intimidating. Then I came across these Year of Proust groups on Goodreads and figured that might be the best way to tackle it. Unfortunately, I came across the groups about 6 months too late...This year I was ready and on the look out for another one! Thanks so much Jacob for starting the 2015 group!

From reading the comments on here so far it looks like I'm way behind on my Proust knowledge, but will learn A Lot! Please be gentle :)

[Kara]

Hi, I'm Kara. I've never read Proust before, but I've enjoyed a lot of classics and I'm ready to follow along this year.

[Simon]

Steph, i can warmly recommend How Proust can Change your Life by de Botton, especially if you "just don't get" Proust. De Botton explains very well why Proust spends so many pages on nothing happening (it's his way of observation and description, not the action, that's important).

[Marcelita]

Steph wrote: "Hi everyone,
While I'd of course known of Proust I never really had the strong urge to read him, but came across de Botton's "How Proust can change your life" and figured 'change my life, eh?'

"Please be gentle :) ..."

Steph, I value my Proust groups so much, because most members seem to have changed in some manner. They do tend to see the world, others, and themselves differently.

We have seen our numerous faults and follies depicted the novel, so we are humbled. Thus...no armor is needed here. ;)

[Ben]

Like Marcelita, Renato and others, I was a member of the 2014 group that read ISOLT last year. I started late, after retiring from my job in September, but eventually caught up with the group by the end of the year. Throughout my reading, though, I was following the comments of members with reference to the particular portions of the work and found it tremendously beneficial and stimulating. I can confirm what Marcelita says (#24 above) about having changed in the process.
As for outside reading, I also fully agree with Marcelita that one's first reading of ISOLT should be done 'innocently', because of the constant risk of spoilers in those outside sources which may in fact spoil the experience. There will be enough time for outside guidebooks, biographies, etc after the (first) reading. Far better to discover the sublime beauty of the work for oneself, together with the comments of fellow-travellers who are sharing the same experience.
Having finished my first reading, I immediately joined the group for re-reading ISOLT in 2015. At the same time, I would be interested to follow the discussions of this new group and, in the process, no doubt benefit from the insights of its readers.
Enjoy!

[Jonathan]

Hi, I'm really glad to see that there's a 2015 reading group for ISOLT - credit to Jacob for setting it up. I read the novel with the 2014 group and found the experience of reading the book very rewarding, especially reading along with the group.

I thought I might pass on some advice which you can follow or ignore as you desire:

1. If you're going to read ISOLT then fully commit to reading it.
2. Follow the schedule as far as humanly possible.
3. Read it slowly (or calmly). Others may disagree but I found it couldn't be rushed. In fact I often re-read sections a few days afterwards to help clarify things. Reading Proust really helped my reading skills.
4. It's not really necessary to read any other books on Proust whilst you're reading ISOLT. The only exception would be the 'Paintings in Proust' book which I got from the library. Even this isn't really necessary as you can just google the pictures/artists.
5. Don't worry if you get confused at times as that's part of the experience. There are a lot of revelations as you proceed through the book and part of the fun is trying to guess what they are.

Oh well, I could go on but I'll stop there. Hopefully you won't find my advice too patronising :-) I hope you all enjoy the experience.

[Ben]

Not patronising at all, Jonathan. Very sound advice from a very sound moderator of the 2014 group.

[Sue]

Jonathan, I particularly like your mention of reading this slowly. I can't imagine reading it in any other way. The labyrinthine sentences call out for re-reading and re-orienting myself and the mood is so wonderful. I'm really enjoying this book on my first time through and, even so early in the reading, I have a glimpse of why others become so caught up in it.

[Kalliope]

Hello, like Marcelita and Renato, I have also read Proust before. I was in the 2013 Read (moderator too) and consider myself a Proustian since then. Ah, and congratulations for Jacob for setting this up.

I will not reread the full work this year (may be a couple of the volumes) and do not worry because I will not give spoilers away. I have several books on and by Proust that I would like to continue reading during 2015. For example, I have just finished a biography on Misia Sert, one of the personalities in his circle.

In 2013 a few of us went to Paris and Normandy to do the Proust trail.

You are lucky to have Marcelita join you. You will all become Proustians as it has happened with Renato in his 2014 read.

One recommendation is to read in parallel Paintings in Proust: A Visual Companion to In Search of Lost Time.

Bonne lecture!

[Jansa]

Hi,

I'm Safran. I was quite unsuccessful in completing the Proust challenge in 2014. So, here I am again, full of high hopes.

So far, so good...

