With so few pages left in Du Côté de Chez Swann, I should be dedicating more time to finishing it. Unfortunately, this has often been my trouble with older books. Nevertheless, Noms de Pays has definitely been enjoyable reading. It has developed well. The ending should be surprising if not entertaining. Gilbert has been introduced as a character. I didn't expect it to happen so soon in the Researches. Proust is a great writer with a rich vocabulary and quite elaborate sentence structure. This doesn't surprise me, though, as his reputation definitely prepared me for the reading. Nevertheless, it is very hard reading in the French. What has struck me amongst other things would be how easily his style can be seen as stream of consciousness and Freudian. Although a contemporary of Proust, Freud only met him once in passing along with Stravinsky and Picasso at a dinner at the Ritz in May of 1922 shortly before his death in November of the same year. However, he must have been cognizant of his writings.
