Fangen 1

by Marcel Proust

Genres: 20th Century

255 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Marcel Proust was a French novelist, best known for his 3000 page masterpiece À la recherche du temps perdu (Remembrance of Things Past or In Search of Lost Time), a pseudo-autobiographical novel told mostly in a stream-of-consciousness style.

Born in the first year of the Third Republic, the young Marcel, like his narrator, was a delicate child from a bourgeois family. He was active in Parisian high society during the 80s and 90s, welcomed in the most fashionable and exclusive salons of his day. However, his position there was also one of an outsider, due to his Jewishness and homosexuality. Towards the end of 1890s Proust began to withdraw more and more from society, and although he was never entirely reclusive, as is sometimes made out, he lapsed more completely into his lifelong tendency to sleep during the day and work at night. He was also plagued with severe asthma, which had troubled him intermittently since childhood, and a terror of his own death, especially in case it should come before his novel had been completed. The first volume, after some difficulty finding a publisher, came out in 1913, and Proust continued to work with an almost inhuman dedication on his masterpiece right up until his death in 1922, at the age of 51.

Today he is widely recognized as one of the greatest authors of the 20th Century, and À la recherche du temps perdu as one of the most dazzling and significant works of literature to be written in modern times.

Reviews

[Nene La Beet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Åh, det her har virkelig været mit favoritbind hidtil. Ikke fordi der sker specielt meget mere end i de andre bind, men hans skrivestil er forandret (og samtidig ikke), og han er nu mere "ærlig" (altså, han er overhovedet ikke ærlig...) om hvem han, fortælleren, er. Lyder det kryptisk? Så' det, fordi det er det.

Albertine, fortællerens kæreste, er flyttet ind hos ham i Paris, og det giver anledning til helt utroligt mange overvejelser. Ikke mindst om kærlighedens (og jalousiens) væsen. Men det er også her, at fortælleren er begyndt at isolere sig fra omverdenen, hvor han i de første bind er en ægte socialite, der ustandseligt bevæger sig fra det ene middagsselskab til det andet.

Han tilbringer uendeligt meget tid i sit soveværelse og har uendeligt meget at sige om det. Fx her: (s 104) "Men dagen efter vågnede jeg til et anderledes vejr, et andet klima, som om huset havde benyttet sig af vores søvn til mirakuløst at foretage en rejse. (...) Men hver dag var et fremmed land for mig. (...) En af disse dage der er fyldt med så mange vejrskift, temperatursvingninger, regnbyger, at den dovne ikke mener at han har spildt dem fordi han har interesseret sig for den aktivitet, atmosfæren har udfoldet ved på en måde at agere i hans sted, når han ikke selv har gjort det."

Han eksperimenterer uafladeligt med Albertines kærlighed og sin egen. Om Albertine ved han, at hun jævnligt lyver, og han tror, at det er, fordi hun har affærer med andre piger. Han sætter fælder for hende hele tiden, og nogle gange falder hun i – men ikke helt. Samtidig er han nødt til at føle jalousi for at kunne opretholde sin forelskelse i hende...

Det er simpelthen et altopslugende værk, der suger læseren ned i en malstrøm af je ne sais quoi.

[Frederik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Klart et af de bedre bind fra Proust-mesterværket, som giver en god indføring i det ekstremt komplekse og ambivalente kærlighedsforhold mellem fortælleren og Albertine. Måske er jeg mere positiv fordi jeg læste dette bind på dansk? I øvrigt en fremragende oversættelse, og mere indlevende end den engelske version, jeg har læst de andre bind på.

