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Sodome et Gomorrhe II
«Au nombre des habitués de Mme Verdurin, et le plus fidèle de tous, comptait maintenant depuis plusieurs mois M. de Charlus. Régulièrement, trois fois par semaine, les voyageurs qui stationnaient dans les salles d'attente ou sur le quai de Donciéres-Ouest voyaient passer ce gros homme aux cheveux gris, aux moustaches noires, les lèvres rougies d'un fard qui se remarque moins à la fin de la saison que l'été où le grand jour le rendait plus cru et la chaleur à demi liquide. Tout en se dirigeant vers le petit chemin de fer, il ne pouvait s'empêcher (seulement par habitude de connaisseur, puisque maintenant il avait un sentiment qui le rendait chaste ou du moins, la plupart du temps, fidèle) de jeter sur les hommes de peine, les militaires, les jeunes gens en costume de tennis, un regard furtif, à la fois inquisitorial et timoré, après lequel il baissait aussitôt ses paupières sur ses yeux presques clos avec l'onction d'un ecclésiastique en train de dire son chapelet, avec la réserve d'une épouse vouée à son unique amour ou d'une jeune fille bien élevée.»
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1919
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About the author
Marcel Proust
2,155 books7,447 followersMarcel 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.
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.
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December 28, 2024
Dans S/Z, son analyse méticuleuse d’une nouvelle de Balzac, Roland Barthes fait remarquer que “ceux qui négligent de relire s’obligent à lire partout la même histoire.” Remarque fort judicieuse, à mon avis, et qui m’a inspiré, il y a quelques années, à recommencer la lecture de « La Recherche ». Depuis, je lis un volume par an, toujours à l’approche du réveillon. C’est une petite habitude personnelle que j’ai baptisée « Noël avec Marcel » et qui, chaque année, me procure une joie infinie.
Lorsque j’ai entamé Sodome et Gomorrhe pour la première fois en 2017, j’ai surtout été fasciné par le personnage de Palamède de Guermantes, Baron de Charlus, figure à la fois burlesque et profondément tragique. Bien qu’il soit déjà mentionné dans Du côté de chez Swann et qu’il apparaisse pour la première fois dans A l’ombre des jeunes filles en fleur c’est dans le quatrième volume de « La Recherche » que Charlus passe vraiment au premier plan. C’est lui qui, au tout début du livre, fait découvrir le monde parallèle des « invertis » au narrateur, étape cruciale dans le développement personnel de ce dernier puisqu’elle lui permettra de percevoir la réalité sociale et relationnelle autour de lui avec plus de perspicacité. (La scène de séduction entre Charlus et Jupien qui donne lieu à cette découverte est d’ailleurs inoubliable à la fois pour le narrateur lui-même - qui en est profondément choqué – et pour le lecteur – parce la danse d’accouplement entre le Baron et le giletier est décrite d’une manière absolument hilarante). Dans la suite du texte, Charlus apparaît comme un personnage aux multiples facettes: orgueilleux et imbu de soi-même mais peu sûr de lui et jaloux en amour, brutal envers ceux qu’il méprise, mais séducteur charmant et cultivé quand cela lui convient, d’humeur changeante mais fidèle à Morel, son grand amour. J’en étais tellement ébloui que j’avais un peu oublié les autres dimensions du texte.
Cette fois, en relisant le texte, j’ai redécouvert une foulée d’autres personnages fascinants qui étaient restés un peu à l’ombre du Baron lors de ma première lecture: M. Saniette, le pauvre souffre-douleur indispensable de la petite bande des Verdurins, Mme de Cambremer qui observe la règle des trois adjectifs à l’écrit comme à l’oral mais toujours en « diminuendo », Mme de Sainte-Euverte dont la principale occupation semble être de recruter des personnes illustres pour son salon, Basin, le Duc de Guermantes, anti-Dreyfusard convaincu qui se convertit au Dreyfusisme du jour au lendemain afin de plaire à trois jolies dames acquises à la cause capitaine juif, etc.
J’ai aussi été beaucoup plus sensible à la narration très habile. Deux aspects m’ont particulièrement frappé cette fois-ci : les multiples points de vue changeants que le narrateur adopte vis-à-vis des personnages et l’usage fréquent de prolepses qui donnent une dynamique particulière au récit.
On a beaucoup écrit sur la caractérisation des personnages dans « La Recherche ». Dans ses Sept Conférences sur Marcel Proust , Bernard de Fallois fait remarquer quelque part que l’on peut avoir l’impression de mieux les connaître que ses proches et, en même temps, de ne pas les connaître vraiment, tant leur comportement surprend parfois. C’est que Proust décrit ses personnages « dans la durée de la vie », comme des êtres changeants physiquement, relationnellement, mentalement. En plus, et c’est ce qui m’a particulièrement frappé dans Sodome et Gomorrhe , l’attitude du narrateur vis-à-vis des êtres qu’il fréquente varie, elle aussi, dans le temps. Au fur et à mesure qu’il poursuit son apprentissage, il en vient à les considérer sous d’autres lumières. Ainsi, par exemple, son attitude vis-à-vis de Palamède change-t-elle radicalement après la découverte de son homosexualité. Dans A l’ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs, le narrateur était répulsé par ses avances – que d’ailleurs il ne comprenait pas comme tel. Après avoir été témoin de la rencontre entre Charlus et Jupien, par contre, il se montre plutôt indulgent et semble même lui vouer une certaine sympathie teintée de pitié. Ses rapports avec d’autres personnages, comme Bloch, M. Norpois, Mme Swann et Mme de Guermantes sont tout aussi changeants. C’est que :
« Les êtres ne cessent de changer de place par rapport à nous. Dans la marche insensible mais éternelle du monde nous les considérons comme immobiles, dans un instant de vision, trop court pour que le mouvement qui les entraîne soit perçu. Mais nous n’avons qu’à choisir dans notre mémoire deux images prises d’eux à des moments différents, assez rapprochés cependant pour qu’ils n’aient pas changé en eux-mêmes, du moins sensiblement, et la différence des deux images mesure le déplacement qu’ils ont opéré par rapport à nous. »
Quant à l’usage des prolepses, je n’avais pas particulièrement remarqué lors de ma première lecture, mais il y en a vraiment de toutes sortes. Parfois elles sont assez subtiles, parfois plus explicites et/ou plus élaborées. Voici quelques exemples tirés au hasard :
« Quand Swann fut parti, je retournai dans le grand salon où se trouvait cette Princesse de Guermantes avec laquelle je ne savais pas alors que je dusse être un jour si lié. »
« Or, on verra les circonstances faire non seulement que cette femme ne vint pas à Balbec, mais que je ne redoutai rien tant qu’elle pût y venir, de sorte que le but principal de mon voyage ne fut ni atteint ni même poursuivi. »
Des anticipations de ce genre introduisent une certaine ironie dramatique dans le texte. Afin d’en saisir pleinement le sens, il faut évidemment l’avoir lu en entier une première fois (et se souvenir des épisodes auxquels le narrateur fait allusion ce qui n’est pas toujours évident, j’avoue).
