El remitente misterioso y otros relatos inéditos

by Marcel Proust

Estos ocho relatos excepcionales de un joven Marcel Proust han permanecido inéditos durante más de un siglo. Probablemente fueron víctimas de su propia censura, ya que la mayoría ponen en escena el deseo homosexual —un tema que ronda su obra maestra, En busca del tiempo perdido— con excesiva osadía.

Compilados en la década de 1950 por Bernard de Fallois, el mítico editor de Marcel Pagnol y Joël Dicker, y autor del ensayo Proust antes de Proust, que dedicó gran parte de su vida al estudio de la obra del escritor, estos cuentos suscitan múltiples lecturas. Como dice Alan Pauls en su prólogo: «Es esa hipersensibilidad hacia lo maleable, y la voluntad de seguirle la pista, siempre, no importa adónde nos lleve, la razón por la que estos relatos [...] nos capturan: leemos a Proust porque es nuestro contemporáneo».

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, France, Classics, LGBT, 20th Century, Audiobook

172 pages, Paperback

First published October 9, 2019

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

[Kalliope · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book for Proustians for it offers a few unknown jewels magic with full evocative power.

These unpublished fragments and short fiction, written around the same time when Proust was working on his Les Plaisirs et les jours, suivi de "L'Indifférent" –1896–, are presented not just for themselves, but also to counteract the prevailing understanding of Proust’s life and literary impulse. We generally think of him as a young pusillanimous man who started to study Law but then moved onto Philosophy at university and who, after graduating, just moved around the circles of Parisian high society without much to do otherwise. Le Temps perdu. Yes, he had produced the Plaisirs and eight years later engaged in translating Ruskin, but this was not much that could suggest that this diffident man would then forget about these entertaining outings, get into bed, and write the masterpiece that La recherche is.

Not until the draft for a long unfinished novel,Jean Santeuil, was found in 1952 in a collection of papers guarded by Proust’s family (deposited in the BN in the 1960s), a different picture of Proust’s literary output began to emerge. Santeuil would have been composed around 1895 to 1899 presenting a greater and more committed continuity in Proust’s engagement with writing than had originally been realized.

The archivist and later publisher who found the Santeuil draft was Bernard de Fallois (1926-2018) He founded the Editorial bearing his name and which has published this book . He had been presented to the Proust family by André Maurois. Fallois also discovered the fragments of a literary essay that was published under the title Contre Sainte-Beuve in 1954. Fallois continued to investigate Proust’s writing developing firmly the notion that, chez Proust, there had been a continuous development of literary ideas. Time had not been wasted. Further rummaging, he also found a series of loose sheets and drafts that would have been composed at the same time as Plaisirs, but which Proust chose not to include. These are published in this volume.

This collection presents nine short texts in which Proustians will recognize Proust’s exquisite language and some of the themes fully developed in La recherche – themes such as memory and identity, the relationship between love and unhappiness, the association of beauty to happiness, the power of music (Beethoven and Fauré), the charm of fairies, the ability that art has to open up the sensorial world. But most constant of all—and may be the key for why these fragments were not incorporated into his published work—is the veiled exploration of homosexuality through a recurrent exercise of transpositions – onto women, onto birds, onto a fantasy cozy pet...

This volume can only be read as one would smell a tisane and eat a small madeleine. Not enough to fill one’s stomach but powerful in its evocative power of what a marvelous experience reading the full Recherche had been.

[Introverticheart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coż mogę powiedzieć, urzekł mnie ten Proust.

Dobrze jest zacząć przygodę z Marcelem od jego młodzieńczych pierwszych szkiców, krótkich opowiadań, które skrzętnie ukryte w szufladzie, możemy od niedawna czytać i odkrywać.

Jak on pięknie pisał o uczuciach, swój egzemplarz Tajemniczego korespondenta pokreśliłem tak, że przydałby się jeszcze jeden.

Jestem szczerze zachwycony sposobem w jaki pisał o uczuciach, subtelnie, tajemniczo, bardzo czule.

