The Year of Reading Proust discussion

Marcelita wrote: "Marcelita wrote: "Kalliope wrote: "On the violet color of the curtains (l’hostilité des rideaux violets): violet became a very fashionable color in the second half of the nineteenth Century, when i..."

I doubt that. It's just Martha trying to market to literary lovers or to the reader trying to make the witty and very outlandish pseudo statement that they have actually read Proust. Well, perhaps they read the Proust Questionnaire at the end of the Vanity Fair magazine. lol I would venture to say that Proust's favorite color had to be pink, pink, pink!

Just checked the answers Joshua posted: Proust's answer

"My favourite colour.
The beauty is not in the colours, but in their harmony."

Okay fair enough, but with a strong preference for pink.

ReemK10 (Got Proust?) wrote: "Marcelita wrote: "Marcelita wrote: "Kalliope wrote: "On the violet color of the curtains (l’hostilité des rideaux violets): violet became a very fashionable color in the second half of the nineteen..."

Yes, "rose" figures predominantly in Proust, but I also think blue is a major color. It is just that he uses many names/hues for it. I am preparing a post on color in Proust.

Kalliope wrote: "ReemK10 (Got Proust?) wrote: "Marcelita wrote: "Marcelita wrote: "Kalliope wrote: "On the violet color of the curtains (l’hostilité des rideaux violets): violet became a very fashionable color in t..."

I look forward to your post.:)
Kalliope, I have a question for you as you're an expert on Proust. I read somewhere that we weren't to slowly savor Proust, taking our time strolling through his sentences, but that we were to read fast for plot inorder to understand what Proust was trying to say.This is at odds with the way I read, do advise on how to read Proust.

ReemK10 (Got Proust?) wrote: "Kalliope wrote: "ReemK10 (Got Proust?) wrote: "Marcelita wrote: "Marcelita wrote: "Kalliope wrote: "On the violet color of the curtains (l’hostilité des rideaux violets): violet became a very fashi..."

This is a question more for Proustitute, since this is my first read, and cannot be considered an expert of Proust.

I think that everyone has to find his/her way of reading it. And I am still looking for mine...!!!.. But think that what I am settling myself into doing is to do going a first read of each weekly section relatively fast, and then go back and savor the writing and expand into the themes that gradually come up.

ReemK10 (Got Proust?) wrote: "Marcelita wrote: "Marcelita wrote: "Kalliope wrote: "On the violet color of the curtains (l’hostilité des rideaux violets): violet became a very fashionable color in the second half of the nineteen..."

Will post it in the third week but certainly the passage on the aubépines/hawthorns is a hommage to pink.

Kalliope wrote: "ReemK10 (Got Proust?) wrote: "Marcelita wrote: "Marcelita wrote: "Kalliope wrote: "On the violet color of the curtains (l’hostilité des rideaux violets): violet became a very fashionable color in t..."

And not to forget the lady in the pink silk dress and pearls, and " that little pink cloud too, has it not the tint of some flower, a sweet william or hydrangea?"(LD 133)

Since I've had enough of auxiliary reads, I'm going to plow through the volumes. Then reread each section in order to quote and make comments with the group. I may pause to do more auxiliary reads, though. I'd like to read a Deleuze or two.

Proustitute wrote: "ReemK: I think it's tempting to read Proust fast because the rhythm of his sentences grip you and lull you along. It's natural, I think, and happens to all of us.

Everyone reads differently, of c..."

Thanks Proustitute. I'll just let it speak to me, and follow the melody of the words.

Yes, "rose" figures predominantly in Proust, but I also think blue is a major color. It is just that he uses many names/hues for it. I am preparing a post on color in Proust."

I am fairly certain I have decided to do a series of drawings inspired by my reading of Proust. In fact it will likely be a continuation of the scroll that is my profile picture. We'll see. It's all in the incubation stage so who knows what will actually develop...but I will likely continue using pastels as a medium...and although I was trying to talk myself mightily out of it, pinks and blues (balanced with yellow) seem to be the colors that are primarily floating in my psyche after the first 200 pages.

Kalliope wrote: "ReemK10 (Got Proust?) wrote: "Marcelita wrote: "Marcelita wrote: "Kalliope wrote: "On the violet color of the curtains (l’hostilité des rideaux violets): violet became a very fashionable color in t..."

Proust's meditations on the sea and various "aquariums" certainly bring shades of blue to mind. (Notwithstanding the memory-color of his first love's eyes... azure.)

Thanks for the advice about the Introduction. I'm up to page 100 without reading it. I might sneak a peak later though.

Ian wrote: "Thanks for the advice about the Introduction. I'm up to page 100 without reading it. I might sneak a peak later though."

