Reading Proust's In Search of Lost Time in 2014 discussion

I know it's early days yet and we're still only on volume 2 but how do others feel about continuing the group after the last volume to cover some books about Proust and 'In Search of Lost Time'?

I keep finding books such as Monsieur Proust, Monsieur Proust's Library and A Night At The Majestic that all look like interesting reads but I tell myself 'I'll read them after I've read the novel'. In particular, though I'd like to read William Carter's Marcel Proust: A Life.

Also, is it worth having a group bookshelf for all this additional reading?

This seems like a great idea! Since I've started reading Swann's Way I've been thinking a lot about Proust and am curious about his life and understanding him better. I think we should have a book. And I do think it's worth having a an additional bookshelf for those and other books about Proust we find in the future.

Jonathan wrote: "I know it's early days yet and we're still only on volume 2 but how do others feel about continuing the group after the last volume to cover some books about Proust and 'In Search of Lost Time'?

..."

Absolutely!

I think having a bookshelf for additional reading is a fantastic idea. I enjoy learning about the author when I'm reading classics, but I know myself well enough to know I likely won't read any of the additional books. I prefer the fiction to the non. But, I really enjoy reading longer books with a group so that we can bounce questions off each other and remind each other of plot points, etc.

After we find time again, I'm hoping to find a group that wants to read A Dance to the Music of Time, Complete Set: 1st Movement, 2nd Movement, 3rd Movement, 4th Movement by Anthony Powell in 2015. Twelve books in twelve months.

I want to read some of the Ruskin writings he was so passionate about (and translated).

I once knew someone who loved John Ruskin's work but it never really appealed to me, though it could be interesting to have a look at, as well as the Mme Sévigné letters.

I'm thinking of reading a book on the Dreyfus Affair soon as it's started to appear in this week's reading. It's probably not necessary in order understand ISOLT but I've read little pieces about it before and it's a fascinating topic; I also like Zola's work and of course Zola famously got involved in it.

the Dreyfus affaire will rage through the Guermantes Way, and it's still popping up in Sodome & G. You can tie it forward to Vichy, and beyond, and back to the French Revolution.

Do you guys recommend any book on the Dreyfus Affair? I have to confess I know absolutely nothing about it...

Renato wrote: "Do you guys recommend any book on the Dreyfus Affair? I have to confess I know absolutely nothing about it..."

Well I'm trying to decide between The Dreyfus Affair and The Affair: The Case of Alfred Dreyfus. But I'm not suggesting that it will be necessary to read this before reading Proust, it's just that as I'm already interested in the case it might be a good time for me to read about it. I'm sure that the Wikipedia article would give enough background material for most people.

Oh sure, I know it's not necessary. I asked cause I read the Wikipedia article and it seemed like an interesting read. Thanks for the suggestions!

My Proust leader suggests "The Affair: The Case..."
I have not read it, but here is a good overview by Carolyn Weber, after France finally released all the records last year.

"Dreyfus, Proust and the Crimes of the Belle Epoque"
By Caroline Weber (Columbia University)
Dr. Weber is currently working on a book about the three women who were the models for the Duchesse de Guermantes.
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles...

And....here are two audio discussions...on Ruskin and Dreyfus, from the BBC Radio 4.

John Ruskin
Thu, 31 Mar 05
Duration: 43 mins
"The life and work of one of the most influential figures of the Victorian era. With guests Dinah Birch, Stephan Collini and Keith Hanley.

"Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and work of John Ruskin. He was the most brilliant art critic of his age, perhaps the most brilliant that Britain has ever produced, but he was much more than that. A champion of Turner and an enemy of Whistler, he placed the study of art and architecture at the heart of a moral assault on Victorian life. In the stone work of a Gothic cathedral, Ruskin saw all that was right about medieval society and all that...."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p003k9bv

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/r...


"The Dreyfus Affair
Duration: 45 minutes
First broadcast: Thursday 08 October 2009
"Melvyn Bragg and guests Robert Gildea, Ruth Harris and Robert Tombs discuss the Dreyfus Affair, the 1890s scandal which divided opinion in France for a generation.

"In 1894, a high-flying Jewish staff officer in the French Army, one Alfred Dreyfus, was convicted of spying for the Prussians. He was publicly humiliated: before a large Paris crowd, he was stripped of his badges of rank and his sword was ceremonially broken."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00n1l95

Thanks for those links. Enjoyed the Weber article and shared it widely.