[Allan Schaufuss · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Hvor passende at færdiggøre den i Paris 😁)

Det er smerteligt, når besiddertrang og jalousi spænder ben for, hvad der ellers kunne have været, en gensidigt og loyal kærlighed. Især hvis den er ubegrundet. Men det er vel netop udfordringen, for jalousien kan fremstå som en intuition om bedrag, som vel at mærke måske ikke kan bevises og måske slet ikke er tilfældet. Og jagten på vished kan i sig selv udvise en mistillid af en kaliber, som alene kan ødelægge tilliden, selv hvis der slet ikke var noget bedrag. Overalt i livet er der uvished, for vores intellekt har slet ikke båndbredde til at vide alt. Så hvordan kan vi magte at håndtere uvisheden, så den ikke styrer os mod afgrunden i vores relationer? Særligt hvis ‘vished’ gør vores relationer mindre spændende? Så risikerer vi at være ‘fanget’ og så bliver det for alvor et spørgsmål om at balancere på en knivsæg mellem kedsomhed og mistillid. Hvordan kan vi i dette vildnis finde den smalle sti mod at lade os inspirere og tilfredsstille af balanceakten?

“… én svale gør ingen sommer.” s. 9.58

“For besiddelsen af det man elsker, er en endnu større glæde end kærligheden. De der skjuler denne besiddelse for alle, gør det som oftest kun af frygt for at den elskende genstand skal blive taget fra dem. Og i kraft af denne forstandige tavshed bliver deres lykke formindsket.” s. 9.62

“‘Min Marcel’, ‘Min skat Marcel’ hvis hun gav fortælleren det samme navn som forfatteren til denne bog.” s. 9.94

“Men hver dag var et fremmed land for mig.” s. 9.103

“Hvor mange personer, byer, veje gør jalousien os således grådige efter at lære at kende! Den er en tørst efter viden takket være hvilken vi på punkter der er isolerede fra hinanden, dog til sidst og i rækkefølge får al den viden som er mulig, undtagen den vi gerne ville have.” s. 9.109

“Derfor skal man såvel i kærligheden som i det virkelige liv ikke bare frygte fremtiden, men tilmed fortiden der ofte først bliver virkelig for os efter at fremtiden har fundet sted, og vi taler ikke blot om den fortid vi bagefter erfarer, men om den vi længe har bevaret i os, og som vi pludselig lærer at afkode.” s. 9.111

“En fare synes meget let at undgå når den er blevet afværget.” s. 9.199

“Vi synes det er harmløst at begære og rædselsfuldt at ens partner gør det.” s. 9.224

“Universet er sandt for os alle og forskelligt for enhver.” s. 9.250

[K's Bognoter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Verden åbner op, og vi kommer gradvist ud af vores huler for at indhente det tabte. Hvad kunne være mere passende i denne tid end at genoptage læsningen af På sporet af den tabte tid?
Læs min anmedelse på K’s bognoter: https://bognoter.dk/2021/06/27/marcel...

[Henrik Jespersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The expansiveness and overriding jealousy characterize the story, but it’s also full of important information:

"It is only waiters in restaurants who believe that a stone-rich man always wears new, sensational clothes, and that a refined man of the world gives dinner parties with sixty place settings and only travels by car. They are wrong. A sophisticated man of the world is someone who only associates with restaurant staff, and who, when he gets home, plays cards with his servants.”

Fascinating thoughts about the jealousy creature:
"...wasn't this coveted actress the same one I had dragged off the stage, locked away with me, safe from the desire of all those who might now look in the directory for her..."

Great description:
Before Albertine had obeyed me I half opened her chemise. Her two small, high-set breasts were so round that they seemed less to be an integral part of her body than to have ripened on it like two fruits; And her bosom (which hid the place known to men as the iron cramp stuck in a broken statue) was closed where the thighs meet by two seashells whose arc was as soothing, as repulsive, as closed as the horizon's the sun has disappeared. She took off her shoes and laid down with me.” 😍😍😍

Think I feel exactly the same way:
"Wanting to know everything Albertine thought, who she visited, who she loved at all costs - how strange it was that I sacrificed everything for this urge..."
Unbearable 🥲

….
Vandvidet og den altoverskyggende jalousi kendetegner Fangen 1 men værker er også fyldt med vigtig info:

“Det er kun tjenere på restauranter som tror at en stenrig mand altid går med nyt opsigtsvækkende tøj, og at en forfinet verdensmand giver middagsselskaber med tres kuverter og kun færdes i bil. De tager fejl. En forfinet verdensmand er en som kun omgås restaurationspersonale, og som når han er kommet hjem, spiller kort med sine tjenere.”