No cheating by only reading the threads, Ian. You have to read all seven volumes. Welcome back.

Aloha wrote: "Ian wrote: "Thanks for the advice about the Introduction. I'm up to page 100 without reading it. I might sneak a peak later though."

No cheating by only reading the threads, Ian. You have to read..."

Thanks, A.

Times two translations.

P.S. I have also resolved to learn French, so I can read Proust and Continental Philosophers.

Proustitute wrote: "Ian, do you mean the intro in the Davis translation? If so, it's spoiler free. It mostly focuses on her choices in translating, past translations, etc."

Yes, P, I've started with Davis, though the Modern Library box is on its way.

It wasn't so much spoilers I was worried about, but attempts to too narrowly or precisely define the themes, something that I'm prone to.

I want to pretend that this book has just been released and I'm reading it without preconceptions.

I'm very far behind since I only found about Goodreads a couple weeks ago. I know this is one of the books one has to read to really consider oneself to be classics reader but I'm not finding this all that interesting. the narrator is rather whiny half of the time. I've only read about 75 pages. Does it progress faster or get less descriptive later?

임찬린 wrote: "I'm very far behind since I only found about Goodreads a couple weeks ago. I know this is one of the books one has to read to really consider oneself to be classics reader but I'm not finding this ..."

Edu, there are times in our lives when some books suit us less well or better - the first time I tried to read À la Recherche du temps perdu, I gave up, but it is working beautifully for me now. I had the same experience with Joyce's Ulysses, I needed to find the right moment in my life for it. Stay with Swann for a little longer and then if it is still not a satisfying experience for you, you can try it again at another time in your life. Also, if you like languages, why not challenge yourself to learn French and read it in the original (perhaps you already are). That might make all the difference.

Proustitute wrote: "임찬린 wrote: "Does it progress faster or get less descriptive later?"

No: this is a seven-volume novel of mostly interior narration. While there's a plot of sorts, it can be summed up fairly easily...."

I love these volumes because there are many things I link with in the observations of the interior narration, such as the symbology and characterization. His usage of narration is also incredible, but I think you'll have to read it in the French.

As you can see from the length of the discussions that there are tons of things to note in Proust's work. You probably have not read them since it's enough work to read the book without having to read the discussions. But, in a nutshell, Proust used lots of innovative techniques and ideas for his time. Here are some things from my notes for the review. Uh...that's why I'm procrastinating. There are so many things to discuss that I hate to leave any out. Also, I think I'm too much of a perfectionist, along with a thing called living life. :oD

1. Proust's incredible narration (French).
2. Non-linear usage of time to better match the internal time.
3. Crafty usage of shifting point of views (first person, omniscient, etc.) but maintaining the narrator's point of view. This also closely matches the real world narration in which you recount a story not only from personal experience, but from hearsay.
4. The usage of key words as dabs of paint throughout the novels as symbolism and as "paint strokes" to unite the novels, such as colors, flowers and light. These key words also propel the novel through time, such as the introduction of words relating to "speed" and "light" to mark the invention of electricity and motor cars, and the industrial revolution.
5. The symbology of music. The structure of the novel reflecting the structure of a sonata, the circular form of the leitmotif, etc., etc.
6. The symbology of sound.
7. The symbology of names as markers of place, etc.
8. The symbology of art.
9. The symbology to the gothic church.
10. The idea of expectation vs. disenchantment. How our idealism comes with mystery and expectation, the disillusionment of reality, our need to repaint the disillusionment into a new beauty or into a new illusion. Basically, illusion before reality, disillusion, illusion after reality.
11. Social classes and status, involving money and royalty, society's outcasts.
12. Love and jealousy, and sadism.
13. Pleasure and desire.
14. Sexuality, homosexuality, androgyny.
15. Artistic and experiential authenticity vs. photographic reproduction.
16. Etc., etc.

This gives me an idea. I'll post those things as name markers pending a review!

Elaine wrote: "First off ~ Hello, It’s hard to know where to jump in to this wonderful group, 2013 The Year of Reading Proust, especially because I have only just begun reading Swann’s Way (100 pages +). I a..."

Welcome on board, Elaine. It looks like you have worked out how the Group is organized, so that even if you have joined later, you will still be able to participate and see the other contributions.

I am very glad you are also finding Proust's writing so beautiful.

And you are right in that this year of Proust will extend beyond. It will left open and then many of us who are reading the work for the first time want to proceed with the Auxiliary texts.. so we will probably continue.

You should also visit the Lounge and introduce yourself there. It is relatively active.