Interesting that Prout, a great admirer of Ruskin and certainly knowing his feelings about Whistler would then combine, among others, elements of Whistler and Turner in the character of Elstir whose name, incidentally, is a loose anagram of Whistler.

Stephen wrote: "Thanks for those links. Enjoyed the Weber article and shared it widely."

Stephen,
Since you live in Montclair, I will let you know when there are Proust-focused events in the city. Naturally, last year was incredible, and I will post some links later. Personally, I am waiting anxiously for Dr. Weber's book. I heard her speak last year at The Providence Athenaeum about her next book: "The Last Salonnière" [in progress]
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/french/dep...

Until then, here are two videos that any Proustian will appreciate.

1.
Shattuck Conference 2013 - The Center for Fiction
www.centerforfiction.org/calendar/sha...

Anka Muhlstein on Odette and the Women in Proust, PART 1;

*Caroline Weber, Columbia University, on the Duchesse de Guermantes, PART 3 @3:36;

Doctor Benjamin's Taylor
(Scroll down for his seminar class on "Swann's Way:"
http://www.benjamintaylorauthor.com/l... )

and Hollie Hunter (Brandeis)

Finally, a terrific discussion lead by Harold Augenbraum.

2.
Harold created The Proust Society in America and edited last year's "Collected Poems of Marcel Proust."
http://centerforfiction.org/calendar/...

Thanks for all the links Marcelita. Phew! It'll take a while perusing them all...

Jonathan wrote: "Thanks for all the links Marcelita. Phew! It'll take a while perusing them all..."

Yep, my husband calls me "the poor obsessive." ;)

But you can't go wrong listening to Anka Mulhstein, Carolyn Weber and Harold Augenbraum riff on Proust.

I also listen to them, again and again-like a favorite record-on my iPhone, while walking. Like reading, something doesn't register...until it does. Maybe my "little mannikin" needs to be around more often.

Thanks for the links. I am really enjoying Dr. Taylor's lectures. "Poor obsessive", uh? My husband used to say that Marcel was sleeping between us! Not sure that would have been to Marcel's taste, but there was some truth to that...

Andree wrote: "Thanks for the links. I am really enjoying Dr. Taylor's lectures. "Poor obsessive", uh? My husband used to say that Marcel was sleeping between us! Not sure that would have been to Marcel's tas..."

I met a gentleman today in Greenwich Village, who reads Proust everyday. His wife doesn't read Proust, but he said when she can't sleep...he reads Marcel to her.
What a lullaby!

I just checked out some of the Dreyfus links supplied. The BBC radio programme was very good. Thanks again Marcelita!

I'm just thinking about adding some more bookshelves as it seems quite popular. I'm thinking of adding the following shelves:
-'Proust ISOLT' i.e. the books scheduled to read this year
-'Proust Other Works'
-'Biographical & Criticism', i.e. anything About Proust
-'Historical', e.g. Dreyfus Affair, French history
-'Influences', I really mean stuff that influenced Proust and/or appears in ISOLT, i.e. Ruskin, Anatole France, Mme Sévigné.

What do others think? I don't think there's much to be gained by having too many shelves but these can be changed or modified as we go along.

Jonathan, I really like that idea as I wanna read more about French history and some of the influences that appears in ISOLT.

Thanks for that!

Jonathan wrote: "I'm just thinking about adding some more bookshelves as it seems quite popular. I'm thinking of adding the following shelves:
-'Proust ISOLT' i.e. the books scheduled to read this year

Influences', I really mean stuff that influenced Proust and/or appears in ISOLT.."

Photography and music....are continuing threads.

Marcelita wrote: "Jonathan wrote: "I'm just thinking about adding some more bookshelves as it seems quite popular. I'm thinking of adding the following shelves:
-'Proust ISOLT' i.e. the books scheduled to read this ..."

And how about painting?

Andree wrote: "Marcelita wrote: "Jonathan wrote: "I'm just thinking about adding some more bookshelves as it seems quite popular. I'm thinking of adding the following shelves..

"And how about painting? "

Oh, absolutely!
And the philosophers. (Schopenhauer is on my list this year.)

Here is an early lecture by Karpeles, at The Center for Fiction, the home of The Proust Society of America.