"Wtedy zmysły wzięły odwet, nie bezpośrednio, lecz w sposób zdradziecki - osłabiając inteligencję, psując wyobraźnię, topiąc jej najbardziej nawet bezinteresowne idee w uwodzicielskim i rozczarowującym sosie, nadając najpoważniejszym, najsurowszym rzeczom zapach miłości, rozpalając dość płomieni, by w pustyni jej serca rozbłysły miraże pożądania"

Mógłbym napisać więcej, ale wstęp do Tajemniczego korespondenta wyczerpuje temat. Chyba pora zacząć w "Poszukiwaniu utraconego czasu"

[Faith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of short pieces by Proust previously unpublished in English. I can’t refer to these as short stories since some are just fragments of stories ending in mid-thought. None of them felt like a complete story. I think if an author chooses to keep some work unpublished during his lifetime you should probably respect that and perhaps keep the work available for scholars only. This is a collection that only a Proust scholar could love. There is a lengthy introduction to the collection. Then each piece has another introduction, sometime with footnotes to finished works, that tells the reader what to think about the piece. I was disappointed by this audiobook, although Simon Vance did his usual competent job narrating it.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from the publisher.

[Chris Via]

Video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Woj_v...

[Geoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marcel Proust is in many ways "PROUST," the author of a celebrated work of autobiographical fictions that is not only part of the cannon but has also crossed over into a go to example in pop science (books that discuss how smells can trigger memories are contractually obligated to mention Madeline cookies). So he's part of the firmament of authors, but I've never read anything by him and I didn't know much about what he wrote about (save those cookies). Enter this slim volume, of stories unpublished during his lifetime. Turns out one of the things I didn't know about Proust was that he was gay, and these stories were unpublished not because of any lack (the writing is gorgeous) but because they all deal, in different ways, with homosexual desire. Different genres too, from slice of life to sly social commentary to gothic-esque suspense. These are clearly minor works, bur given how much I enjoyed them it's inspired me to actually tackle In Search of Lost Time. Someday.

[Tamar...playing hooky for a few hours today · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Mysterious Correspondent is a scholarly study of eight previously unpublished stories(ish) by Proust. The manuscripts were never published, presumably because they were unfinished works or works that Proust did not believe were good enough for publishing, or he lost interest in them, or no one wanted to publish them.

I have only recently began reading stories by Proust. In general, I prefer stories to tomes - which best describes the body of Proust's most celebrated volumes. Proust's prose is beautiful and, at times, so much so that it is cloying. Also, his descriptions can be so intimate at times, as to make me feel uncomfortable. The theme of unrequited homosexual/lesbian love is recurring in the stories that I have read by this author, in this work, and in others, yet this will not be news to anyone familiar with Marcel Proust.

In the first story, of the same title as the book, Francoise is greatly distressed by her friend Christiane's failing health. It is clear that her dearest friend does not have long to live, and she worries over what she can do to help Christiane regain her health. Christiane, who has never married, will be travelling the next day to the countryside (Cannes) where the climate could improve her health. Francoise invites Christiane to come to dinner that evening in her home, since her husband is away and the two can make their farewells.

At the same time, Francoise has been receiving unsigned letters, professing unrequited love, arriving mysteriously at her doorstep, in her dining room, and elsewhere in the house. The letters spark in Francoise, lustful memories of her youth and her own unrequited love for a soldier(/s). In a final unsigned letter, left in a box upon a table, Francoise is beseeched to either accept the love offered or refuse and order that the correspondent leave immediately. Francoise writes demanding that her admirer, “...leave immediately, I order you…” and places her letter back in the box. Although Proust may have been influenced by Poe’s The Purloined Letter (so suggested), the only similarity I found was the fact that there was a mysterious letter – any other similarities eluded me.

Francoise travels to Cannes and hears some surprising advice from her friend’s physician. She also finds a surprising message and calls for her Confessor and what follows is a religious and moral debate that will determine the fate of her friend.

