If you haven’t figured out by name, I’m relatively obsessed with names and etymologies. I can remember way way back carrying my Petit Robert around to look words up. But the name Vinteuil has been stubborn as hell- refusing to come to the light. At a certain point I resigned myself to the annoying Continue reading “Vinteuil- at long last I grok you!”
Taking stock
Okay, so I got up to page 129 in the Pleiade for my ‘read Proust marathon starting January 1,’ and then I had to go back again. There was too much stuff packed into the pages and I couldn’t take it all in properly to serve my purposes, which is to track the little phrase. Thus, I’ve had to Continue reading “Taking stock”
I just don’t buy it
I don’t buy that Proust named Albertine after Alfred Agostinelli, I just don’t .
“As Proustians know, Albertine was based on Proust’s real-life secretary and chauffeur, Alfred Agostinell.
Says who? There’s no more reason to buy that idea than to agree that Combray is Illiers.
On what basis? No, I don’t think so.
Let’s talk Ottomans, shall we?
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?”
Golo, projected
Marcel’s room, overtaken by Genevieve de Brabant and Golo is perhaps one of the most captivating scenes in the book – and we can see it so clearly. Vibrant, stirring, emotionally resonant, gorgeously wrought. No translation could do justice to the Continue reading “Golo, projected”
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…”
An Exercise: Nom de Plume, Nom de Guerre
I’m always thinking of the idea of Place Names: the Name. If I were to choose the path of reductive thinking, I might see it in terms of pens and swords.
Nom de Plume is Swann’s Way. Nom de Guerre is the way of the Guermantes.
I don’t really believe this, as I think such bipolar thinking is not at all Proustian. The two paths are in reality one and the same, as we know from the famous passage on The Two Ways. Continue reading “An Exercise: Nom de Plume, Nom de Guerre”
A fork in the road: Forcheville
He’s not just the other one. You know, the one that Odette went off with, forsaking Swann. No, Forcheville is the prime contender for the Place Name: The Name award, his name in and of itself a place, or rather the idea of place. Also the idea of Continue reading “A fork in the road: Forcheville”
Madame de Cambremer deserves better
Mme. de Cambremer let herself drift upon a stream of exquisite memories and sensations.
Lovely Mme. de Cambremer. I know she’s the butt of jokes. Her name ends poorly, meaning the ‘de’ should be appended to the end. Mme de Cambremer(de). Not all that different in tone from Mme Verdurin’s name – verdant tinged with the subtext of ordure and Continue reading “Madame de Cambremer deserves better”
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”