As I’ve said before, I’m no history buff, so forgive me if I’m a little glib about such matters. But let’s talk Ottomans, shall we? And Persia, Byzantine culture, St. Mark and so on. We have to, because Continue reading “Let’s talk Ottomans, shall we?”
Do you think it’s odd that…
…that Proust has all those chapters on Place-Names? If so, I don’t think you’re going to like this post, so best not to read on lol!
Are you still reading? Okay- here’s my thought. Or rather, here’s a hint in the picture below:
A pretty sight. One I think I should use on Continue reading “Do you think it’s odd that…”
Canals, not Quenelles
When I told my husband I was writing about canals today, he said ‘quenelles?!’
No, not quenelles. And not the canals in Venice, or even in Delft. Let’s talk about canals in Combray, shall we? Continue reading “Canals, not Quenelles”
Okay, so what’s the question? It’s about that Little Phrase!!
“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 Continue reading “Okay, so what’s the question? It’s about that Little Phrase!!”
Prooosty stumbles onto something
Here they are, my two kings, the ones to blame for starting it all.
I don’t even know why I looked them up. I’ve never been the least bit interested in history. But that’s how it started. I did a casual search, a few words typed in- and that’s when I stumbled on Cambrai Continue reading “Prooosty stumbles onto something”
You say Combray, I say Cambrai
Even though I’m not French I get it. The sound of an ‘o’ in a French word is nothing like the sound of an ‘a.’ So you say it’s Combray and I say but maybe it could be Cambrai. And then you ask me if I’m nuts. And I say well I’m not French, but… Continue reading “You say Combray, I say Cambrai”
2 + 2 = a Quatuor!
Quatuor is not a very easy word to say in French. Probably why it caught my attention.
I just loved that word all by itself. – the u and the o a bit of a tongue twister for me, the non-native French speaker. And in my mind, twisting letters around- because the line preceding it… Continue reading “2 + 2 = a Quatuor!”
Isn’t a little phrase an Ode-ette?
Now what would MP be up to, calling Swann’s lover Odette? Ode – some kind of poem-ish form. But diminished. a diminutive ode. An Odette. So basically a phrase. But a little one. A little ode.
I’m not saying there isn’t a little phrase in a piece of music written by M. Vinteuil and played… Continue reading “Isn’t a little phrase an Ode-ette?”
Tante Léonie is a beast
Tante Leonie’s the domestic ‘lioness’ looking out from her room ‘tower’ over the village square of Combray and observing the comings and goings.
To my mind, she’s the beast. Akin to the Lion of St. Mark overlooking the square in Venice, she’s the one who facilitates the dipping of the Madeleine in tea that sets everything moving. Young Marcel dips the biscuit in tea… Continue reading “Tante Léonie is a beast”
Ceci n’est pas un Swann de Combray
Meet Le cygne de Cambrai: Francois Fenelon. He’s a French archbishop from the late 1600’s who somehow took on the sobriquet The Swan of Cambrai. And could possibly, just possibly, have served as inspiration for the Swann of Combray front and center in Swann’s Way.
It could be nothing more than that. Just a simple borrowing of… Continue reading “Ceci n’est pas un Swann de Combray”