Current page: 366
Pages read since last post: 142
Other books read since last post: 1 (Alan Dean Foster, Clash of the Titans) & 2 halves (A history of Morocco; Roth, My life as a man)
Swann in love is really quite tedious. I cheerfully rambled through Combray, which I thought was simply lovely, even though, as we have cheerfully observed, nothing happens. However, this second section is proving a seriously debilitating slog. I have been ill for the last few days which had impeded my ability to move at any pace, but mostly, it is the tedious antics of the Verdurins. I know they are supposed to be petty minded and absurd, but do we really need 235 hundred pages (the length of many of many many good and great novels) to tell us this? We've definitely got it by now and there are a hundred pages to go, though there is doubtless some key plot to come for the inside cover assures me that the novel has a "tight, forward-moving plot" - I don't think it will be a surprise. I'm going to restrain myself on the troubles of believability of the section, which I just just find (so far) bizarre and rest content in the knowledge that I've got the bugger down to less than 100 pages to go for this section.
I'm putting my order for the second volume on hold
Sometime, late of an evening in March 2007, a regrettable decision was taken. As a consequence of this decision three friends, Dr Andrew Murray, Mr William Garrood (Member of Surrey CCC) and Dr Alexis Haynes would competitively read Marcel Proust's masterpiece A La Recherche du Temps Perdu. The aforementioned Proustanauts were later joined in their endeavour by Mr Elliot Smith, who, aided in part by a bout of pneumonia, promptly overtook them all. The saga continues...
3 comments:
My god, you are absolutely right. I've ploughed my way through to page 400, and guess what, nothing much has happened. Oh, except Odette appears to be cold-shouldering Swann (bitch), and the Verdurins and their odious "little nucleus" are expunging tedium by the bucket load. I similarly motored through Combray and revelled in the gorgeous descriptions of the countryside and the pettiness of life in the small town - the pettiness of salon society is just dull. The whole of Swann in Love, in fact, is just ridiculous - he gets her knocked up... great! - I don't need a three page description of a single facial expression of Mme Verdurin. Still, only 60 pages of this section to go. I'm still going to go ahead and purchase volume 2 - the amazon.co.uk reviews hint at some kind of plot coming up... scream if you want to go faster!
Alexis appears not to be playing. Do we think:
a) he is miles ahead and not getting distracted
b) he is miles behind and sulking
c) he has work to do
d) he's struggling with the IT again
Possibly a combination of all 3. I met Ford and Harriot for coffee when they were recently in Oxford. They were suitably supportive of our collective attempts at greatness. However, I saw them a little later on in their stay, after I'd made my post saying that I was 240 pages in, and they told me that Alexis is taking it less seriously than either of us. I think "serious" is entirely the wrong word for this endeavour. Nevertheless this has led me to assume that he is in fact miles behind, too proud to admit it, and sulking. All in all, not very sporting of him. Still, we should soldier on.
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