Larry Bensky is one of America's Proust-gurus and a fascinating person.
Now...teaching about Proust in Berkeley.
His website is www.radioproust.org

"Paintings in Proust with Eric Karpeles" on Vimeo
vimeo.com/15163812

Sep 21, 2010 - This is "Paintings in Proust with Eric Karpeles" by Radio Proust.

@MMR Do you remember Eugene from the 2013 Year of Reading Proust?
My husband just returned from the Union Square Greenmarket (NYC) and stopped by Eugene's stall for my favorite Moroccan sausages.

I learned more about the structure of Proust's sentences from Eugene than anyone. What a treasure he was...helping us all to "see" the writing.

Eugene has a marvelous blog: http://www.catskill-merino.com

Sheep...for food and wool: http://www.catskill-merino.com/blog/S...

Some of his Proust entries (surely filled with spoilers!)
http://www.catskill-merino.com/blog/P...

We finally met in person at The Morgan's mesmerizing exhibition of the "100th Anniversary of Swann's Way." Our noses hovering, fingers leaving oily excitement over each thrilling case...Eugene's gracious manner and wit will forever be fused with Proust's "Kirby" notebooks.

Received as a gift from Geneviève Halévy-Bizet-Straus, Proust's "Tall Man Kirby" notebook can be seen in the lower left corner. (Setting up the exhibition.)
You can "page through" the notebook here. The BnF has scanned in almost all of Proust's writings. "Oh, joy of joys...." MP
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1...

Exhibition information:
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs...
http://www.themorgan.org/exhibitions/...

See some of the treasures Eugene and I saw...now back in the French library (BnF).
With Antoine Compagnon discussing the opening sentence, "Longtemps...."
http://expositions.bnf.fr/proust/albu...

We met again at The Center for Fiction's discussion of Harold Augenbraum's "Collected Poems of Marcel Proust."

Video discussion of the event:
http://centerforfiction.org/calendar/...

Proust has brought the most interesting people into my life.

Re-post, because it is so useful.

Can't remember where that favorite passage was in the novel?
These two sites (French and English) will help, as they are divided by volumes.

French;
http://alarecherchedutempsperdu.org

Or...Search for the French word/passage here:
http://alarecherchedutempsperdu.org/g...
Example: longtemps


With the English translation...which is terrible, but you can at least find the general location.

http://translate.google.com/translate...

01: Combray (Swann's Way)
44: Swann in Love (Swann's Way)
96: Place Names: The Place (Swann's Way)

103: Within a Budding Grove
183: The Guermantes Way
266: Sodom and Gomorrah/Cities on the Plain
335: The Prisoner/The Captive
391: The Fugitive
433: Time Regained

I search for the English word or exact "Modern Library edition" phrase using my Kindle.
http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Library-...

Marcelita, yes, I certainly do remember Eugene. I always read his posts with great interest.

Treat yourself!
Who would combine Marcel Proust and the tramways of Mexico City?
And a stock broker as a friend, as a confident?

From Columbia University's 2013 "Proust ReRead" Conference, my favorite speaker...who brought alive Proust's inability to make decisions, whether selling stocks or...or...or...or other things.

SPOILERS for some.

Rubén Gallo (Princeton): “Reading Proust from Latin America”
@32:24
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCGYdw...

His book came out last year:
http://books.google.com/books?id=hvnZ...

I will re-read all of your posts when I'm finished with the novel and will read/watch/listen to every link you've ever posted in our group. You're really resourceful! How can you keep track of everything? :)

Renato wrote: "I will re-read all of your posts when I'm finished with the novel and will read/watch/listen to every link you've ever posted in our group. You're really resourceful! How can you keep track of everything?"

That is a wise decision, to wait, as you will have a greater appreciation of the morsels.

For the last few years, I have been gathering anything related to Proust, rather like a layman's Proust reference librarian, and hoarding everything in my Pinterest "filing cabinets," which you are welcome to rummage through.

Be aware that the image does not necessarily conform to the content; there are a few without any image at all-usually a book in the Research folder.

You can also use the Search box to find specific items.
Here is a general Search for "Dreyfus Affair," checking "Just my Pins:"
http://www.pinterest.com/search/my_pi...

You will see that references to the Dreyfus Affair can be found in several folders:
http://www.pinterest.com/marcelitaswa...
http://www.pinterest.com/marcelitaswa...
http://www.pinterest.com/marcelitaswa...
etc..

