Captivated (of sorts)

Page: 314
Pages read since last post: 314
Days reading Proust: 130 (16, 64, 29, 16, 5*)
Books read since last post: 2

Graham Swift, Last Orders
Jean-Dominique Bauby, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

I'm making sterling progress through this one, though I'm at a bit of a loss to explain why. Even by Proust's lofty standards this has been a remarkably uneventful volume. Actually, that's not strictly true, there have been several events of note e.g. Swann's death, Bergotte's death, Cottard's death (and mysterious resurrection due to poor editing), yet all are covered with uncharacteristic brevity. The majority of the 300 pages I've read so far have been occupied with general moping about Albertine's lesbianic tendencies or otherwise... with scant evidence to support this hypothesis. Still, as ever the language is a delight and having left just one week between volumes I seem to be riding "The Big Mo" a la Senator Obama. I intend to capitalise on this and press on through Fug with equal endeavour.

Briefly, Last Orders - excellent, and a worthy Booker winner (1996). Better than the enjoyable movie adaptation. TDBATB - OK... not especially profound, but short and certainly the best nictitated book I have ever read.

The run in

Page: n/a
Pages read since last post: 0
Days reading Proust: 83 (23,7,44,9)
Books read since last post: 4
Career moves made: 1 (though it won't take effect until June)

P.Rose, A Year of Reading Proust
R. Chandler, The Big Sleep
G.H. Hardy, A Mathematician's apology
I.McEwan, On Chesil Beach

Having had a rather good break, for which the standout was Hardy, I am embarking on Cap/Fug over Easter with the intention of running through both it and Time Regained as one. I think we are now ready for a final free for all and suggest that we all run to our own timetables.

Best of luck.

Carry On Marcel!

Days Reading Proust: 125 (16, 64, 29, 16)
Page: Finishes S&G
Pages Read Since Last Post: 406
Books Read Since Last Post: 0
Grant Proposals Written Since Last Post: 2 (totalling £17K)

Not much to add to previous comments. It was tremendous fun this one - probably my favourite volume so far (as reflected in a higher page-per-day count than any other). Charlus is clearly a brilliant comic creation, particularly when plumbing the depths of high-campery. The descent of the humour to Kenneth Williams-esque levels could have been irritating, but in fact only added to my general enjoyment of the book, and constantly reminded me of what a thoroughly modern novel this is.

The narrator is obviously being ridiculous in messing Albertine around... although it pains me somewhat, as I see rather too much of myself in him. The Verdurins have re-emerged as, oddly enough, some of the more likeable characters for me, and I've enjoyed re-visiting Balbec immensely. A few mysteries remain - firstly, what is happening with Saint-Loup and his purported upcoming marriage?... something fishy going on (actually I'm being a little disingenuous here as I am already aware of two major upcoming plot twists involving Saint-Loup, although whether either of these are related to current happenings I cannot say). Secondly, is Swann dead yet? It's been alluded to on 3 occasions, but I'm not sure if this is the narrator writing this with hindsight, or Marcel's reluctance to pen another death scene at this stage. In any case, he shall be missed.

So, onwards. I am in favour of a very short break - long enough to knock off a shortish Booker winner. I'm aiming to have read a decent number of older Bookers prior to this year's Booker of Booker vote. Currently halfway through Graham Swift's 1996 winner Last Orders, and enjoying it very much. I saw the film a few years ago - a Michael Caine/Ray Winstone/Bob Hoskins vehicle, and a good effort although the book is better. Quick straw poll of Proustanauts - who should and who will win the prize? Also, what has been the best movie adaptation of a Booker winner?

I'm spending the Easter weekend in the North. I have been generously given the option of wedding planning with my brother and soon-to-be-sister-in-law, so I instead plan to make a good impression on my copy of Cap/Fug. Who knows, given the cliffhanger of a closing statement at the end of this last volume I may be able to put it down as research.

Indecision

Page: 615 (ish. I've finished, but am not with the book)
Pages read since last post: 335 (also ish)
Days reading Proust: 83 (23,7,44,9)
Books read since last post: 1 (MacMillan, Seize the hour: When Nixon met Mao)
Weeks spent agonising about jobs: 2 (to date)

This was rather good fun. The genuine emergence of a discernable plot, though of course not the critical purpose of this novel, is a great help to those of us with a more literal mindset than Marcel. It's not perfect though - the opening section is tedious - and some elements are irritating, especially the end with the frankly blameless Albertine being buggered around with the narrator's silly posturing (not sure if these are perfectly chosen words).