[Miki]

Hi,
I'm Miki and grateful to Teresa for telling me about this group.
I declared to myself last year that I would read all volumes but thought I would do it alone. I am thrilled to be part of this group. Already I see how many smart readers are here.
Back in the 60s, I sat in on a class on Ulysses and ISOLT, but I couldn't keep up and do work for other classes, too.
Yet it was always a goal.
Hoorah; a Proustian I shall be at last.

[Nicole]

Hello everyone -- I'm Nicole, and I live in Grenoble, France. I found this group by goodreads stalking one of its members (hi Sue, I'm stalking you!). I'm an American living abroad, and reading some Proust is part of my larger agenda for the year of integration through classic French literature / trying not to be such an illiterate slob about my adopted country.

My actual plan for the year is to read du côté de chez Swann sometime before the end of April, though not necessarily to get through the entire, giant thing in 2015. If being a bit off the group schedule is a problem, I will happily lurk more and discuss less, so just let me know.

I will be reading whatever edition is available for free to me at the university library, most likely a livre de poche.

[Simon]

No problem, Nicole, the discussion is separated by parts of the book, 60 pages or 14% a week, you can also post behind schedule in an earlier thread. i and probably others will still like to discuss somewhat retrospectively.
Welcome to the group!

[Sue]

Nicole wrote: "Hello everyone -- I'm Nicole, and I live in Grenoble, France. I found this group by goodreads stalking one of its members (hi Sue, I'm stalking you!). I'm an American living abroad, and reading som..."

Hi Nicole. This is probably the only socially acceptable "stalking" I know of. Glad you followed me here.

[p]

Hello all!

First of all, thanks again to Jacob for setting this up. This is a great way to get (even more) involved in the reading.

I stumbled across this group just after I finished Swann's Way (wishing I'd started a couple of months later) and I think I'll try to keep up with the schedule from here on.
My original plan was to do this over 2 years, but I can surely dedicate a bit more time to it, and knowing I'm not in this boat alone should help!
I feel the discussions can be very motivating, apart the obvious gains in the understanding of the story.
After finishing Swann's Way I can say that my motivation has only increased. Despite all the reviews I read before starting, I couldn't have imagined how amazing his writing actually is. I'll force myself to stop now, to not accidentally spoil anything.

A quick word about me: I'm originally from Portugal and I'm currently studying in Oxford, UK (nothing remotely related to literature, so my interest here is purely from a hobby perspective -- and what a great hobby reading Proust is turning out to be!)

Very glad this group exists, and excited to start discussing!

Best

[Dottie]

Finding this group by complete serendipity and joining simply to bolster my own re-reading of ISOLT which I had not yet begun though it has been nagging and nudging me for some long months now. I had decided to begin that with the turn of the year but life had other plans and I put off setting a start date. I believe I will begin now however to at least read along here and gather inspiration for picking up Swann's Way for the third time around. I have read the first four volumes twice and a good part of the fifth volume twice though the remainder I finished only once with a very small group of folks in my long-time online group which group finally settled their wandering of the web by becoming an early group on Goodreads. Unfortunately most of our discussion is lost as it was not archived though somewhere in the bowels of my laptop I may have sizeable chunks of it. My plan is to read the enitrety of the work this time around at complete leisure though I suspect once I get truly into the language I will set a livelier pace. I hope you will not mind having a member simply lurking for the most part and reading over your shoulders. And oh yes, my own decision to read Proust was sparked by Phyllis Rose's book The Year of Reading Proust: A Memoir in Real Time and another of life's moments of change of plan resulting from my husband's job disappearing and the new one taking us abrod for a minimum of a year and possibly two which turned into five. Proust is forever linked with that wonderful experience so that one cannot be separated from the other in my mind.

[Simon]

Nice to have you on board, Dottie! That book of Rose's sounds great and could be seen as something one of our group members could write after our 2015 group read, a writer of course. Ideally I'd like to read that after my own year of Proust to compare what we went through, and I'm certain she will at least be much more wise and eloquent about her experience than me, which should be enriching.

Oh, one question: does "a memoir in real time" mean that the book is structured like a journal, each reflection on a part of Proust written before she read the next one, or is it entirely an after-fact reflection after she finished all volumes?
Also, many reviews of this book suggest that the connections to Proust are rather rare and that it's more about the author's life.

[Dottie]

Simon, Thank you for the welcome. funny you should come up with the idea of a reader in the group coming up with a book based on this year of Proust. In my planned leisurely read the idea was to utilize those notated bits I marked in my readings ancd expand upon them as a general journal-like experience -- and I had a few years ago begun to do just that before life interrupted that plan. (As you see -- this is a recurring theme relative to my reading of Proust and reading in general.) I think the easiest way for me to answer your query about Rose's work and how it reads is to share libnks here to my double review of it -- the first short bit in 1997 when I first read it and the second in 2010 after I had read much of Proust twice over and all of it once through.