This first story, the correspondent’s letters, is followed by a partial story or a variation, undeveloped theme in the same story whereby Francoise’s lustful memory or fantasy over the soldier(s) with long swords and wide sash belts that take so long to unfasten, is instead remembered by a widow. The similar description by he widow, in this second story, is not nearly as powerful and intimate (developed) as in the “finished” story.

In The Captain’s Reminiscence, a soldier returns to the place where he was previously billeted and describes his brief infatuation with a Colonel. This story describes a more “casual” reminiscence than that of Francoise in the Mysterious Correspondent, where the passion described by Proust is more achingly personal. The Captain Reminiscence is almost childish infatuation by comparison.

Jacques Lefelde (The Strange) eluded me completely. This is a story but barely. Well written and mildly entertaining. The point seems to be missing.

In the Underworld – It is clear now that I am out of my depth. This is a play or skit of sorts which went right over my head since I slept through most of my Bible classes and never studied philosophy or mythology (I know I should be embarrassed by that confession, but I am not, or rather was not, until I read the next story/composition).

After Beethoven’s Eighth Symphony – okay, by this point I am convinced that Proust is showing off… while at the same time I am in awe of the breadth and depth of his knowledge of philosophy, religion, music….. I concede! Proust is for intellectuals and this book is for the intellectually inclined. I had to look up Schopenhauer's doctrine on music, and I’ll be darned if I could follow the analogy.

The Awareness of Loving Her – finally back to something I can at least follow.
The Gifts of the Fairies and That is How he Loved – did not seem to me stories.

Although the narration by Simon Vance was amazing, listening to the analyses did not interest me and I tended to skip ahead at times to get to the stories. This is a short audio of only a few stories, not Proust's best but interesting and beautifully written, never-the-less. I found parts of the book hard to follow because of the lengthy introductions and ended up borrowing an a e-book version from one of my libraries to see what I was missing.

My overall impression of the audio (and e-book) was positive – I enjoyed the prose, the stories, and the ambience. I also particularly enjoyed the narration by Simon Vance. Never-the-less, I would be remiss if I did not note that the stories are more like unfinished (if brilliant) sketches only partially developed and polished.

Many thanks to NetGalley the publisher for the opportunity to listen to and enjoy this audio book.

[Miloš Lazarević]

„Tajanstveni gost i druge neobjavljene priče“ je knjiga bez osobenog literarnog kvaliteta, ali je značajna za opsesivce. Tu su rane skice i zabeleške, trome pripreme za nadolazeću potragu, iscrpna istraživanja posvećena Prustovom mondenskom životu, uticajima kojima je bio izložen, ali i potreba da se  fragmentarno učini dostupnim, vidljivim i saopštivim. Marsel piše: „Osećamo da između neprijateljskih fragmenata naše svesti postoji neko tajno prijateljstvo i da naši rasparčani događaji tvore jedinstvenu priču.” Potraga za izgubljenim vremenom nije, ili nije samo zbir neprekidne razmene junaka, već pokušaj da se za potrebe saopštenja ličnog iskustva iznađe novi jezički aparat, i zato je ovo i priča o jeziku, nemogućnosti njegovog obeležavanja jer, kao što je Leo Špicer rekao u svojoj knjizi „O stilu Marsela Prusta“: čoveku se čini da njegove rečenice izviru jedne iz drugih. Zato i osećaj da taj jezik nikome ne pripada i da je mogućnost njegovog savladavanja i usavršavanja ujedno i podsticaj svima nama da se razvijemo dovoljno da možemo da razumemo, kao zoolozi po prvi put suočeni s novom vrstom, potpuno novi svet, čija je pesma nama gruba, sve dok ne podesimo uši, ne usmerimo sluh ka tom sazvučju dovoljno dugo da postane nešto drugo, neka tajna, razumevanje bez glasa.