Take what you will...and share it will others, but please credit the original source.

I am also impressed with the wealth of knowledge and information that you share with us, Marcelita. I look at some as I go, but I also hope to revisit others once I've finished the novel. So please keep those. posts coming!

Jonathan wrote: "I am also impressed with the wealth of knowledge and information that you share with us, Marcelita. I look at some as I go, but I also hope to revisit others once I've finished the novel. So please..."

Don't worry, it's the teacher inside that will always be available to any Proustian.

There are nine of us, from the 2013 group, that still email back and forth.
The last being yesterday and today, about the book "Proust contre la decheance" by Joseph Czapski. A Polish officer and prisoner of war, who taught the novel in the camp through his memory and these mind-maps.

Kalliope's review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Fionnuala's review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Happy Birthday to Marcel!

Yes, thanks Marcelita. I wonder if anyone in the group shares their birthday with Marcel?

I didn't know it was today!

Happy Birthday Marcel. Good choice of champagne Marcelita. My birthday is in October Jonathan.

So Proust's sun sign was Cancer. What to make of that?

Dave wrote: "Happy Birthday Marcel. Good choice of champagne Marcelita. My birthday is in October Jonathan.

So Proust's sun sign was Cancer. What to make of that?"

I don't understand Marcel's astrological chart, but it does look lopsided, like he's in bed. ;)
Scroll down:
http://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/M...

Marcelita wrote: "Dave wrote: "Happy Birthday Marcel. Good choice of champagne Marcelita. My birthday is in October Jonathan.

So Proust's sun sign was Cancer. What to make of that?"

I don't understand Marcel's ast..."

Cool Marcelita, I've never seen such a detailed astrological chart. I don't understand most of it but the bottom line seems to be the stars were aligned at his birth to create a genius to write a great masterpiece of literature!

Thinking ahead again to next year when I will have finished ISOLT: I have a couple of books here that I intend to read, such as A Night At The Majestic and Monsieur Proust's Library. I'm also intending to read William Carter's Marcel Proust: A Life. But are there any other books that others (especially Dave and Marcelita) would recommend reading first?

Jonathan wrote: "Thinking ahead again to next year when I will have finished ISOLT: I have a couple of books here that I intend to read, such as A Night At The Majestic and [book:Monsieur Proust's Li..."

Hum...what to read first?
I think that depends on your immediate interest.

Are your curious about Proust's life? How the novel should not be read as an autobiography, but can't help but find the real incidents, that are disguised and/or re-shaped, fascinating?

Or, are you more interested in the construction of the novel, the layers that may still be invisible to you?

For me, as I immediately reread the novel, I was more interested in the layers...how everything was connected. (Later, I read several biographies.)

If you believe that Proust's 'social personality' is different from 'the artist within,' then you have your choice of companions. ;)

Here are just a few suggestions, I'm sure others may have their favorites.

--Biography:
Marcel. Proust: A Life
William C. Carter's 2nd edition, 2013 (Yale University Press)
(You must read the new Preface, with updated details about the timeline of Proust's death.)

Proust in Love. Yale University Press , 2006
William C. Carter

Marcel Proust. New York : Lipper/Viking, 1999.
White, Edmund

Proust: A Biography. New York: Carroll & Graf, 1990
Hayman, Ronald.
(Favorite of Dr. Mark Caulkins tempsperdu.com )

Madame Proust: A Biography
by Evelyne Bloch-Dano (Author), Alice Kaplan (Translator)

--Proust's Writings:
Marcel Proust: On Art and Literature 1896-1919
by Marcel Proust, Sylvia Townsend Warner (Translator)

--Others
The UAB Marcel Proust Symposium : In Celebration of the 75th Anniversary of "Swann's Way" (1913-1988). Published in 1989.

This book is a collection of essays by some of the world's leading Proustian scholars, some now dead, that honor the 75th anniversay of the publication of Du côté de chez Swann (1913-1988).
Review: http://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&...

Proust Between 2 Centuries
by Antoine Compagnon (Author)

Proust and Signs: The Complete Text
Gilles Deleuze (Author), Richard Howard (Translator)

Proust's Way
A Field Guide to 'In Search of Lost Time'
By ROGER SHATTUCK

Proust Among the Stars. New York
Bowie, Malcolm.

