Swann's Way, Page 240.
Surprisingly easy going thus far. Granted, there has been precious little plot to speak of, but the Combray section seems to be regarded as a prelude to the novel. Am rather smug at the thought that I am about halfway through the first volume - though my fellow Proustians have yet to declare their hands - they may be halfway along the Guermantes Way by now, whilst I am still dawdling along past Swann's.
So, thus far, we have had the narrator tossing and turning in bed, waiting for a goodnight kiss from Mamma (~30 pages), lengthy descriptions of hawthorn bushes, encounters with various young girls, Great Aunt Leonie spying on the neighbours whilst drinking Vichy water and a curiously racy scene involving a couple of young ladies and a photograph of a deceased father. Also, the famous madeleines epsiode - recipe here, courtesy of Rick Stein.
The subject title of this post, incidentally, is rather predictably the first line of the novel, and has presented problems for translators due to Proust's distinctive use of the perfect tense. Several years ago, Penguin held a competition amongst readers to translate this famous first line - a notable entry, which may or may not have snatched the top prize, was “For absolutely bloody ages it was lights out early.”
Myself, I shall settle for "resting", like Aunt Leonie, and tackling the novel-within-a-novel that is Swann in Love.
2 comments:
Andrew and I appear to be in parallel. I completed the first section this morning and will embark on Swann in Love on the train to Rabat ce soir. It is all very pleasant. I am almost tempted to place my amazon order for vol 2 now.
Damn! Forget you were on holiday. Thought I'd have leapt ahead this weekend. Am currently on page 300 and happily drifting along. Volume 2 is similarly about to be acquired. One feels that more kudos could be accrued when spotted reading subsequent volumes c.f. Swann's.
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