Ostatak teksta pročitajte na mom sajtu u okviru kategorije "blog" (ne može sve da stane):

https://milos-lazarevic.com/

[Tobi ﾄﾋﾞ · Rating 3 out of 5]

underrated gay or maybe bisexual king

[Jesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

As others have noted, describing this as a collection of previously unknown short stories is more than a bit of a stretch. And touting them as Proust's secret stories dealing with "gay desire" is... quite generous too. These are sketches at best, more precisely a series of fragments & drafts, & at least half I wouldn't have specifically connected to explorations of sexuality if they hadn't been presented that way. But I'm glad they have all been made available, & glad I read them too. If anything, they just reinforce the magnanimity of Proust's achievement with La Recherche, & while it didn't spring out of nowhere, the early work hardly anticipates what's to come. My highest praise is actually for the commentary & the book itself—it's beautifully produced.

[diario_de_um_leitor_pjv · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pequenos textos/contos, muitos deles incompletos. Quase todos escritos quando Proust era bastante jovem.
Textos algo fantásticos, enigmáticos, nascidos do eternamente presente "armário" da homossexualidade no século XIX.
Com a destreza e beleza da escrita de Proust, com o maravilhamento da descoberta do texto/ideia. Nunca me canso de ler Proust.

[Post Scriptum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Le idee sono i succedanei dei dolori
(Marcel Proust, Il tempo ritrovato, Recherche, vol. IV)


Forse perché troppo esplicite, queste novelle sono rimaste allo stato di abbozzo, nascoste tra i documenti privati di Proust. Sarà stata una scelta per proteggerle e proteggersi dalla morale bigotta, dallo scandalo, forse. O semplicemente perché non erano ancora mature per essere pubblicate. Chissà. Sta di fatto che lo scrittore non ne parlò mai con nessuno.
Un giorno Bernard de Fallois, che stava per redigere una tesi di dottorato su Proust, iniziò a sfogliare il patrimonio documentale della famiglia, depositato alla Bibliothèque nationale di Parigi. Classificando l’archivio, trovò le pagine manoscritte mai pubblicate, che oggi possiamo leggere.
Il tema che unisce i racconti è l’omosessualità. Si potrebbe considerare un invito alla comprensione, all’apertura verso l’omosessuale e la sua “condizione dolorosa”.
Il corrispondente misterioso è anche occasione per indagare una scrittura in trasformazione, esplorare l’intimo dell’autore che un giorno avrebbe scritto la Recherche; è possibilità di addentrarsi dove la letteratura è somma delle sofferenze.
In queste brevissime prose, alcune non ultimate, sono già presenti l’incanto, la bellezza e la sensibilità della scrittura proustiana.

Interessante, in chiusura, il saggio di Luc Fraisse: Alle fonti della «Ricerca del tempo perduto».

“Come il giovane barcaiolo che lasciando remare l’altro stava disteso sul fondo, la mia mente si concedeva al tempo stesso il piacere della velocità e del riposo e scivolava agile su superfici soavi e gloriose quanto quelle acque incantate, già rinfrescate dalla notte e ancora rivestite di luce. L’aria che planava sulle acque era così mite. E la mente è un po’ come l’acqua, vero? Qualunque immenso spazio le apriate davanti lo colma. E la mente che soffre di essere compressa da un interlocutore, da un interesse o da un muro troppo vicini si estende in modo gioioso, sovrano, libero nelle prospettive infinite e risale senza sforzo a una velocità inebriante e malinconica, il corso delle acque e degli anni.”

[Jessica Haider · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Mysterious Correspondent is a collection of previously unpublished shorter works by French author Marcel Proust. Some of the included works are more complete than others. Several just ended abruptly in the middle, clearly never being completed by the author. Perhaps he set these aside to rethink. It was hard for me to establish much of a connection with a bunch of "incomplete thoughts". Yes, his writing was good, but I wish there was more to what was included.

Thank you to the publisher for the audiobook.

[Ivan Radyk · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Pewnego dnia dałem się oszukać twoim oczom, ruchom, twojemu głosowi....Natrafiam na granicę. Ledwo jej dosięgłem, już ją przekroczyłem"

[oliwka · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Po VIII symfonii Beethovena" moje ulubione, totalnie dotknęło moje serce

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a work of mostly unfinished and unpublished short stories by Marcel Proust, written around the same time as Les plaisirs et les jours, and my greatest difficulty with it has less to do with the merits of the work itself as with my uncertainty as to whether these stories should have been published at all. Had Kafka and Pessoa had their way, their works destroyed at the time of death, some great works of literature would have remained unpublished. While some of these stories, like the autobiographical "The Gift of the Fairies" are very charming and enjoyable, they are not the same caliber as those great works by Kafka and Pessoa, their value being less literary and more biographical, shedding light on the development of the artist who would go on to write À la recherche du temps perdu.

