Happy New Guer

Days reading Proust: 81 (16, 64, 1*)
Page: 1 (GW)
Pages Read Since Last Post: 514
Books Read Since Last Post: St Pancras Station, Simon Bradley

OK, I'll not pretend that it was easy, but once I'd got through the first section it was mostly plain sailing. Unlike M. Garrood, I much preferred the Balbec section to Mme Swann at Home, so it was relatively easy to get stuck into it for extended periods - the Christmas recess chez mes parentals helped (the constant interruptions with offers of cups of tea did not). A monster tally of 64 days for volume 2 fails to recognise the fact that on Christmas Eve I was still loitering around page 220, and just three very productive days (Christmas Eve, Boxing Day and Friday) put the rest of the volume to bed.

Right now I'm quietly optimistic about the rest of the novel and my ability to progress through it. The development/introduction of characters in the second half of Budding Grove suggests some interesting possible developments in subsequent volumes. The painter, Elstir, is both a useful friend to the narrator and a great guide for the reader to the beauties of coast and countryside around Balbec. Bloch and Saint-Loup are great foils for each other in their own rights, but also seem to reflect the narrator's own schizophrenic personality - his hankering after high society and his fear that he might actually be a total boor. Similarly the circle of girls around Albertine, particularly Andree, are a curious bunch, though what role (if any) they will play in the future is yet to be determined. As for Albertine herself - she seems to be the most one-dimensional of the major characters introduced here. The scene where she rebuffs the narrators advances will surely recurr at later stages in their relationship - other than that, she has done very little of note save passing the narrator a few suggestive notes and fertive glances. Personally, I'd switch my attention to Andree or Rosamonde if I were him.

On a personal note, I am now fully moved and settled into my new pad (visitors welcome). This stability, which I have not had for the past few months, will hopefully help me to sustain my recent pace to some degree.

I have had a slight, intentionally delayed start to The Guermantes Way whilst I quickly bashed through St Pancras Station - finished this morning on the bus. It's a reasonably interesting and fairly witty account of the architecture and history of, unsurprisingly, St Pancras station - my new favourite building in London, following a recent visit. Ultimately, it's a book suited either to railway enthusiasts or geeks of Victorian architecture, of which I am gladly neither, but was enjoyable enough. There are two possible links to Proust, firstly in it's evocation of rail travel in the early 20th C, although this was admittedly a short section in Budding Grove. St Pancras will, however, more than likely function as our departure point on the pilgrimage to Pere LaChaise following the completion of ALRDTP, so this was a laudable addition to the experience.