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

I will also post a link to the first two pieces of writing I did based on the beginnings of Swamnn's Way a third time. I did not get very far in that project as I indicated but these short essays gives you a glimpse of what I was attempting and want to continue to do.

https://www.goodreads.com/story/show/...

I hope this will suffice as answer to you questions.

Another thing which may be pertinent is that Rose's musing on her own life struck some various connections with me as a woman and as a voracious reader and that may have influenced my take on the book she wrote and my decision to tackle Proust.

[Sue]

Welcome Dottie. I've just marked that book for future consideration myself. This is my first endeavor through the Proustian world.

[Alisa]

Hi group! I'm Alisa, 25, an EFL teacher living in São Paulo. I know I'm two months behind, but I joined mostly for the lurking. I want to read Proust because his works are referenced fairly frequently in books that I've read in the past year--The Elegance of the Hedgehog, 1Q84, A Tale for the Time Being, and also in Little Miss Sunshine, my favorite movie. I decided to finally see why all these authors were so impacted.

When/if I catch up, I'll be able to contribute more to the discussion. :)

[Renato]

Welcome Alisa! I live in São Paulo as well :-) hope you have a great time reading Proust.

[Marcelita]

If you are going to San Francisco in April:

Proust + Vermeer
A film by Richard Voorhees

Monday, April 20, 2015 - 6:00pm

"Join us for the world premiere of the English version of Proust + Vermeer, a thirty minute film celebrating the exquisite Dutch painter, cast in the timeless words of Marcel Proust."
http://www.milibrary.org/events/prous...

[Sue]

Marcelita wrote: "If you are going to San Francisco in April:

Proust + Vermeer
A film by Richard Voorhees

Monday, April 20, 2015 - 6:00pm

"Join us for the world premiere of the English version of Proust + Vermeer..."

I hope this eventually is released generally or is shown on Netflix, etc.

[David]

Hello fellow readers! I started Swann's Way about a week ago and I'm at page 95. After much digging as well as over and over consideration, I settled on the new Penguin translations for the complete work. Certainly, the translation of Swann's Way by Lydia Davis is absolutely beautiful. I couldn't be more satisfied with the translation. I did read Swann's Way in college, but most likely that was the 1920 translation, which would of course have been very stilted and limited in any subject of a sexual nature.

My "plan" for "In Search of Lost Time" is to finish no later than December 31st. In fact, I've cancelled a membership in a philosophy group because I want to be able to donate as much reading time as possible to Proust. At my age and in my health condition, I've jokingly stated to friends that it may indeed be my swan song. I hope not, but then could there be a better way to make an exit?

I look forward to getting to know some of you. I enjoy exchanging ideas as well as thoughts about the subject matter or even a subject of a different nature. Above all, I love reading, gardening, collecting and art.

[Simon]

Hello David, nice to meet you! As a part-time philosophy student I'm mourning a bit for your philosophy group membership, but you will find great ideas and reading experiences in ISOLT as well.
Feel free to start discussions about anything Proust, and don't hesitate to revive Swann's way discussion threads, i'll be glad to revisit them!

[Susanne]

Hello, I just startet "In the shadow of Young Girls..." after having finished "Swann's Way" at the end of last year. Ages ago (the 90s?) I got the boxset of ISOLT for Christmas and since then it took a lot of space on my shelves. I couldn't just give it away without trying it and to my surprise fell in love with Proust's writing style. I really did although I have to read it in German. Not because of the boxset, a translation by Eva Rechel-Mertens, but because neither my English nor my French is good enough for reading the whole novel. But I'd like to participate in your discussions and share the love for Proust!

[MMR.]

Hi, I have done the read-through in 2013 and 2014. I started this year's too but then had to take a chunk of time out because of a death in the family. Now I'm playing catch-up and enjoying lurking here which is what I seem to do best... or at least most.

MMR

[Sue]

Welcome Susanne and MMR. I'm reading Proust for the first time and enjoying the experience.

[midnightfaerie]

well, here i am again. tried to do this last year with the group and never finished...didn't make it very far and so i'm going to try again...i probably won't finish it...but discussion will get me further through it...

[Simon]

It would probably have been easier to start at the beginning of the year, but you can still post in the threads of where you currently are in reading, and me and others will be happy to discuss! Good luck on your Proust adventure, it's sometimes demanding, but worth it (=

[Jacob]

My first time reading ISOLT took me four years. I don't think you should get discouraged if you can't finish it in a single year but if you read along with us as much as you can (or other groups before or after) I certainly think the accomplishment and payoff is worth it. Good luck!