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.