Parfois, l’usage des prolepses est lié à la psychologie dynamique que nous avons pointée un peu plus haut dans le sens où elles permettent au narrateur de corriger les premières impressions qu’il se fait de certaines personnes. Voici un exemple plus élaboré, à propos du chauffeur de Cabourg qui semble charmant, fidèle et dévoué à première vue mais se révèlera un maître-chanteur plus tard dans le récit :
« Ce que malheureusement j’ignorais à ce moment-là et que je n’appris que plus de deux ans après, c’est qu’un des clients du chauffeur était M. de Charlus. (…) Si j’avais su cela alors, et que la confiance qu’eurent bientôt les Verdurin en ce chauffeur venait de là, à leur insu, peut-être bien des chagrins de ma vie à Paris, l’année suivante, bien des malheurs relatifs à Albertine, eussent été évités, mais je m’en doutais nullement.
Si Balzac (d'ailleurs l'un des auteurs préférés du Baron de Charlus) a marqué l'histoire littéraire par la création d'un vaste univers romanesque, celui-ci reste somme toute assez statique. L'univers romanesque de Proust, par contre, est peuplé d'autant d'étoiles tout aussi brillantes qui de surcroît dansent entre elles. C'est sans doute pour cette raison que la deuxième lecture m'a procuré au moins autant de plaisir que la toute première.
Ceux qui me connnaissent savent que je pourrais continuer à chanter l’éloge de ce roman et que je n’en aurai sans doute jamais fini avec Proust. Mais il est tard et il faut savoir conclure. Permettez donc que je termine un peu abruptement sur une petite prolepse personnelle qui résume mon expérience de lecture jusqu'à présent:
« A l’époque où je découvrais « La Recherche » pour la toute première fois, je pensais un peu naïvement qu’il s’agissait de l’histoire psychologisante d’une vocation littéraire. Je ne savais pas encore que ce fût aussi, et tout autant, l’histoire de l’écroulement de toute une société. Évidemment, j’ignorais que cet écroulement s’annoncerait tout de suite après que le narrateur eut atteint le sommet de cette dernière et que, pour cette raison comme pour bien d’autres, le quatrième volume du cycle allait devenir, lors de la deuxième lecture quelques années plus tard, l’un de mes épisodes préférés du cycle. »
Bonne lecture!
Lorsque j’ai entamé Sodome et Gomorrhe pour la première fois en 2017, j’ai surtout été fasciné par le personnage de Palamède de Guermantes, Baron de Charlus, figure à la fois burlesque et profondément tragique. Bien qu’il soit déjà mentionné dans Du côté de chez Swann et qu’il apparaisse pour la première fois dans A l’ombre des jeunes filles en fleur c’est dans le quatrième volume de « La Recherche » que Charlus passe vraiment au premier plan. C’est lui qui, au tout début du livre, fait découvrir le monde parallèle des « invertis » au narrateur, étape cruciale dans le développement personnel de ce dernier puisqu’elle lui permettra de percevoir la réalité sociale et relationnelle autour de lui avec plus de perspicacité. (La scène de séduction entre Charlus et Jupien qui donne lieu à cette découverte est d’ailleurs inoubliable à la fois pour le narrateur lui-même - qui en est profondément choqué – et pour le lecteur – parce la danse d’accouplement entre le Baron et le giletier est décrite d’une manière absolument hilarante). Dans la suite du texte, Charlus apparaît comme un personnage aux multiples facettes: orgueilleux et imbu de soi-même mais peu sûr de lui et jaloux en amour, brutal envers ceux qu’il méprise, mais séducteur charmant et cultivé quand cela lui convient, d’humeur changeante mais fidèle à Morel, son grand amour. J’en étais tellement ébloui que j’avais un peu oublié les autres dimensions du texte.
Cette fois, en relisant le texte, j’ai redécouvert une foulée d’autres personnages fascinants qui étaient restés un peu à l’ombre du Baron lors de ma première lecture: M. Saniette, le pauvre souffre-douleur indispensable de la petite bande des Verdurins, Mme de Cambremer qui observe la règle des trois adjectifs à l’écrit comme à l’oral mais toujours en « diminuendo », Mme de Sainte-Euverte dont la principale occupation semble être de recruter des personnes illustres pour son salon, Basin, le Duc de Guermantes, anti-Dreyfusard convaincu qui se convertit au Dreyfusisme du jour au lendemain afin de plaire à trois jolies dames acquises à la cause capitaine juif, etc.
J’ai aussi été beaucoup plus sensible à la narration très habile. Deux aspects m’ont particulièrement frappé cette fois-ci : les multiples points de vue changeants que le narrateur adopte vis-à-vis des personnages et l’usage fréquent de prolepses qui donnent une dynamique particulière au récit.
