“My thoughts had taken a turn a bit particular. I was myself what the book was talking about. A church, a quartet, the rivalry of Francis I and Charles V. “
For most, it’s just a little phrase – a mere 10 words long. Obviously this little phrase isn’t the one in the Vinteuil sonata. It’s a different one. And it has confounded me for – okay, I’ll admit it, for 20 years, no joke. When I first laid eyes on the odd combination of words in the opening paragraph of In Search of Lost Time [ISOLT], I was vaguely curious. What was this little phrase? It was strange! Awkward, granular, so random.
Huh?
It felt like an inside joke. Like Marcel Proust [MP] was saying ‘come hither.’ To be clear, I’m saying there are two little phrases traversing the novel. One is Vinteuil’s sonata. The other is Proust’s.
Look, some will call me crazy, I’m sure, but I swear that phrase contains a secret code or cypher that comes up again and again, pieces of the grand mosaic / puzzle that form the larger picture. I’m still chasing after clues, but it feels like the right time to share my thoughts about it. I hope you find them useful.
Now for my lecture on other people’s POVs when reading ISOLT. I can’t stand snobby Proustophiles who claim there’s only one way to read this book. And it’s their way.
It’s just not true. This is a 3000 page book! Don’t let anyone tell you you’re full of shit. There are countless ways to immerse oneself in MP. It’s a question of what floats your boat. Some readers love history, others love the arts. Some think about philosophy, others about psychology. I’ve learned a great deal from others sharing their ideas about the emotional journey of the narrator. It’s especially challenging for me to do that.
Nobody is wrong! Everybody is right! You are yourself what the book is talking about.
Each reader reads through their own lens, as MP tells us. And I’m the first to admit- mine is a particular one, and for some reason ruffles feathers. I have a literary theory background, so I tend to read the text closely, looking for underlying structures and linguistic units of meaning. Proust’s unfinished work, Contre Sainte Beuve, puts forth the argument that literary critiques should not be based upon the biographies of the author. I like keeping that in mind when I’m reading The Recherche.
If there are allusions to ‘real’ things outside the boundaries of the text, the text itself must also be considered as forming its own unique context as a world of its own. We readers want to identify the actual patch of yellow wall in Vermeer’s View of Delft or the real composer of the Vinteuil Sonata. We want to believe that Combray is Illiers. It’s only natural. This has merit. But it’s certainly not the only way to read the text. Do not be afraid to shake things up, turn things upside down, see from a different point of view!
And believe me, I’m not saying mine is right. If anything, I feel I’m a bit reductive, a little too tilted towards the text for text’s sake point of view. But if an analysis of underlying structures in the text helps to channel the reader’s understanding of their own passion (art, music, psychology and so on, like I said above) then this work will not have been in vain.
Two Notes
One. For those of you new to Proust, you will have questions! You may not yet know the significance of the Vinteuil Sonata or Vermeer’s View of Delft, or any number of allusions I make. Ask away, please. Don’t be shy.
Two. You’ll find the blog categories will be helpful to orient yourself, as a lot of this material builds upon itself, and if you plunge right into the middle you may think ‘what the heck is this Prooosty up to?’ And that, my friends, is not supposed to be The Proust Question.
Love, Prooosty