Monsieur Proust's Library Quotes

“He senses that the effort would be wasted on a pedant obsessed with etymology and grammar, ignorant of life, and willing to sacrifice the true affection he had for a modest laundress in order to please the despotic Mme Verdurin, who feels insulted by the lowly and in her eyes shameful connection. Her soirees are the only social pleasure he knows. How could he capture the beauty and complexity of a great book?”
― Anka Muhlstein, Monsieur Proust's Library

“When military strategy is not involved, Françoise, for her part, understands what she reads, but fails to make the necessary connection between what she has just learned and real life, thus revealing a form of heartlessness: “The tears that flowed from her in torrents when she read in a newspaper of the misfortunes of persons unknown to her were quickly stemmed once she had been able to form a more precise mental picture of the victims.”c”
― Anka Muhlstein, Monsieur Proust's Library

“Proust is even harsher on the same subject with the university professor Brichot. Like Françoise, Brichot never connects his reading to his inner life, and therefore fails to grasp the universal beauty and truth of certain texts. His being a professor of literature makes the posturing, petty criticism, and lack of insight particularly shocking.”
― Anka Muhlstein, Monsieur Proust's Library