Fascinerende tanke om jalousi’en væsen:
“…var denne begærede skuespillerinde ikke den samme som jeg havde trukket væk fra scenen, indespærret hos mig, i sikkerhed for begæret hos alle dem, som nu kunne kigge i vejviseren efter hende….”

Fantastisk beskrivelse:
“ Før Albertine havde adlydt mig åbnede jeg hendes chemise halvt. Hendes to små højt siddende bryster var så runde af de mindre så ud til at være en integreret del af hendes krop end til at være modnet på den som to frugter; Og hendes skød (som skjulte det sted der hos manden bliver kendt som den jernkrampe der sidder fast i en knækket statue) lukkedes der hvor lårene mødes af to muslingeskaller hvis bue lige var lige så dulmende, lige så vederkvægende, lige så lukket som horisontens når solen er forsvundet. Hun tog sine sko af, og lagde sig hos mig.” 😍😍😍

Tænk at jeg har det på fuldstændigt samme måde:
“At ville vide alt hvad Albertine tænkte, hvem hun besøgte, hvem hun elskede for enhver pris - hvor var det dog besynderligt at jeg ofrede alt for denne trang…”
Ubærligt 🥲

[Kirstine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is claustrophobic and paranoid (but not as much as it’ll come to be in The Fugitive). Marcel has relocated with Albertine from Balbec to Paris, and he’s installed her in his parent’s home much against the wishes of bother his mother and Francoise.

What follows is hundreds of pages of Marcel and Albertine living together. It’s almost thriller-like with it’s tense atmosphere, the sense that someone is always hiding something, that what lies between the words spoken by either of them is always more than either of them want to acknowledge.

Marcel spends a lot of money on Albertine, and keeps her from going anywhere without him, or if she does, she’s to leave with someone he trusts who can keep an eye on her (turns out Marcel can’t trust the people he thinks he can trust, so this plan backfires spectacularly). And as Albertine moves about under constant surveillance, Marcel attempts, in between going out into society and seeing Albertine, to write and work, although he’s largely unsuccessful. Most of his time is contemplating Albertine, analysing her words, her behaviour, and his own feelings towards her. He grows bored of her often, but whenever there’s the merest hint she may have done something untowards with women before his love comes roaring back (if you can call it love).

Marcel is slowly turning into a character it’s difficult to sympathize with. He’s resentful, ungrateful, paranoid, neurotic and unpleasant. And we learn that it’s not only Albertine who’s kept a figurative prisoner of the circumstances, Marcel suffers as well, although he’d never admit it.

I desperately, desperately wanted to know what Albertine was thinking. Why did she put up with it? Because she loved Marcel? Because she liked the money, the dresses, the luxuries he afforded her? Because she derive some sort of pleasure out of his pain? I believe she loved him, but she becomes almost a non-character here. Perhaps it’s in her effort to hide her real everyday dealings from Marcel, but it becomes increasingly difficult to get a grasp on who she is. The Albertine from Balbec, feisty, mysterious, promiscuous melts away. And she changes, she reads more, she learns from Marcel and turns into an intelligent, thoughtful young lady. But is it Albertine? Or is it the shell of Albertine? How much is what Marcel, caught in his paranoid schemes, interprets her to be and how much is really her?

It resembles Swanns mad dealings to prove Odettes unfaithfulness back in the first book. If Swann asked him now if he’d ever been jealous and in love, the answer would be a resounding yes.

[Marie-Louise Pade]

Jeg har læst hele serien, og det synes jeg også I skal gøre.