On a beaucoup écrit sur la caractérisation des personnages dans « La Recherche ». Dans ses Sept Conférences sur Marcel Proust , Bernard de Fallois fait remarquer quelque part que l’on peut avoir l’impression de mieux les connaître que ses proches et, en même temps, de ne pas les connaître vraiment, tant leur comportement surprend parfois. C’est que Proust décrit ses personnages « dans la durée de la vie », comme des êtres changeants physiquement, relationnellement, mentalement. En plus, et c’est ce qui m’a particulièrement frappé dans Sodome et Gomorrhe , l’attitude du narrateur vis-à-vis des êtres qu’il fréquente varie, elle aussi, dans le temps. Au fur et à mesure qu’il poursuit son apprentissage, il en vient à les considérer sous d’autres lumières. Ainsi, par exemple, son attitude vis-à-vis de Palamède change-t-elle radicalement après la découverte de son homosexualité. Dans A l’ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs, le narrateur était répulsé par ses avances – que d’ailleurs il ne comprenait pas comme tel. Après avoir été témoin de la rencontre entre Charlus et Jupien, par contre, il se montre plutôt indulgent et semble même lui vouer une certaine sympathie teintée de pitié. Ses rapports avec d’autres personnages, comme Bloch, M. Norpois, Mme Swann et Mme de Guermantes sont tout aussi changeants. C’est que :
« Les êtres ne cessent de changer de place par rapport à nous. Dans la marche insensible mais éternelle du monde nous les considérons comme immobiles, dans un instant de vision, trop court pour que le mouvement qui les entraîne soit perçu. Mais nous n’avons qu’à choisir dans notre mémoire deux images prises d’eux à des moments différents, assez rapprochés cependant pour qu’ils n’aient pas changé en eux-mêmes, du moins sensiblement, et la différence des deux images mesure le déplacement qu’ils ont opéré par rapport à nous. »
Quant à l’usage des prolepses, je n’avais pas particulièrement remarqué lors de ma première lecture, mais il y en a vraiment de toutes sortes. Parfois elles sont assez subtiles, parfois plus explicites et/ou plus élaborées. Voici quelques exemples tirés au hasard :
« Quand Swann fut parti, je retournai dans le grand salon où se trouvait cette Princesse de Guermantes avec laquelle je ne savais pas alors que je dusse être un jour si lié. »
« Or, on verra les circonstances faire non seulement que cette femme ne vint pas à Balbec, mais que je ne redoutai rien tant qu’elle pût y venir, de sorte que le but principal de mon voyage ne fut ni atteint ni même poursuivi. »
Des anticipations de ce genre introduisent une certaine ironie dramatique dans le texte. Afin d’en saisir pleinement le sens, il faut évidemment l’avoir lu en entier une première fois (et se souvenir des épisodes auxquels le narrateur fait allusion ce qui n’est pas toujours évident, j’avoue).
Parfois, l’usage des prolepses est lié à la psychologie dynamique que nous avons pointée un peu plus haut dans le sens où elles permettent au narrateur de corriger les premières impressions qu’il se fait de certaines personnes. Voici un exemple plus élaboré, à propos du chauffeur de Cabourg qui semble charmant, fidèle et dévoué à première vue mais se révèlera un maître-chanteur plus tard dans le récit :
« Ce que malheureusement j’ignorais à ce moment-là et que je n’appris que plus de deux ans après, c’est qu’un des clients du chauffeur était M. de Charlus. (…) Si j’avais su cela alors, et que la confiance qu’eurent bientôt les Verdurin en ce chauffeur venait de là, à leur insu, peut-être bien des chagrins de ma vie à Paris, l’année suivante, bien des malheurs relatifs à Albertine, eussent été évités, mais je m’en doutais nullement.
Si Balzac (d'ailleurs l'un des auteurs préférés du Baron de Charlus) a marqué l'histoire littéraire par la création d'un vaste univers romanesque, celui-ci reste somme toute assez statique. L'univers romanesque de Proust, par contre, est peuplé d'autant d'étoiles tout aussi brillantes qui de surcroît dansent entre elles. C'est sans doute pour cette raison que la deuxième lecture m'a procuré au moins autant de plaisir que la toute première.
Ceux qui me connnaissent savent que je pourrais continuer à chanter l’éloge de ce roman et que je n’en aurai sans doute jamais fini avec Proust. Mais il est tard et il faut savoir conclure. Permettez donc que je termine un peu abruptement sur une petite prolepse personnelle qui résume mon expérience de lecture jusqu'à présent:
« A l’époque où je découvrais « La Recherche » pour la toute première fois, je pensais un peu naïvement qu’il s’agissait de l’histoire psychologisante d’une vocation littéraire. Je ne savais pas encore que ce fût aussi, et tout autant, l’histoire de l’écroulement de toute une société. Évidemment, j’ignorais que cet écroulement s’annoncerait tout de suite après que le narrateur eut atteint le sommet de cette dernière et que, pour cette raison comme pour bien d’autres, le quatrième volume du cycle allait devenir, lors de la deuxième lecture quelques années plus tard, l’un de mes épisodes préférés du cycle. »
Bonne lecture!
February 16, 2024
Vređanje po salonima kod Prusta dobija potpuno novu dimenziju.
Jedan od takvih trenutaka je kad gospođa Verdiren pita Šarlisa da li ima kakvog propalog plemića da joj bude vratar, a ovaj odgovara da ima, ali se plaši da joj gosti ne bi išli dalje od vrata.
Parafraziram, ali je suština tu. Za sada mi je skoro sve zanimljivije od pripovedačevog odnosa s Albertinom, u čemu se očitava nešto patološki lažno i pomalo svirepo.
Jedan od takvih trenutaka je kad gospođa Verdiren pita Šarlisa da li ima kakvog propalog plemića da joj bude vratar, a ovaj odgovara da ima, ali se plaši da joj gosti ne bi išli dalje od vrata.
