In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust

[Gilbert]

Just finished book three The Guermantes Way. I find Proust a bit of a bore, but that's just me.
Starting book four Sodom and Gomorrah.

[John]

Well done, Gilbert - you're making great progress, and are bang on schedule.

[Liane]

Wow! I am so behind. Persisting though.

[John]

I'm in the same boat.

[Lorraine]

I just finished book 1 of 2 of Le côté de Guermantes (The Guermantes Way). I liked it better then the first time.

[Piyangie, Classical Princess]

I'll probably finish Chapter 1 of Guermantes Way tonight. There is lot of talk of about Alfred Dreyfus case here which reminded me of Zola. I'm hoping to read J'Accuse by Zola after finishing this. I was meaning to read it last year but completely forgot! I wish I had read it before reading Guermantes Way. To all who are yet to start reading, a little reading into Dreyfus case will be useful.

[Lorraine]

Piyangie wrote: "I'll probably finish Chapter 1 of Guermantes Way tonight. There is lot of talk of about Alfred Dreyfus case here which reminded me of Zola. I'm hoping to read J'Accuse by Zola after finishing this...."

Like you I will need to read Dreyfus after that book.

[Lorraine]

Piyangie wrote: "I'll probably finish Chapter 1 of Guermantes Way tonight. There is lot of talk of about Alfred Dreyfus case here which reminded me of Zola. I'm hoping to read J'Accuse by Zola after finishing this...."

Piyangie, if you feel like it we can do a buddy read. If not possible, do not worry.

[Piyangie, Classical Princess]

Lorraine wrote: "Piyangie wrote: "I'll probably finish Chapter 1 of Guermantes Way tonight. There is lot of talk of about Alfred Dreyfus case here which reminded me of Zola. I'm hoping to read J'Accuse by Zola afte..."

I don't mind, Lorraine. But I could only get to it in June. I don't think I can finish Guermantes Way before the end of the month. Is that okay?

[Lorraine]

June or July is fine with me. You decide. You are the one working! 😁

[Piyangie, Classical Princess]

Lorraine wrote: "June or July is fine with me. You decide. You are the one working! 😁"

Oh yes. Overworked these days. If not for my appointment diary, I wouldn't even know the dates! :) We'll keep the month of June. I'll let you know of a date. Since this is the Proust thread, we can use the archived Emily Zola thread to discuss the book. If you add me as a friend, I can PM you the date we could start.

[Lorraine]

Piyangie wrote: "Lorraine wrote: "June or July is fine with me. You decide. You are the one working! 😁"

Oh yes. Overworked these days. If not for my appointment diary, I wouldn't even know the dates! :) We'll keep..."

Perfect. Request sent.

[Piyangie, Classical Princess]

Great! I've accepted it already. :)

[Piyangie, Classical Princess]

Finished reading The Guermantes Way. I liked it but not as much as the first two. The writing felt too pompous and less poetic.

[Lorraine]

Finished reading Le côté de Guermantes, book 2. I liked it even more then the last time. I liked that the character is showing some strenght when confronted with Charlus and some irony when listening and talking about the Guermantes. He is growing up!

[Gilbert]

Finished Sodom and Gomorrah.
Starting The Captive & The Fugitive

[Gilbert]

Finished the Captive. On to the Fugitive.

[John]

Wow - great progress Gilbert!

[Piyangie, Classical Princess]

Way to go, Gilbert! It's great that you're finishing reading the series within the year. I've planned two more reads - 4th and 5th; the rest will be read next year

[Liane]

Ok, finally finished the second book, Within a Budding Grove. It’s been a rough series of months and remembrance has been on my mind, but not of adolescent love. So this one didn’t resonate with me as strongly as Swann’s Way which fondly recalled many moments from my children’s early years. (The ability to be amused by those memories is in direct proportion to the lengthening gap since their occurrence.)

I pulled out my second volume in the set I have, so I may get started on The Guermantes Way soon, but a short distraction is in order. Regardless, who knows how long this one will take!

