Crutial Summation of Swann's Way

Last night I passed into probably the most important sentence of Du Côté de Chez Swann and I plan on diagramming it for this blog. This morning I copied it (all 182 words) into my blue spiral notebook. Right now I'm at the desk with my morning coffee and a breather, though, and will have to fully wake up before continuing my work.

Interesting passages.

Proust has brought me into an interesting passage where his protagonist explains his imagined letter from Gilberte and the former gift of an excerpt of his imagined author, Bergotte, from Gilberte. This concerned the motivation of Racine in writing his classical tragedies. I've read a number of these, but, unfortunately, don't remember much about them except that they are incredibly precise and beautiful examples of iambic pentameter. Included is a photograph of my current bedstead. Some nights, like last, I only go over one of his sentences, one that I've already read, and then drop off to sleep. However, slowly, ever so slowly, I am approaching the end of Du Côté de Chez Swann

Nearing the end of Swann's Way.

Well, the volume of Du Côté de Chez Swann still sits on my bedside table, but I have been making progress on it. With less than twenty pages left, I can state that I see the light at the end of the tunnel. It's a fascinating book, and I don't mind pouring over it. I sometimes wake in the middle of the night and read it in accordance to the way Proust developed the story in the first few pages of Combray. Currently I'm going through the passages that cover the encounters with Gilbert when Swann has taken her to play with the protagonist. This occures after he has dragged his nanny up and down the Champs-Élysées looking for her. She has told the protagonist that she won't be able to play with him for a while, but if he shows up at the Jardin des Champs-Elysées, early the next day she may be able to be there. He is now fretting about her lack of expression of love for him and seemingly disregard for it while walking with the nanny through the streets on the way to the park. I would love to have a picture of children playing barres, the game that Gilberte and the protagonist played, but I have not found one. I've walked through the Jardin des Champs-Elysées a few times, too. Never did I notice such a game being played, either. We'll have to settle for a modern photo of the Tuilleries in the summer. All of the activity described by Proust there, though, occured in the winter.

Slow Reading

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.

Another look at the Aubepins

Here's another photo of the Hawthornes behind the Christmas Tree Shop in Falmouth, Ma. They are the larger trees behind the foreground bushes. After cutting the vines, I found that I had some rather noticeable scratches on my arms due to the very large and sharp thorns on them. No wonder that they have been left to the wild!!!

Inspiration

Someone planted a grove of Hawthornes (Aubepins) behind the Big Kappy's Liquor Store and the Christmas Tree Shop in Falmouth. Unfortunately it has been left to the wilds as no one seems to have been taking care of it for years. It also has become a homeless, alcoholics' hang out. I decided to do some community service and went down there and cut the vines back yesterday. Of course, the thorns left their mark on my arms. Once I optain a good photo of the grove, I'll include it. However, the first entry to this blog has a photo taken from this grove. What struck me was how much orderly the Aubepins of Proust are compared to these American ones which have gotten so little care. This compares to those planted up at Alewife in Cambridge.

Symbolism

La mer moutonne, a common phrase in everyday French found in the pocket LaRouse used symbolically in Proust's Nom de Pays on P.378 of Du Cote de Chez Swann, Folio Classique, Gallimard

>>les apôtres moutonnants et camus<<
Camus defined as >>court et plat, en parlant de nez<<
After thinking about the symbolist aspects of Proust's writing that I have read, I realized that this would be an excellent example i.e. using the adjective >>moutonnant<< or sheep-like for the white caps seen in the rough waters of Bretagne. The usual use of sheep would be to describe something peaceful, meek, and quiet. A flock of sheep reflected in the counting sheep method of curing insomnia certainly doesn't bring up ideas of turbulent seas, yet as in the picture, it fits.