Parafraziram, ali je suština tu. Za sada mi je skoro sve zanimljivije od pripovedačevog odnosa s Albertinom, u čemu se očitava nešto patološki lažno i pomalo svirepo.
June 2, 2022
Det er opløftende at fantasere sig alle ens fremtidige jeg’s bedrifter i en idealiseret og enkel forestilling, og nedslående når fremtid er blevet nutid, og virkeligheden slår igen med realiteternes kompleksitet, træghed og interessekonflikter. Men måske fejler fremtidens nutid ikke noget, snarere var det måske en naiv forestilling, der allerede havde umuliggjort realiseringen inden den udeblev. Det er vel oftest mere kompliceret end som så, og ellers ville det bare hurtigt blive forudsigeligt og kedeligt. Introspektiv indsigt og forventningsafstemning synes at være krummer på vejen til færre skuffelser og til at frigøre tid og energi til netop alt andet end forbløffende skuffelser. Og således opløftet, videre til bind 9 På sporet af den tabte tid.
“Man ønsker lidenskabeligt at der skal findes et andet liv, hvor man ville være den samme som hernede, men man tænker ikke over at selv uden at vente på dette andet liv er man, efter nogle år af dette liv, utro mod det man har været, det man i al evighed ønskede at være.” 8.12
“Men hvad er en erindring man ikke kan genkalde sig?” s. 8.198
“Eftersom ingen mennesker er helt enkle og usammensatte, skulle det vise sig at denne alt for diskrete mand også var sygeligt indiskret.” s. 8.255
“Man ønsker lidenskabeligt at der skal findes et andet liv, hvor man ville være den samme som hernede, men man tænker ikke over at selv uden at vente på dette andet liv er man, efter nogle år af dette liv, utro mod det man har været, det man i al evighed ønskede at være.” 8.12
“Men hvad er en erindring man ikke kan genkalde sig?” s. 8.198
“Eftersom ingen mennesker er helt enkle og usammensatte, skulle det vise sig at denne alt for diskrete mand også var sygeligt indiskret.” s. 8.255
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December 6, 2015This review is more or less the same as my review for Sodome et Gomorrhe I (the fourth volume was divided in two in my edition).
Because so many months have gone by since I’ve read the book, and I’ve read the rest of the Recherche in the meantime, I’m curious to see what stands out in my memory about this volume.
I often think in visual terms and I imagine Sodome et Gomorrhe, which is the fourth book of the seven volumes of Proust’s Recherche, as the apex of an isosceles triangle, or like the gable of the house in the foreground of this
Sodome et Gomorrhe is the middle volume, pivotal in many ways, and Proust has been working towards this point from the first volume, laying down his themes layer by layer until he reached this twin chimney stack of Sodome and Gomorrhe. After he had completed this volume, he began the process of scraping away the layers of the palimpsest he had so carefully written over, finally revealing the original message, burnished by time, in the seventh book, Le Temps Retrouvé.
The symmetry of this entire work really appeals to me - I’m in awe of Proust’s original vision in conceiving such an architecturally sound construction, and, knowing a little of the health constraints he worked under, I can appreciate the discipline with which he steadily laboured until he finally reached the end, a point he had had carefully mapped out well before he built the middle sections.
Proust loves place names, and this volume is layered with place name lore. It isn't surprising then that he uses place names in the title; Sodome and Gomorrhe, the twin cities of the plain of Jordan, destroyed by a wrathful God according to the book of Genesis. I imagine Sodome and Gomorrhe like the two semi-ruined constructions in the background of this ever useful image .
Out of the ruins of the two cities, and inspired by the words of a de Vigny poem, La Femme aura Gomorrhe et l'Homme aura Sodome, Proust imagines a race of men/women, women/men marching forth to take their place in the foreground of the world. And since his quest from the beginning has been to examine the passions which drive us all, he sets out in his own unique and idiosyncratic way to examine homosexuality and lesbianism using the landscape he created for his Narrator as the testing ground for his theories. One of those relates to sleep and dreams, a frequent theme in his writing; Proust describes sleep as that other, alternative apartment we go to when we are no longer awake, a place with its own special sounds, its own logic, and people who are all androgynous.
This detailed drawing has quite a lot of blank space and this book also has its blank spaces, its absences. A major theme is the gaps left in our lives when those we love leave us. But those gaps, those blank spaces are eloquent; the narrator’s grandmother, who died in the previous volume, and whom he worries about having forgotten completely, is yet more present than ever. When a fragment of memory relating to his life with her gets pushed to the surface of his consciousness, he suffers what he calls les intermittences du coeur or intermittences of the heart, a kind of dysphoria or anxiety which leaves him troubled but which will also eventually unlock his creativity; the blank spaces are all destined to be filled.
Charles Swann is another character whose absence in the second part of this volume is as powerful as his presence. Like the barely distinguishable lines along the edges of this image , his ghost is more eloquent than most of the living breathing population of the Narrator’s world. That world is constructed using all of the tropes found in the previous volumes; trains, theatres, music, mirrors, obsession, jealousy, enmity and strife. At times, we the readers feel we are the audience at a very entertaining play full of dramatic moments and witty asides. And for the first time so far in the Recherche, Proust addresses us, acknowledging our presence in an almost playful way.
But this volume isn't all theatre, it is also about retracing footsteps; the Narrator returns to Balbec, the place name which most inspired his child’s imagination. He returns to the very same hotel room he’d stayed in years before, a room facing the horizon, lined with bookshelves, the glass panels of which reflect every nuance of colour in the sea and sky, a view which never fails to inspire wonderful words, où maintenant, le soleil ronde et rouge était déjà descendu au milieu de la glace oblique, et comme quelque feu grégeois, incendiait la mer dans les vitres de mes bibliothèques.
