Marcel Proust: In Search of Lost Time

[Polly Parrot]

I'm reading the entire series of In Search of Lost Time in the next ten or so weeks and I would like to know what other people think of it.


I just finished Swann's Way. I thought the first part and overture were a bit slow but I eventually got used to the never-ending metaphors and even started to expect them and be disappointed if they did not arrive in the sentence I was reading.

So far, what strikes me is that the men seem a little pathetic and very dependent on the one woman they idolize, be it their lover or their mother. Also, both leading men, the narrator and Monsieur Swann, seem to me to enjoy the anticipation of seeing the object of their desire and getting what they want from them more than when it actually happens. Maybe that's just me.

 

[Peder]

Bumping this thread as I'm reading the entire series of In Search of Lost Time in the next ten or so weeks and I would like to know what other people think of it.

I read it all, every word, many years ago and ended up enjoying it immensely.

Section by section it is variable. Slow (probably meaning "boring") in large parts -- slow to read and intended to be read slowly. Interesting in other large parts. A critic has called one large section the single most unrewarding piece of writing in all of literature, or words to that efffect. You'll sense it when you come to it. But on the other hand it also has the longest most beautiful and detailed treatment of a love interest that I know of in all of literature I have read. That was simply wonderful -- like having all the ice cream to eat that you might ever want. And then it was over, with that wishful feeling that there might be more of it, but with a sense of accomplishment nevertheless at having read a masterpiece.

At least, that is my memory of it.

Hope you enjoy it. :flowers:.

Peder

 

[Polly Parrot]

I didn't mean slow as in boring, just that it has lengthy description of the environment the character is in and it features a lot of references that I am probably too young to quite understand. I looked some up but there's too many of them to go and find all the paintings, poems, et cetera.

 

[Peder]

I didn't mean slow as in boring,

Sorry for the confusion, Polly. I used the word "boring" because it had been mentioned up-thread by someone else, not either to characterize or predict your own reaction. I found the long detailed descriptions of places really quite beautiful -- of the cathedral (church?), for example -- and not at all boring.

 

[Polly Parrot]

Aha! The world makes sense again.

I'm enjoying the books so far and according to the teacher there's much more wonderful things to come.

Yes, I'm a bit of a book nerd.:blush:

 

[Peder]

Book nerd is good. :flowers:

 

[SFG75]

I picked up a 1934 copy of Remembrance of Things Past this past weekend at a used book sale. I just finished Swann's Way and enjoyed it immensely. I tried a few Proust readings in college and just didn't have the patience for it. Perhaps it is maturity or having more time on my hands that allows me to appreciate it more this time around, I don't know. The dinner scenes with M. Swann and the interaction between the characters really kept my attention. I love 19th century based stories for the complexity of interaction based on observed behavior and seemingly "small" comments, especially as they relate to social class. Proust's health plays a prominent role here too, and I couldn't help but notice the antagonism between his mother and father over his health and the terror he felt upon being caught by his father from his bedroom. A ton of "issues" there if you ask me. The cookie scene is famous enough and lord knows I've watched a few shows that highlight the scene, it was nice to see where the story "comes from" so to speak as it does open up a good discussion on memory and how such things "come alive" for us, amazing when you think about it as such memories can sometimes be beyond your immediate consciousness.