Kalliope, Thanks for welcoming me on board : ) and for directing me to the Lounge ~ I'll repost introducing myself there.

Welcome, Elaine! Thank you for the wonderful introduction. The group lounge is a great place to chit-chat.

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

Also, the Information section has valuable information with links posted by Marcelita and others, Proust events, etc. Don't worry about starting late. There are others starting late, some who have finished early, and some who have either sidetracked or were too busy to keep up. Go at your pace and there is information waiting for you at whichever point you're at.

Elaine wrote: "Thank you Aloha. I must say, if I continue reading Swann's Way at my current pace, I will officially be on Medicare by the time I finish. Whoop."

Hi Elaine! You will find this group of Proustians extremely supportive as you post through the weeks. One of our tenets is to not "spoil" any of the surprises, as this novel is rather like following a treasure map. Proust leaves clues along the way...

Reading thoughts from first-time readers is a vicarious thrill for some of us, so jump in; we will keep you afloat until you are comfortable in the deep-end.

Some gurus think it's fine to read "fast." The first time I read it, I just focused on the "love stories."
So, if you feel at your "current pace" you are getting bogged down...speed up. You can always go back.

"How to read 'In Search of Lost Time' by Marcel Proust"
By Marcelle Clements
http://www.oprah.com/omagazine/How-to...

Proustitute wrote: "Swann is modeled on Charles Haas.

Some images:




James Tissot, Le Cercle de la rue Royale, 1868

(Haas is all the way on the right; click to see it larger)


Charles Haas"


I did find this interesting bit about Swann:

"Raczymow also published an intriguing essay. He turned his attention, like others before him, to Swann, the half-Jewish Proustian hero. But the approach is new. The title of the book, Le cygne de Proust (1989), gives a clue of the direction chosen. Referring himself to one of the known models for Swann, namely Charles Haas, a dandy of the day (a German Jew), the essay pinpoints what links Swann to him and what separates Swann from his presumed model. The author's starting point is the translation from Haas to Swann. Haas (hare in German) was both too plebeian and too German for Proust's taste. Passing over to the English (more to the snobs' liking) he coined the new name Swann, only subtly reminiscent to the French reader of its translation (swan – and not Swann – evoking in English the noble and mythical bird: "le cygnet"). Such is the starting point for the essay. The author then answers the secret: how did the idea suggest itself? He observed in a painting representing a brilliant social circle, that Charles Haas was standing "near the door, facing the others, though on the side, as if he hesitated to mingle with them and penetrate inside the circle." Observing how Haas was "part of the circle, but remained on the periphery," the author told himself: "Haas was Jewish, had no title of nobility, no prestigious heredity, no tremendous fortune." From then on, that noble "cygne" (Swann) became less distant, almost a familiar, intimate person. One can see in this study a literary illustration of social marranism. Raczymow continued his study of Marcel Proust in Le Paris retrouvé de Marcel Proust (2005). On the other hand, he looks into his own boyhood in Avant le déluge: Belleville années 50 (2005) and in Reliques (2005); in 2003, with Le plus tard possible, he evaluates his life, and "[his] experience of absolute loneliness."

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/j...

This board is laden with goodies and hope it stays up f-o-r-e-v-e-r.

People seem to give a lot of oedipal / psychoanalytical readings to the episode of the goodnight kiss and relate it to love / longing, but I think its significance in shaping the Narrator's consciousness of himself as somebody with (something resembling?) neurasthenia, who can't control their 'impulses' and for whom this lack of control isn't a 'sin', shouldn't be under-estimated.

He's given implicit freedom to sin without judgment as if there isn't a God. Sans judgement does not equal no consequences.

Found this book club last year and although I know no one has been here for two years, I’m leaving my thoughts anyway. I’m barely in to this book, like page 11 or something. As I’m reading last night I’m thinking how bad I want to go to bed and when I awake, before I open my eyes, I want to imagine all the places I might be. I also wished I would wake up in the night and have this personal adventure, but then it actually happened and it was horrible. I wondered if someone could fill an entire book of remembering bedrooms, and if anyone could I think Proust could.

Okay, I know it's been three months since you posted this but let me tell you reading this series was one my very favorite reading experiences and Davis' translation of Swann's Way is the best introduction to In Search of Lost Time. Nostalgia is a weird thing, to have memories that are not always as accurate as we want them to be, nor in comparison to their subjects, (how can I be nostalgic for a random thread from a piece of clothing owned by a tech billionaire at one of the worst times of my life? how could I listen to ELO's "Fascination" without remembering fondly playing Vice City at my friend's apartment in the Bay Area which was just as far away from the 80's as that period in my life is to today? However, this is exactly what Proust may be talking about, no?)