Because so many months have gone by since I’ve read the book, and I’ve read the rest of the Recherche in the meantime, I’m curious to see what stands out in my memory about this volume.
I often think in visual terms and I imagine Sodome et Gomorrhe, which is the fourth book of the seven volumes of Proust’s Recherche, as the apex of an isosceles triangle, or like the gable of the house in the foreground of this
Sodome et Gomorrhe is the middle volume, pivotal in many ways, and Proust has been working towards this point from the first volume, laying down his themes layer by layer until he reached this twin chimney stack of Sodome and Gomorrhe. After he had completed this volume, he began the process of scraping away the layers of the palimpsest he had so carefully written over, finally revealing the original message, burnished by time, in the seventh book, Le Temps Retrouvé.
The symmetry of this entire work really appeals to me - I’m in awe of Proust’s original vision in conceiving such an architecturally sound construction, and, knowing a little of the health constraints he worked under, I can appreciate the discipline with which he steadily laboured until he finally reached the end, a point he had had carefully mapped out well before he built the middle sections.
Proust loves place names, and this volume is layered with place name lore. It isn't surprising then that he uses place names in the title; Sodome and Gomorrhe, the twin cities of the plain of Jordan, destroyed by a wrathful God according to the book of Genesis. I imagine Sodome and Gomorrhe like the two semi-ruined constructions in the background of this ever useful image .
Out of the ruins of the two cities, and inspired by the words of a de Vigny poem, La Femme aura Gomorrhe et l'Homme aura Sodome, Proust imagines a race of men/women, women/men marching forth to take their place in the foreground of the world. And since his quest from the beginning has been to examine the passions which drive us all, he sets out in his own unique and idiosyncratic way to examine homosexuality and lesbianism using the landscape he created for his Narrator as the testing ground for his theories. One of those relates to sleep and dreams, a frequent theme in his writing; Proust describes sleep as that other, alternative apartment we go to when we are no longer awake, a place with its own special sounds, its own logic, and people who are all androgynous.
This detailed drawing has quite a lot of blank space and this book also has its blank spaces, its absences. A major theme is the gaps left in our lives when those we love leave us. But those gaps, those blank spaces are eloquent; the narrator’s grandmother, who died in the previous volume, and whom he worries about having forgotten completely, is yet more present than ever. When a fragment of memory relating to his life with her gets pushed to the surface of his consciousness, he suffers what he calls les intermittences du coeur or intermittences of the heart, a kind of dysphoria or anxiety which leaves him troubled but which will also eventually unlock his creativity; the blank spaces are all destined to be filled.
Charles Swann is another character whose absence in the second part of this volume is as powerful as his presence. Like the barely distinguishable lines along the edges of this image , his ghost is more eloquent than most of the living breathing population of the Narrator’s world. That world is constructed using all of the tropes found in the previous volumes; trains, theatres, music, mirrors, obsession, jealousy, enmity and strife. At times, we the readers feel we are the audience at a very entertaining play full of dramatic moments and witty asides. And for the first time so far in the Recherche, Proust addresses us, acknowledging our presence in an almost playful way.
But this volume isn't all theatre, it is also about retracing footsteps; the Narrator returns to Balbec, the place name which most inspired his child’s imagination. He returns to the very same hotel room he’d stayed in years before, a room facing the horizon, lined with bookshelves, the glass panels of which reflect every nuance of colour in the sea and sky, a view which never fails to inspire wonderful words, où maintenant, le soleil ronde et rouge était déjà descendu au milieu de la glace oblique, et comme quelque feu grégeois, incendiait la mer dans les vitres de mes bibliothèques.
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September 30, 2016The tales & adventures of Baby Proust continue... and continue...
Honestly, I love this series, it's like a good friend you can catch up with every few months and who always has fun gossip. The books read like the Real Housewives of the Belle Epoque, but also sound like the (self-aware? totally candid?) diary of a confused and egotistical teenage boy who (gasp) is totally insecure but still finds the energy to criticize everyone, including his maybe-gay girlfriend.
There was a strange and unpleasant shortage of Saint-Loup in this volume, made up by the incredible baron de Charlus, so I forgive Proust and continue on this endless journey into the mind of a lazy, nervous, shy, and obnoxious Baby Proust (the teen/new adult years). Only 3 more volumes to go.
Honestly, I love this series, it's like a good friend you can catch up with every few months and who always has fun gossip. The books read like the Real Housewives of the Belle Epoque, but also sound like the (self-aware? totally candid?) diary of a confused and egotistical teenage boy who (gasp) is totally insecure but still finds the energy to criticize everyone, including his maybe-gay girlfriend.
There was a strange and unpleasant shortage of Saint-Loup in this volume, made up by the incredible baron de Charlus, so I forgive Proust and continue on this endless journey into the mind of a lazy, nervous, shy, and obnoxious Baby Proust (the teen/new adult years). Only 3 more volumes to go.
December 26, 2025
Sodome et Gomorrhe by Marcel Proust
As mentioned in my previous notes, “reviews” on A La Recherche du Temps Perdu, Proust is my Favorite, Number One of All Time writer. When I discovered him, some thirty years ago, homosexuality was an alien thing. It still is, in the sense that I am not attracted to men, but in the meantime I have learned more about this minority and, more important here, about Proust. At the time when I had my first encounter with Sodome et Gomorrhe, I did not know Proust was gay. It seemed rather strange that he knows so much about men who recognize each other in the blink of an eye, but now I can see why Proust is so knowledgeable. As he says, we change; we are in fact two different people at two stages in life. My perspective on Sodome et Gomorrhe changed dramatically; in fact, I have a different view on Proust. I remembered now that I was not keen on the subject of this novel and happy that the book is so complex and treats so many subjects in such an exquisite way.