[Mike]

I just finished Part I of The Guermantes Way having not had much time to read since I was last ill. The pace has picked up and noticeably more dialogue. I do think there is a double entendre with the title, as I believe it alludes both to the path the narrator used to walk along as well as to the way of life of the whole Guermantes family.

[John]

Mike wrote: "I just finished Part I of The Guermantes Way having not had much time to read since I was last ill. The pace has picked up and noticeably more dialogue. I do think there is a double..."

Great to have you back Mike - I hope you're feeing much better?

You, and the others in the thread, are putting me to shame - I need to get some focus back and get on with reading In Search of Lost Time, and stop getting sidetracked by other books that catch my eye!

And I agree with you about the two allusions in the title.

[Lorraine]

I've finished La Prisonnière (The Captive). Like the first team I've read it, it is not my favorite. Reding 400 pages about jealousy is not the best way to have fun (in my opinion). But (view spoiler)[ Hurrah! She finally left him! What a mean man he is. (hide spoiler)]
Will start Albertine Disparue in a week or two.

[Gilbert]

Finished The Captive & The Fugitive.
Starting the last of In Search of Lost Time: Time Regained.

[John]

Congratulations Gilbert - you are making great progress!

[Mike]

I finished The Guermantes Way this evening. I enjoyed this one the most so far as it had a faster pace and I enjoyed the elaboration of the Guermantes Way/wit. I'll be taking a short break to read The Princess Bride and have read 1/3 of it in one sitting this afternoon. Looking forward to starting Sodom and Gomorrah as it also progresses my AND list that has been collecting cobwebs this year.

[Pam, Southwest Enchanter]

I’m not familiar at all with Proust but found a graphic novel of Swann’s Way, which I just started. The book is the size of a large coffee table book and is 224 pages! That’s one long graphic novel! I’ll see after I finish it if I want to continue with Proust.

[John]

That's interesting Pam - I'd never heard of a graphic novel version. I wonder how they manage to reflect some of his longer sentences and paragraphs.

[Lorraine]

Pam wrote: "I’m not familiar at all with Proust but found a graphic novel of Swann’s Way, which I just started. The book is the size of a large coffee table book and is 224 pages! That’s one long graphic novel..."

I heard about this book. There was a TV show about Proust during the covid and they interviewed the man who was writing the book while visiting the famous hotel where Proust went when he was young. I agree with you, that at 224 pages it is quite big for a graphic novel!

[Lorraine]

Pam wrote: "I’m not familiar at all with Proust but found a graphic novel of Swann’s Way, which I just started. The book is the size of a large coffee table book and is 224 pages! That’s one long graphic novel..."

Is this the book you are reading? https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

I'm curious of your opinion when you finish.

[Pam, Southwest Enchanter]

Lorraine - Yes, that is the book I’m reading! There is a translator’s introduction which talks about some of the difficulties in translating and adapting the text, including the long sentences. So, some changes had to be made obviously. He also asks “Who will want to read this book, and how should they approach it?…the critic Michael Wood imagined that the typical reader would be a person who had always dreamed of reading Proust but had been put off…by the difficulty or by the sheer magnitude of the undertaking.” I can’t say that I’ve always wanted to read Proust BUT, for me, this seemed like a good approach, especially since I do like graphic novels. I’m really interested to get further into it. I’m only on page 18. There’s a helpful glossary and family tree at the end plus a map of Paris.

[Gilbert]

Finished.
I've managed to get through 4,700 pages and found at the end that this is a boring and tedious read.
This is the second time I've read this, and it will be the last.

[John]

Congratulations Gilbert! And for the second time.

I think some fatigue is almost inevitable after a surfeit of Proust.

[Pam, Southwest Enchanter]

I finished the graphic novel about 3 weeks ago. It didn’t inspire me to read the books though! There were some lines I liked and the illustrations helped but overall I didn’t care for it. Slow and a bit boring. But, at least I now know what it’s about. I’m not sorry I read it but I prefer a faster-paced book, especially for a graphic novel.

[Nidhi]

I finished the second book Within the Budding Grove. I liked it much more than the first because there are many new characters introduced and sketched elaborately by Proust. The second half is more interesting. The first part has a wonderful description of Making of a Masterpiece. I especially liked the train journey and Proust's musings on Elstir's paintings.