I speculate that it will only be Proust scholars and enthusiasts who have already read La recherche who will dive into this work. Yes, it does make some important psychological revelations about the author, pointing to his internal conflict with his sexual orientation, and showing his early obsession with ideas like the role of art and music on the development of one's self and aesthetic sensibilities, the development of one's inner world, and the gap between imagination/fantasy and reality, which often is the source of considerable disappointment. As Luc Fraisse states in the Introduction, these early works of Proust give us a portrait of a young writer in "search for his voice."

There are some beautiful passages, some wonderful ideas, but this collection is, as a whole, unpolished and, as to be expected, feels unfinished (because it was). Does it help us understand Proust's artistic development a bit more? Unquestionably so, at least to some degree. It also sheds light on the biography of the artist. But I don't feel strongly that it needed to be published and I do not think it needs to be read by any except perhaps for the Proust obsessed (like myself and my fellow Proustitutes).

[Liviu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Various ideas about love, sensibility, what-is-not-to-be-seen-between-people, contained in some short imperfect texts of who had to become later the famous Proust. I understand that they are not at all representative for his writing, but it was anyway an interesting reading experiment. There are not really stories, but rather fragments or simply short pieces of fictional writing.

[lj boskovic · Rating 4 out of 5]

“For He does not allow albatrosses, swallows, or other little songbirds to die of suffering and cold on the Earth they inhabit. But when the cold comes to seize them He places in their hearts the desire to migrate so that they do not fail their law, which is not to be faithful to the soil, but to sing.”

never getting over how much this made my heart ache

[Poptart19 (the name’s ren) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

A collection of previously unpublished short stories by Proust, most written early in his career, circa when he wrote & published Pleasures & Days. Several are unfinished. Some are in draft form with multiple endings. Most deal with (queer) sexuality, though philosophy, appreciation for music & the arts, & mortality are also explored as themes. I enjoyed the collection, brief as it is, but it might be appreciated mainly by those who already have an interest in Proust.

[What I liked:]

•A thorough though accessible introduction contextualized these stories enough that I could appreciate them, even though they are brief & I haven’t read much Proust. There are also notes provided at the beginning of each story giving details of its completeness, how it reveals the evolution of Proust’s voice & writing style, & how it connects to his other writings (particularly to In Search of Lost Time, but also referencing his private letters & personal papers).

•The writing is somewhat unpolished & some narrative ideas not fully developed (I mean, these are unfinished stories for the most part), but there is a liveliness & yearning & beauty captured in them that made them thoroughly enjoyable. In fact, they remind me of Kate Chopin’s short stories—brief, bursting with vitality, packing deep feeling & meaning into just a few words.

The themes (forbidden love, facing terminal illness, feeling like an outsider, the ecstasy of music, etc.) have meaning & Proust has something say, whether or not he fully fleshed it out in these stories.

•I really liked the story “The Fairy’s Gift”, which is more parable or mini essay, perhaps, than narrative. It’s an unapologetic declaration of the writer’s appreciation for his personality & identity, despite how society may judge his otherness & misunderstand & not appreciate him. It’s not subtle, but it has strength & self power & it resonated with me.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•Do I agree with all of Proust’s sentiments, especially on queerness, presented here? No. The story I most disliked the message of is the title story of the collection, which portrays the suffering of queer people’s unrequited love as a fatal disease, & declares it a noble sacrifice of honor & conscience to deny oneself that love. Yeah, I do not like that at all.

That said, these stories are Proust’s early writings, not meant to be published or shared, in which he wrestles with sexuality in the context of Catholicism & contemporary conventional morality. His later writings show how his views evolved, so I don’t judge him for his views here.