Still, the meat of the novel is excellent, with the return of the Verdurins and the author's chief comic of the last volume - Charlus - being brought for a more extended turn and reduced to a somewhat more pathetic level. The really fascinating element of the work is however inaccessible to us. The Sodomy of the title is far less shocking to us that it would have been to our parents let alone the readership of the '20s and the force and power of the narrative Proust is trying to convey is thus often either mundane or comic, when one has the feeling that it wasn't to many of the authorship. I'm not sure this would be true of the whole audience and suspect that many of Proust's circle might have been closer to us than we think, but it is a dimension missing nonetheless.

MacMillan's book misses a dimension too and lacks both grit and tension. The relationship between China and America and their clashes in the late twentieth century is enduringly interesting and very relevant. Their ideologies, themselves internally conflicted and opposed make the subject a complex one. This book does not do it justice, and we have instead decent enough portraits of the main protagonists with context shoe horned in. The result is a bit of a mess. A shame, her Peacemakers was one of my favourite politics books of recent times and is far superior.

More than ever before, I am keen to move onto the next. I think that the programme of official start dates has now collapsed given variations in pace. I suggest we that we now simply record days from the reading of the first sentence of a novel to the last.

I am not sure about start times for The Captive. Both Easter weekend and my holiday on the 5th April are possible start dates. Either way, I should have decided about my next job by then, but no promises.

On Schedule

Days Reading Proust: 116 (16, 64, 29, 7*)
Page: 209 S&G
Pages Read Since Last Post: 209
Books Read Since Last Post: Finished Eating for England, Nigel Slater

I've set myself the target of getting through this one in 3 weeks, aiming to hit Cap/Fug straight after Easter. So far then I'm bang on schedule, being one third of the way in, and have also managed to finish off the last 200 pages of Nigel Slater's delightful little book in the past week. Whilst being someway off Will's storming performance (update?) I'm rather pleased with this progress.

I'm becoming increasingly sceptical of the benefits of Proust breaks now. Certainly if you take my overall performance c.f. M. Garrood's, you will notice that the most electric start with each volume has been made by the person who most recently finished the previous one. My strong performances on Swann's Way and The Guermantes Way being trumped by Will's powerful starts on WABG and S&G. Someone can do some statistics on this, but I put it down to technique. The person who was most recently in a Proustian mindset appears able to pick it up faster upon restart each time - I definitely felt this way at New Year, having left just two days between volumes 2 and 3. Note too, how Elliot motored straight through the first 4 volumes with minimal faffdom, thus embarrassing us all on the leader board. This further suggests that Alexis will now struggle to pick it up again. RIP.

In conclusion, fellow Proustanauts, I am proposing an early restart on Easter weekend. We can break our Lenten fasts with a quick blast through the first 100 pages of Cap/Fug. What sayest thou?

In other news - on my expedition to Heffer's yesterday I saw on their display table a book entitled Proust and the Squid. A quick flick through revealed that it was in fact a popular science book on the psychology of reading, with minimal allegorical reference either to our mustachioed hero or indeed any species of marine cephalopod that he might have encountered on a trip to Balbec. A cunning marketing ploy to sell books to Proustanauts and marine biologists perhaps - two markets I had hitherto considered insignificant and mutually exclusive. Perhaps this further vindicates my decision not to choose a career in publishing.

In haste

Page; 279
Pages read since last post: 279
Books read since last post: 0

I finished Thubron (still good, though the earlier sections are best) on Friday and moved swiftly on to Proust. I must confess to finding this all quite fun and it looks like we discern (1,800 pages in) a plot. That said, the opening meditation is overly dense and complex, and boring by the end.

However, the most pretentious part of the book comes on the back cover, where the publisher states "The question 'does Albertine desire women rather than men?' is here treated as a philosophical topic of inexhaustible complexity.'" It's neither.

And, in my copy anyway, we appear to have lost the handsome coloured inner jacket notes. A sadness.