[Piyangie, Classical Princess]

Hi all. It's time for an opinion call. :) We mods of NTLTRC always strive to make changes for the better enjoyment of our classical reading experience for members. This includes some new introductions and some thinning downs. So, we would like to know how you all feel about continuing with the Proust thread for next year. Do you want it to be continued as another year-long buddy read or not? Please let us know of your opinion.

[Lorraine]

Hi Piyangie. I’ve started the last book and should have finished by the end of the year. So it is nor necessary to continue this thread. But should people want to continue, I will gladly stay on to participate to the discussion.

[Nidhi]

I would like the thread to continue next year. When this buddy read began in January this year, even then I knew I wouldn't be able to read all 6 books in a single year. So I will try to finish them next year.

[John]

I think it would be good to continue it for another year - I'm so far behind that its not worth trying to catch up by the end of this year - so an extension gives me the motivation to keep going.

[Mike]

I'm happy for it to continue too. I had expected to easily finish all six in a year but certainly didn't anticipate the year I've had. I'm about a fifth into the fourth volume and expect to finish it in November.

[Piyangie, Classical Princess]

Thanks all for your input. Another year it is then. :)

[Mike]

Nidhi wrote: "I finished the second book Within the Budding Grove. I liked it much more than the first because there are many new characters introduced and sketched elaborately by Proust. The second half is more..."

I found the same, and I too enjoyed the descriptions of Elstir's paintings. I fear that I was picturing English sea side towns rather than French, but close enough!

[Liane]

I'm glad the thread will continue, I too had a rough year and can use the motivation to get back into my next volume with an extended deadline/close.

[Mike]

The Dreyfus Affair features very prominently in this yet I only have a passing familiarity with it. Every couple of hundred pages I find myself refreshing my memory by reading the Wikipedia entry. I read a bit more than the summary this evening and was rather impressed. After 12 years of being wrongfully imprisoned, Dreyfus returned to the very army that had betrayed him and served for many more years, including the entirety of The Great War and living on to 1935. Perhaps it's a small blessing that, having suffered a miscarriage of justice due to antisemitism, he passed before the Holocaust.

[Piyangie, Classical Princess]

I just started reading Sodom and Gomorrah and am very surprised to find a switch in tone. I finished the first short part called the "introduction" and found the writing too dense and preachy. I hope it'll improve in the course.

[Mike]

I've been making slow progress simply from a lack of time. From my recent reading (Chapter 2 of Part 2) he does seem to return to his normal tone.

[Mbuye]

Piyangie wrote: "Hi all. It's time for an opinion call. :) We mods of NTLTRC always strive to make changes for the better enjoyment of our classical reading experience for members. This includes some new introducti..."

Piyangie,
I wasn't part of this discussion when it started, so I 've really no business to butt in now. Reading Proust calls for the kind of committment that other great works do not generally demand. I think if even two or three readers have started Proust, and would like to continue, they should be encouraged. I think of myself as a rapid reader, but it took me nearly three years and a bit to finish all six volumes (or twelve, if you are reading the lovely Scott Moncrieff version). It was an absolutely mind changing experience. It can be occasionally discouraging (mainly due to the sentence structures), but it is never ever boring.

But as I say, that's just my way of butting in.

[Nidhi]

Mbuye, I agree with you, it is a great experience and demand particular commitment, other books and challenges get in between so I couldn't t continue, I will be back on track by mid February.

[Mbuye]

Nidhi,

I was able to spend so much time on Proust, because I am retired and could afford to spend time on old Marcel.

With school or college, or kids, or a job with deadlines to meet, other priorities get in the way.

Don't push yourself: Proust has to be read slowly and savoured without stress.

Give him time -- he'll wait.

[Nidhi]

That's very encouraging comment Mbuye. Thanks. Books always wait patiently on their shelves still its human nature to be impatient and keep on reading book after book as if there is no tomorrow.

What quality (of writing) impressed you most after finishing the whole book (or series)?