His feelings here are certainly valid, even precious by my reckoning. How many stories exploring queer identity do we have from this era, expressing real people’s real struggles & real love? Not many, which is sad & unfair & honestly infuriating.

So even the stories & ideas I have a hard time reading are meaningful. It’s an assumption, but quite likely they were the honest & authentic beliefs of the writer at a certain point in time. Were they shaped & influenced by oppressive heteronormative bullshit? Probably, but that doesn’t make them less authentic, & imo they enrich our understanding of the evolution of how Proust wrote about his identity as a gay man & the ideas about queerness he expressed in his later writings.

CW: homophobia, terminal illness

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

No doubt enjoyable and of interest to scholars of Proust, I'm not at that stage as of yet Mostly these are sketches, things he put put away, and you have to wonder if there was any intention to originally publish them. I'm not sure, the notes and explanatory pieces were interesting, I was wondering when mentioned Proust was familiar with Poe's Raven, in my mind I began to wonder I was reading.

I've not read Proust widely, I'd like to know more of him in context to other French writers Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Gide, and after reading these I wanted to turn back to Villiers de L'Isle - Adam, Radiguet, Crevel, I'm not sure why, this is an interesting miscellany though.

[Roberto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quel plaisir de lire des textes inconnus (enfin, presque tous) de cet énorme écrivain que l'on ne cesse jamais de découvrir! Ce petit livre est une pépite tout à la fois intéressante pour le spécialiste et le curieux de l'évolution de l'écriture proustienne (style, thèmes) et émouvante pour tout passionné.

[Saga Wiklander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Värst vad jag kastar omkring mig 4 stjärnor men men. Hans språk är allt. Beskrivningarna får en att rysa. Bara ordvalen gör en lite troende (Enligt min åsikt och preferenser det vill säga)
”Opublicerade noveller” så det var lite som förväntat: det kändes ibland som det var någonting som saknades men denna bok gav en ett litet smakprov på Proust som kommer leda till att jag behöver läsa mer!!!

[Corey]

It's a stretch to call these "new stories." It's really a few fragments of writing with bouts of criticism. Really only of interest to Proust people.

[Colin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poetic, philosophical. Since the stories were previously unpublished, and therefore probably unfinished, this collection makes for an interesting read for fiction writers. The commentary (which makes up about half of the volume of this work) should also interest anyone drawn to the subjects of psychology or literary criticism.

[SilveryTongue · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 estrellas

[Santiago Tamargo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Estos cuentitos o borradores de cuentos muestran a Proust de joven probando sus primeras ideas e intentando transmitir su sensibilidad tan especial. Con la intro y otros comentarios que hay me sirvió para saber más sobre él y acercarme a, algún día, leer En Busca del Tiempo Perdido (muy caro y largo, pero siento que necesito ver por qué es tan legendario).

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook, raised to 3.5

[Nancy Castro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creo que este es uno de esos libros que hubiera disfrutado más teniendo otras lecturas de él, sin embargo me gustó empezar por estos cuentos muy punk para su época. Entendí el encanto por Proust porque algunos de ellos me conmovieron.

[Anu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some authors bear reading, even if they wrote the label on your shampoo bottle. To me, Proust is one of them. This is a collection of unpublished stories with more annotation and analysis than the actual stories themselves. Read if you are a super fan, else just skip to the famous works. Personally, I loved the sensitivity of the eponymous story and the drama of the variations within. Reading Proust puts you in a state of mind that is quite unlike anything else. Sigh

[Pablo Rojas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este libro reúne unas pocas historias que son, frente a la kilométrica obra de Proust, apenas un poco de limadura de hierro, de esa que queda regada por el taller al final de la jornada. Pero no es cualquier limadura, es materia prima proustiana, y vale su peso en oro.
Una edición impecable y un prólogo de Alan Pauls que agrega cuerpo y calor al libro.
Y sí, tiene esa cosa mágica de sentir que uno “vuelve a leer” a Proust.

[Marko · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ledwo się zaczęła, a już skończyła. Opowiadania skandaliczne ? Nie sądzę.