Well, today has been a day of listlessness and not feeling well, so I must apologize for the lateness of the post. I did, however, manage to fix the comment posting problem and update a few areas of the blog.
I tucked into Patrick Alexander’s Marcel Proust’s Search for Lost Time: A Reader’s Guide to the Remembrance of Things Past which is quite fascinating! For one thing, I was not so off the mark when I remarked that Proust must have been on acid or indulging in too much absinthe when he started Chez Swann, with its endless stream of near-hallucinatory images.
According to Mr. Alexander, “With a steady and determined diet of caffeine (one of his hosts recorded his drinking seventeen cups of coffee in an evening), opiates, barbiturates, amyl nitrate and pure adrenaline, Marcel Proust probably consumed more drugs than any other figure in European literature. The vivid and hallucinatory memories that recur throughout the novel were obviously inspired by something stronger than madeleines and herbal tea.” (p.343)
Proust himself writes, “Not far from thence is the secret garden in which kinds of sleep, so different from one another, induced by datura, by Indian hemp, by the multiple extracts of ether - sleep of belladonna, of opium, of Valerian - grow like unknown flowers whose petals remain closed until the day when the predestined stranger comes to open them with a touch and to liberate for long hours the aroma of their peculiar dreams for the delectation of an amazed and spellbound being...”
And, having experienced a few drugs myself in college ( I didn’t inhale...) both voluntarily and involuntarily, I can attest in some instances to the very delectation of which he speaks, and say that it can most definitively open your mind to experiences which occur in a decidedly different plane of being and sensing, and which could not be experienced otherwise.
Alexander also has an excellent and enticing annotated bibliography of his own collection of books on Proust, which will prove fertile ground for further reading, such as:
Aciman, André, ed. The Proust Project. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004. A compendium of 28 modern writers’ favorite passages and experiences of ISOLT. Covers all 7 volumes as a kind of synopsis.
For the art lover:
Karpeles, Eric, ed. and intro. Paintings in Proust. Thames & Hudson, 2008. Proust talks about many artists and their works in ISOLT. In this book Karpeles provides reproductions of the many paintings to which Proust refers.
Note of Caution: although any comments are welcome, this blog is not intended to be a serious academic discussion of Proust!! Évidemment!! It is meant to be a playground of sorts, where having fun is de rigeur! And where accidents are bound to happen...
What it's all about
Welcome to my blog!! Join me on a 365-day journey of discovery and "re-discovery" as I take up the monumental challenge of reading one of the greatest pieces of literature ever written, and in French!!
The idea was spurred by Julie Powell's "Julie & Julia" and my somewhat crazy idea to supplement my Rosetta Stone French lessons by reading Proust's "In Search..." in the original French.
Several people have looked askance (perhaps also entertaining the idea of getting me one of those nice white jackets with the sleeves that tie in back...) and said, "You've NO idea of what you're getting yourself into."
Well! Let me say that if you know exactly what you're getting into then you're NOT having an adventure. And I mean to have a GREAT adventure!!
I've absolutely no idea where this will lead, but then again, that's really the idea, isn't it?
If you've ever thought about reading this amazing work, but been intimidated by its sheer gargantuan proportions, then by all means, please join me and perhaps you'll learn a bit along the way about the fascinating man that Proust was, the times in which he lived, and perhaps find your own inspiration to pick it up anew and dive in!!
Bienvenue à m'aventure! Allons-y!!
The idea was spurred by Julie Powell's "Julie & Julia" and my somewhat crazy idea to supplement my Rosetta Stone French lessons by reading Proust's "In Search..." in the original French.
Several people have looked askance (perhaps also entertaining the idea of getting me one of those nice white jackets with the sleeves that tie in back...) and said, "You've NO idea of what you're getting yourself into."
Well! Let me say that if you know exactly what you're getting into then you're NOT having an adventure. And I mean to have a GREAT adventure!!
I've absolutely no idea where this will lead, but then again, that's really the idea, isn't it?
If you've ever thought about reading this amazing work, but been intimidated by its sheer gargantuan proportions, then by all means, please join me and perhaps you'll learn a bit along the way about the fascinating man that Proust was, the times in which he lived, and perhaps find your own inspiration to pick it up anew and dive in!!
Bienvenue à m'aventure! Allons-y!!
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