Romania gets mentioned with its queen, her pen name being Carmen Silva. Then there is the fact that a French writer is known in Romania as an aristocrat and not so much for his work. The only less gratifying phrases are those that deal with names of villages, places which do not turn me on. The other …. fact is that, though repelling in a few ways, some characters are fascinating and I find them entertaining, complex, very interesting: Charlus for instance, although vain, pompous, arrogant, mean, patronizing is one of the most memorable characters I have read about.
As mentioned in my previous notes, “reviews” on A La Recherche du Temps Perdu, Proust is my Favorite, Number One of All Time writer. When I discovered him, some thirty years ago, homosexuality was an alien thing. It still is, in the sense that I am not attracted to men, but in the meantime I have learned more about this minority and, more important here, about Proust. At the time when I had my first encounter with Sodome et Gomorrhe, I did not know Proust was gay. It seemed rather strange that he knows so much about men who recognize each other in the blink of an eye, but now I can see why Proust is so knowledgeable. As he says, we change; we are in fact two different people at two stages in life. My perspective on Sodome et Gomorrhe changed dramatically; in fact, I have a different view on Proust. I remembered now that I was not keen on the subject of this novel and happy that the book is so complex and treats so many subjects in such an exquisite way.
Romania gets mentioned with its queen, her pen name being Carmen Silva. Then there is the fact that a French writer is known in Romania as an aristocrat and not so much for his work. The only less gratifying phrases are those that deal with names of villages, places which do not turn me on. The other …. fact is that, though repelling in a few ways, some characters are fascinating and I find them entertaining, complex, very interesting: Charlus for instance, although vain, pompous, arrogant, mean, patronizing is one of the most memorable characters I have read about.
August 25, 2013
Finished also CD #74 of the Audio book, out of a total of 111.
December 23, 2015
4,5
Archi-fan. J'adore ces balades en petit train et ces interminables considérations!
Archi-fan. J'adore ces balades en petit train et ces interminables considérations!
October 30, 2023
The homophily continues:
"I'd better watch my feet under the table, he could get close." For the rest, it doesn't surprise me very much. It often happens that I see noblemen in the shower, in Adam's costume, and they are all more or less degenerate."
Together with Albertine:
“to lay down under the dunes; this very body which in its suppleness contained all the feminine, sea-accustomed and agile grace I had first seen when the young girls passed by with the waves and the sky in the background, I now hugged it to my own while we lay under the same blanket right down by the silent sea surface, which a quivering moonbeam split in two; and without getting tired of it, with the same quiet joy, we lay and listened to the sea, both when it held its breath so long that one almost thought the wave had stopped out there, and when right at our feet it came with its long-awaited , long sighs”
Hints:
"Monsieur de Charlus made no attempt to pretend that he preferred to avoid certain subjects, and liked to talk about "what is commonly called immorality."
Naughty 😈
"where I made sure to sit with Albertine so that my friend would not be alone with others, and often also for another reason, namely that we could do many things together in a dark carriage, where the many bumps on the downswing, moreover, would give us an excuse in case a sudden beam of light should reveal that we were sitting and clinging to each other.”
Ahhh
"Albertine as a friend of Mademoiselle Vinteuil and her friend, this notorious practitioner of lesbianism, was in relation to what I could have imagined in my wildest dreams..."
…….
Homofilien fortsætter:
“Jeg må nok hellere passe på mine fødder under bordet, han kunne jo blive nærgående. For resten overrasker det mig nu ikke særlig meget. Det sker ofte at jeg ser adelsmænd under bruseren, i adamskostume, og de er mere eller mindre degenererede alle sammen.”
Sammen med Albertine:
“at lægge os neden for klitterne; denne selvsamme krop som i sin smidighed rummede hele den feminine, havvante og adrætte ynde jeg første gang havde set da de unge piger passerede forbi med bølgerne og himlen i baggrunden, den knugede jeg nu ind til min egen, mens vi lå under det samme tæppe helt nede ved den blikstille havflade, som en skælvende månestråle delte i to; og uden at blive trætte af det, med den samme stille glæde, lå vi og lyttede til havet, både når det holdt vejret så længe at man næsten troede bølgen var standset derude, og når det lige for fødderne af os kom med sit længe ventede, langstrakte suk”
Antydninger:
“gjorde monsieur de Charlus ikke noget forsøg på at lade som om han helst undgik visse emner, og talte gerne om ”det man sædvanligvis kalder usædelighed”.
Frækt 😈
“hvor jeg sørgede for at komme til at sidde sammen med Albertine for at min veninde ikke skulle være alene med andre, og ofte også af en anden grund, nemlig at vi kunne foretage os mange ting sammen i en mørk vogn, hvor de mange bump på nedturen i øvrigt ville give os en undskyldning i tilfælde af at en pludselig lysstråle skulle afsløre at vi sad og klamrede os til hinanden.”
Åååh
“Albertine som veninde til mademoiselle Vinteuil og hendes veninde, denne notoriske udøver af lesbianismen, det var i forhold til hvad jeg i min største kvide kunne have forestillet mig…”
"I'd better watch my feet under the table, he could get close." For the rest, it doesn't surprise me very much. It often happens that I see noblemen in the shower, in Adam's costume, and they are all more or less degenerate."
Together with Albertine:
“to lay down under the dunes; this very body which in its suppleness contained all the feminine, sea-accustomed and agile grace I had first seen when the young girls passed by with the waves and the sky in the background, I now hugged it to my own while we lay under the same blanket right down by the silent sea surface, which a quivering moonbeam split in two; and without getting tired of it, with the same quiet joy, we lay and listened to the sea, both when it held its breath so long that one almost thought the wave had stopped out there, and when right at our feet it came with its long-awaited , long sighs”
Hints:
"Monsieur de Charlus made no attempt to pretend that he preferred to avoid certain subjects, and liked to talk about "what is commonly called immorality."
Naughty 😈
"where I made sure to sit with Albertine so that my friend would not be alone with others, and often also for another reason, namely that we could do many things together in a dark carriage, where the many bumps on the downswing, moreover, would give us an excuse in case a sudden beam of light should reveal that we were sitting and clinging to each other.”
