Reading Proust In Foxborough

The blogger in the link below takes exception to one of Proust's "euphemisms," but I really liked it because Proust  didn't use whatever the  current euphemism was (and there were probably many).  Instead Proust used something very specific to Swann and Odette, something with meaning to them, and I thought...

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I found a web site that gives Proustian facts in a nutshell.  The brief, most unProustian of answers about the great man.  I am amused.  Here is the link. http://answers.encyclopedia.com/question/marcel-proust-jean-santeuil-296239.htmlI have been too busy writing and preparing and delivering a Toastmaster's speech to read anything except the daily papers and The New...

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In the twenties, that most fertile period in English (and French) literature, Virginia Woolf read Proust.  She probably read him in French.  I cannot imagine reading those endless sentences and paragraphs en Francais, but of course well-educated writers of that time would have little difficulty.  Strangely enough, the beginning of...

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The great work is temporarily stalled on my nightstand.  Proust in Pictures has languished since Christmas.  I read the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo which scared the bejesus out of me, and started The Girl Who Played With Fire which also seems pretty scarey. Too many projects afloat.  Need to give...

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Here is a review of the Proust movie, Time Regained.   I actually saw this movie a few years ago in Harvard Square and thought that they did an excellent job considering how notoriously difficult filming Proust's work must be.Read on.http://moviesuntildeath.blogspot.com/2010/01/time-regained-1999.htmlOdette...

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I really like The Cork-Lined Room.  The discussion of Proust is excellent with its use of quotes and detail and yet is something every reader can follow--in other words its not too "academic." Small confession:  I used to be in the academic camp and somehow migrated to genre fiction where I'm...

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"Odette" contemplating a New Year's resolution In the course of things, I don't generally do New Year's Resolutions.  Stopped smoking years ago after several NYR's had failed me.  I did lose 5 pounds last year and kept it off.  And this year I want to finish Proust again.  If I...

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It's a sad commentary when one reads a single page of Proust and falls asleep.   Of course, it was late and I am pretty tired these days from the holiday tasks along with the household tasks, getting regular exercise, writing, editing, more writing, volunteer work for writing orgs, and keeping...

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This blog doesn't like my new MAC and it sure doesn't like Safari.  A day wasted in computer hell, and the formatting really stunk.  My most was totally hosed, first with Technorati going crazy and now with the links, etc.  Way too much time debugging stuff, when I could have...

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Bookishness continues his Proust blog. Sue Grafton advises writers to pay attention to minor characters, as Proust does in spades. http://charlesmatthews.blogspot.com/2009/11/proust-project-day-5.html Th Cork-lined Room also keeps Proust blogging on a high level: http://thecorklinedroom.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/the-desires-that-had-surrounded-me-a-short-time-ago-to-go-to-guermantes-to-travel-to-be-happy-were-so-far-behind-me-now-that-their-fulfillment-would-not-have-brought-me-any-pleasure/ Moi? I'm organizing for Thanksgiving. Need a Francoise of my own. ...

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Actually, ten pages per day of Proust is a fairly ambitious goal, unless one has scads of leisure, and who has that. I haven't read anything for the past ten or so days. Life intrudes. Lately, while sipping a late afternoon glass of wine, I fall...

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Someone else is slogging through the receptions and dinner parties. Doesn't seem to mind.http://www.litkicks.com/ProustIII/I'm getting into the next volume, but not in any serious way. Oh for the days when I could sit down and read War and Peace from cover to cover over the holidays....

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This blog presents all opinions, even the anti-Proust. By the way, I read some more of "Sodom" the other night, and holey-shamoley, there's another Guermantes reception as an alert reader had warned. Although this one with homo-erotic overtones is more interesting than those that went before. Here is Gemaine Greer...

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Here is a link to a new Proust blogger. Do we read Proust for fun? Why not? Fun is where you find it, but not usually in 300+ word sentences. Proust is fun, when the humor or quirky observations strike, and the feeling, such as when the...

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Everytime I set my fingers to the keyboard this week I do something stupid. I continue to spell Orhan Pamuk's name every which way but right. I tweeted about the wrong guest of honor (Evanovich, not Grafton) at the New England Crimebake, and I answer emails to the wrong people....

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Complimenting Orhan Pamuk's appearance at the Boston Festival of Books is this upcoming review (mentioning Panuk's close reading of Proust and Proust's influence on Pamuk) from The New York Review of Books.http://www.nybooks.com/articles/23381It would be interesting to write a paper about Proust and Pamuk, but I will leave that to a...

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Well, Proust gets a lot of free PR. Proust and the Squid, How Proust Can Change Your Life--Proust's name in the title of a book is not uncommon. How many undergraduates read Proust these days? That's when/where I learned about the Narrator. My god, I read...

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A cork-lined room would be a good thing. For the past week, we've had very somnolent yellow jackets(wasps) buzzing around the ceiling and other lights in our home office. They expired before they could sting anyone. Since the pests seemed to be increasing, we became concerned. ...

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Houseguests and projects have prevented my reading and posting, alas! In the meantime, for you Proust addicts, and aren't we all, here are a couple of sites to check out.Lydia Davis is a renowned and respected translator of Proust and a writer in her own right.http://www.moreintelligentlife.com/content/emily-bobrow/lydia-davis-gained-translationAnd Creme de Violette...

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An almost-not-quite-deserted, peaceful place to read Proust, without distractions, without irritations. Maybe an out-of-the-way island. Good food, sun with a few rainy days, a beach, an umbrella, some interesting walks (to ponder what one has read), outdoor cafes for the sunny days, and indoor cafes for the rain. Mybe a...

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Somehow, I ended up with multiple projects and endeavors due in the September - November timeframe, and reading has taken a back seat. Poor old Proust. I just loved the beginning of Cities of the Plain, but haven't gotten very far. Such a relief from the Guermantes and their endless...

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Love it. Love it. Love it. Leave it to the Financial Times.http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/42ef53aa-a3e2-11de-9fed-00144feabdc0.html...

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I see Marcel wandering about, swathed in his great coat and many scarves, totally taken with the amazing choices and total weirdness of the American supermarket. He is smiling, maybe even a bit jolly., not nonplused but rather interested. He is sniffing the coffee, and wondering why the tomatoes have...

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I, too, find that I buy less and less during travels, and cherish photos and memories more than ever.When my youngest son was learning (or should I say trying to learn) the French Horn, he practiced a piece called "Variations." His older brother opined that most of the variations were...

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This blog received a citation as one of the 100 best blogs about mystery novels. While it is true that I write crime fiction and that I have another blog that frequently discusses writing and the writing life, Reading Proust in Foxborough is unrelated to mystery novels. Nonetheless, not wishing...

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