Third part of Combray. (Discussion Thread 3)

[Traveller]

Kalliope wrote: "You could, after a passage, reread a chunk you've first read in French, in English. Use the translation as the safety net. But keep tackling the French on its own... ..."

It will feel a bit weird to do that with a group read, but you do have a point - since I want to experience it first-hand, why not just do so.
Will do, thanks, Kalliope!

[Fionnuala]

A few stray thoughts are lingering in my mind about this section.
The 'Gleyre' passage about a day-time moon being like an actress whose turn hasn't yet come, Parfois dans le ciel de l'après-midi passait la lune blanche comme une nuée, furtive, sans éclat, comme une actrice dont ce n'est pas l'heure de jouer et qui, de la salle, en toilette de ville, regarde un moment ses camarades, s'effaçant, ne voulant pas qu'on fasse attention à elle, doubles as a description of Gilberte's mother, visible for a moment in the background of the Gilberte scene.

Another thought concerns the word 'mépris' in the Gilberte scene, and the possibility of a double-meaning there. The narrator, unused to meeting people who are not part of his own society, interprets Gilberte's looks and actions according to his own society's codes. Gilberte meets a greater variety of people, and she may consider the hand signal she uses simply as a way to communicate that she doesn't like being spied on by a stranger through the gap in the hedge (and she'd be quite justified). So the contempt the narrator thinks she is sending his way is not necessarily what she feels. It's interesting that the verb 'to misinterpret' in French is 'méprendre', and the past participle of that verb is 'mépris'.

[Traveller]

Fionnuala wrote: "A few stray thoughts are lingering in my mind about this section.
The 'Gleyre' passage about a day-time moon being like an actress whose turn hasn't yet come, Parfois dans le ciel de l'après-midi ..."

Very interesting comments there, Fionnuala! I like that I provide sort of "naive" impressions, and that you and the other more experienced Prousters on the group then bring in more informed thoughts and comments. I feel it rounds the discussion out nicely.

I really like what you said about the possibility that Gilberte might have been misunderstood. One thing everyone must have noticed by now, is that the narrator is an exceptionally sensitive person, quick to make interpretations in a sort of "overthinking" manner. This overthinking/ruminating is part of what gives the novel some philosophical depth, and for me, it also plants little seeds to ruminate on for the reader.

I have also by now, towards the end of Combray, started noticing that there are a lot of little "puzzles" that the narrator plants, consciously or unconsciously.

[Traveller]

Hi! Stephen has messaged me to apologize for his relative silence - he has a deadline to meet before the end of the month, and he is running more short of time than he had originally expected.

Apologies, everyone, that the read is going so slowly. Perhaps I was wrong to open the group up at such short notice, since it's not given anyone much time to prepare, including us, the facilitators of the group. It was a flash decision, and I reckoned that it might be the only way to force myself to tackle a large project that I'd always wanted to accomplish.

However, the threads will always remain open, so anybody can still post as they catch up, so perhaps patience is the name of the game. :)

[Traveller]

Just a reminder to my fellow readers, that the next discussion, where the very last little section of Combray is discussed, can be found here:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...