Ahhh
"Albertine as a friend of Mademoiselle Vinteuil and her friend, this notorious practitioner of lesbianism, was in relation to what I could have imagined in my wildest dreams..."
…….
Homofilien fortsætter:
“Jeg må nok hellere passe på mine fødder under bordet, han kunne jo blive nærgående. For resten overrasker det mig nu ikke særlig meget. Det sker ofte at jeg ser adelsmænd under bruseren, i adamskostume, og de er mere eller mindre degenererede alle sammen.”
Sammen med Albertine:
“at lægge os neden for klitterne; denne selvsamme krop som i sin smidighed rummede hele den feminine, havvante og adrætte ynde jeg første gang havde set da de unge piger passerede forbi med bølgerne og himlen i baggrunden, den knugede jeg nu ind til min egen, mens vi lå under det samme tæppe helt nede ved den blikstille havflade, som en skælvende månestråle delte i to; og uden at blive trætte af det, med den samme stille glæde, lå vi og lyttede til havet, både når det holdt vejret så længe at man næsten troede bølgen var standset derude, og når det lige for fødderne af os kom med sit længe ventede, langstrakte suk”
Antydninger:
“gjorde monsieur de Charlus ikke noget forsøg på at lade som om han helst undgik visse emner, og talte gerne om ”det man sædvanligvis kalder usædelighed”.
Frækt 😈
“hvor jeg sørgede for at komme til at sidde sammen med Albertine for at min veninde ikke skulle være alene med andre, og ofte også af en anden grund, nemlig at vi kunne foretage os mange ting sammen i en mørk vogn, hvor de mange bump på nedturen i øvrigt ville give os en undskyldning i tilfælde af at en pludselig lysstråle skulle afsløre at vi sad og klamrede os til hinanden.”
Åååh
“Albertine som veninde til mademoiselle Vinteuil og hendes veninde, denne notoriske udøver af lesbianismen, det var i forhold til hvad jeg i min største kvide kunne have forestillet mig…”
September 5, 2024
Okay, jeg skriver vist nogenlunde det samme, hver gang jeg skriver om endnu et bind af På Sporet... Nemlig, at den kan man (jeg) jo ikke anmelde. Og det er stadig rigtigt. Men... I dette bind er han hovedsageligt på ferie i sit elskede Balbec ved kysten. Han bruger næsten al sin tid på at "gå på visit" og gå til middage hos alle disse utroligt irriterende adelige, som han elsker og hader (og grumt udstiller).
Her er han særligt fokuseret på den vanvittigt arrogante baron de Charlus, hvis homoseksualitet vores hovedperson er usædvanligt fascineret af. Fx: "(...) i dette øjeblik åbenbaredes i allerhøjeste grad den kvinde som naturen ved en fejltagelse havde anbragt i Monsieur de Charlus' legeme."
Ind imellem kommer så de små guddommelige indfald, der gør det værd at kæmpe sig igennem de tretten bind: "Da søvnen førte den sovende så langt væk fra den verden der er beboet af erindringen og tanken, tværs gennem en æter hvor han var alene, ja, mere end alene fordi han end ikke havde denne ledsager i hvem man ser sig selv, befandt han sig uden for tiden og dens måleenheder."
og
"Ligesom der ikke er nogen grund til at det væsen jeg bliver efter døden skulle erindre den person jeg har været fra fødslen af, erindrer den person jeg har været fra fødslen af, intet om hvad jeg var før jeg blev født."
Nå, og sådan ku' jeg jo blive ved. I stedet vil jeg opfordre enhver til bare at gå i gang fra en ende af. På et tidspunkt bliver man færdig, og det er jo ligegyldigt, om der så er gået seks måneder eller seks år. Jeg læser 10 sider om dagen (på de dage hvor jeg ikke er for træt).
Her er han særligt fokuseret på den vanvittigt arrogante baron de Charlus, hvis homoseksualitet vores hovedperson er usædvanligt fascineret af. Fx: "(...) i dette øjeblik åbenbaredes i allerhøjeste grad den kvinde som naturen ved en fejltagelse havde anbragt i Monsieur de Charlus' legeme."
Ind imellem kommer så de små guddommelige indfald, der gør det værd at kæmpe sig igennem de tretten bind: "Da søvnen førte den sovende så langt væk fra den verden der er beboet af erindringen og tanken, tværs gennem en æter hvor han var alene, ja, mere end alene fordi han end ikke havde denne ledsager i hvem man ser sig selv, befandt han sig uden for tiden og dens måleenheder."
og
"Ligesom der ikke er nogen grund til at det væsen jeg bliver efter døden skulle erindre den person jeg har været fra fødslen af, erindrer den person jeg har været fra fødslen af, intet om hvad jeg var før jeg blev født."
Nå, og sådan ku' jeg jo blive ved. I stedet vil jeg opfordre enhver til bare at gå i gang fra en ende af. På et tidspunkt bliver man færdig, og det er jo ligegyldigt, om der så er gået seks måneder eller seks år. Jeg læser 10 sider om dagen (på de dage hvor jeg ikke er for træt).
May 18, 2020
I finished this a couple of weeks ago, but didn't feel like posting a review immediately. Partly because I was occupied with other stuff, but also because I was a bit fed up by the time I finished this volume. Have decided to take a slightly longer break than usual before attacking the next volume: no reason to spoil the fun because of a Proust-overdose. Would certainly have rated this lower if it wasn't for the larger context.
This second part of Sodome and Gomorrah is taking place in Balbec + surroundings and is - amongst the usual array of subjects - dominated by Albertine, the narrator's suspicions about her lesbianism and his obsessive interest in etymology and place names. The latter subject in my view takes up an inordinate amount of time and space in this volume. I find it plain boring to 'listen to' Brichot endlessly waxing on about the origin of this or that place name.
