Well, I am making progress! I was able to get through ten, yes, ten pages today! Of course, my head is now pounding and my eyes feel like I've been rubbing sand in them... but it's a glorious feeling!
Now that we've left the magic chairs and worlds out of orbit behind, the language is easier to understand, although no less serpentine. I am finding that writing out the very long sentences is a great help, as I can visually dissect and then reconstruct them in a way that makes sense. Provided they are not too long!
However, I did come across a sentence 23 lines long today! We have been introduced to M. Swann, and are being treated to the mistaken opinionations of the great-aunt. The sentence begins, "Mais si l'on avait dit a ma grand-tante que ce Swann qui,..." Even in English, there are so many clauses within clauses that the mind begins to spin in the process of trying to figure out what belongs to what.
But that is one of the things that makes Proust Proust. It seems very à propos that his writing style should be so very stream-of-consciousness, in the way that memories are very seldom linear and tend to not only jump around, but lead to thoughts within thoughts within thoughts.....
Proust's sense of humour is also most definitely now evident, especially in his descriptions of the grandmother, her two silly sisters, and the tart, disapproving opinions of the grand-aunt, who is constantly trying to turn everyone against grand-mère.
I especially enjoyed the scene where Swann is invited to dinner and the two silly sisters wish to thank him for the case of Asti he brought, but for some reason feel it would be "vulgar" to just thank him, and they, "in their horror of vulgarity, had brought to such a fine art the concealment of a personal allusion in a wealth of ingenious circumlocution, that it would often pass unnoticed even by the person to whom it was addressed." The ensuing conversation at dinner is hilarious, where the two sisters try, in vain, via such circumlocution to thank M. Swann for the wine, and also show that they know of his being 'mentioned' in the newspaper, le Figaro, despite having been forcefully dissuaded of doing so by the dour grand-tante. Brings to mind Jane Austen...
And how is everyone else coming along with their reading?? Bien, j'espère!!
À bientôt!! Two Aleves and off to bed...
-Michel
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