As always, wonderful suggestions Marcelita. On this recommendation I ordered the Hayman biography.

Like Marcelita, I was more interested in the connections and layers.

Before I began rereading I read Howard Moss' book "The Magic Lantern of Marcel Proust", then selections in Shattuck's book that Marcelita recommends, and reviewed Patrick Alexander's "Marcel Proust's Search of Lost Time."

Since beginning to reread, I've continued background reading. A few books that stand out in my mind that have been particularly meaningful or useful to my current interests:

"The Cambridge Introduction to Marcel Proust"

"The Cambridge Companion to Proust" (collection of essays on different subjects by big named scholars - Carter does the bio essay for instance. Together, these two Cambridge references are pretty much the "total intro package" and both available electronically) (Bowie's Postlude on Proust and the Art of Brevity is a favorite)

"Proust Among the Stars" by Bowie (Also on Marcelita's list)

"Philosophy as Fiction: Self, Deception, and Knowledge in Proust" by Joshua Landy (probably the single most interesting book I've read on Proust. Asserts that Proust book presents a unified philosophy closely related to Nietzsche)

"A Reader's Guide to Marcel Proust" by Milton Hindus (written in the early 60's), I just discovered I owned this book. It is the most detailed analysis of the text (sometimes page by page) that I have come across. It is available used online. I plan to keep this book beside me as I reread and consult it frequently.

"Proust's Narrative Techniques" by B C Rodgers (hard to find and expensive, but based on TOC alone looks very interesting). Not yet recieved.

Dave wrote: "As always, wonderful suggestions Marcelita. On this recommendation I ordered the Hayman biography.

Like Marcelita, I was more interested in the connections and layers.

Before I began rereading I ..."

Agree with Dave on "The Cambridge Companion to Proust" (collection of essays on different subjects by big named scholars...)

And, maybe...
Philosophy of the Novel
Vincent Descombes
Translated by Catherine Chance Macksey

Yikes, I went to my bookcase and also found Hindus. I discovered it at The Strand and never even opened it...thinking I have another twenty years of reading ahead of me. Not embarrassed to say that I learn something everyday. Thank you, Dave, for the tip!

Mon Dieu Marcelita! Another $40 used book I must own! I'm leaving boxes of books from my library on the doorsteps of Public Libraries like kittens to make shelf space for my new Proust "friends". I've got books by Maurois and Spaulding on the way along along with Barker's bio recommended by Hindus. I may soon be reduced to living under a highway overpass and eating restaurant refuse while surrounded by my Proust books - but they will be mine, ALL mine!

Landy has some differences of opinions with Descombes, so I was familiar with him.

Thanks for all the advice, it gives me somewhere to start. I shall read a biography, probably the Carter one, as I usually like to read a bio of any author that I've invested any length of time on.

But it looks like the Cambridge Introduction & Companion books look promising, as well as the Shattuck book.

I read the Edmund White bio earlier this year which was ok, but very short. I'm sort of reading Patrick Alexander's book as I go through ISOLT but I keep coming across spoilers as I read it - this doesn't bother me too much though.

I recognised the name 'Milton Hindus' from my reading on Céline, he visited Céline in prison in Denmark and interviewed him when he was considered a pariah. The Proust book should be pretty good as well.

Great recommendations, thank you guys! I plan to reread immediately after finishing and I'm really interested on all the layers. After that, I'll read Carter's bio.

Glad I could offer some help.

Just noted that you just found Hindus' book Marcelita. A sure signed that my mineshaft into the mountain of Proust commentary is getting pretty deep when I shine my light on a nugget you have not read! lol

No one has noted to follow up on Howard Moss' book I finished first. Moss was poetry editor of the New Yorker for like 50 years. His book is an easy read of two or three hours and wonderfully captures the singular marvel of Proust's accomplishment. He give satisfaction to what you have achieved in reading ISOLT and points the way to what to look for as you begin a reread. I highly recommend his book.

Hindus has a larger book "Proust's Vision" that is reasonably priced used but has no description on Amazon. As Jonathan noted he wrote about Celine and others.

I'm hoping to find all of those in Kindle Editions... at least Carter's bio is available on amazon.com.br!

Yes, the two Cambridge books, Alexander, Shattuck, Moss and Landy all on Kindle.