The interesting - to me - parts are about the narrator's ambiguous relationship to and feelings about Albertine. His suspicions about her lesbianism lead to jealousy - confusing jealousy with love, or is it a sign that you're actually in love when jealousy is provoked?
Just as the decision to break free from Albertine has been reached, she reveals that she used to live with Mademoiselle Vinteuil and her friend - the performers in the lesbian incident accidentally watched by the narrator in the first volume. Making his jealousy break out in earnest and changing his attitude completely. Now he needs total control of her. His feelings about Albertine are quite embarrassing to witness, especially because they reveal sentiments terribly familiar to everyone at some stage in life (I think at least). Though hopefully (understood and) mastered to a larger degree than the narrator.
This second part of Sodome and Gomorrah is taking place in Balbec + surroundings and is - amongst the usual array of subjects - dominated by Albertine, the narrator's suspicions about her lesbianism and his obsessive interest in etymology and place names. The latter subject in my view takes up an inordinate amount of time and space in this volume. I find it plain boring to 'listen to' Brichot endlessly waxing on about the origin of this or that place name.
The interesting - to me - parts are about the narrator's ambiguous relationship to and feelings about Albertine. His suspicions about her lesbianism lead to jealousy - confusing jealousy with love, or is it a sign that you're actually in love when jealousy is provoked?
Just as the decision to break free from Albertine has been reached, she reveals that she used to live with Mademoiselle Vinteuil and her friend - the performers in the lesbian incident accidentally watched by the narrator in the first volume. Making his jealousy break out in earnest and changing his attitude completely. Now he needs total control of her. His feelings about Albertine are quite embarrassing to witness, especially because they reveal sentiments terribly familiar to everyone at some stage in life (I think at least). Though hopefully (understood and) mastered to a larger degree than the narrator.
December 26, 2022
"A la grande paix qui descend, le soir, sur ces prés drus et salins et qui avait conseillé à beaucoup de Parisiens, peintres pour la plupart, d'aller villégiaturer à Douville, s'ajoutait une humidité qui les faisait rentrer de bonne heure dans les petits chalets. Dans plusieurs de ceux-ci, la lampe était déjà allumée. Seules quelques vaches restaient dehors à regarder la mer en meuglant, tandis que d'autres, s'intéressant plus à l'humanité, tournaient leur attention vers nos voitures. Seul un peintre qui avait dressé son chevalet sur une mince éminence travaillait à essayer de rendre ce grand calme, cette lumi��re apaisée. Peut-être les vaches allaient-elles lui servir inconsciemment et bénévolement de modèles, car leur air contemplatif et leur présence solitaire, à leur manière, à la puissante impression de repos que dégage le soir."
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June 30, 2025Not sure if the series is getting better or if the development is paying off, but this was one of the better of the ISOLT novels so far. The author's return to Balbec was interesting as the coastal beach town in summer is a cool atmosphere. Homosexuality (both men and women) is probably the main theme of the book and is hashed out through multiple characters. There is plot development with Charlus, the Verdurins, Albertine, and too many other minor themes to write about. And finally the reader is treated to a unexpected twist ending with his decision to marry Albertine which really sets the stage for book 5.
February 29, 2020
Marcel Proust és molt millor a foc lent, assaborint amb calma cada un dels mots que converteix La recherche du temps perdu en un dels millors llibres del segle XX. La excel·lent traducció de Josep Maria Pinto i té molt a veure amb aquest fet
March 4, 2019
A show of how being petty can drive us to do horrible things even against ourselves...
October 27, 2021
Rien à dire. Top
November 25, 2024
Y a de la redondance, on trouve ça sans fin, puis quand on arrive à la dernière phrase, on a hâte de commencer le prochain.
April 16, 2016
Marcel falls in love with Albertine, and well, it’s for worse, not for better. Love with Proust is never clean, light and beautiful, it’s dirty, gritty and jealous. Jealous above all else. Characters may experience fulfilling, satisfying love, but it’s certainly never described. Love serves a purpose; often an artistic one, as we learn later on, but love is not a purpose in itself.
Being back in Balbec is strange and interesting. It’s where the narrator first met Albertine, who he’s now in love with (or not, depending on the day), it’s where he first met Charlus and Saint Loup. Marcel is a lot less innocent than he was the first time around, and yet he has a naiveté that persists. This is also Marcel on the slippery slope of a love affair. He loves Albertine and he doesn’t love her, he needs her and he wants to leave her. Being back in Balbec brings back memories (some haunted, like the memories of his grandmother) and it highlights the changes Marcel has been through. Balbec is not the same nor is Marcel, and yet, some things remain unchanged.
There are two tracks in this book. The paths of Sodom and Gomorrah. Where as the first part was almost exclusively centered around Charlus and thus Sodom, there Marcel suddenly realized that inversion was more common than he believed, this second part is centered around Albertine and Gomorrah. It’s Albertines secret, hidden inversion – that Marcel at times has a hard time truly believing, but still suspecting – and Charlus’ obvious inversion, that he thinks is hidden, but that everyone around him sees.
Just as Marcel builds up the courage to finally break it off with Albertine, she lets it slip that she used to live with Mademoiselle Vinteuil and her friend; the couple Marcel accidentally watched and overheard have sex with each other back in the very first book. Back then he comments on the fact that this particular occurrence will bring him a great deal of pain later on – he was referring to this moment, to Albertine revealing she knows them. Of course this brings back Marcels love for Albertine full force; it’s only when he trusts her, believes her to not deceive him, when he thinks he knows her, that he tires of her. The moment it’s hinted there may be something he doesn’t know, that she could live a life outside of his vision, his imagination, he loves her again.
For the entirety of the time they’ve spent in Balbec Marcel has suspected her lesbianism, and he spends as much time with her as possible, so she can’t spend time with anyone else. It’s a small taste of what’s to come after Albertines revelation. Marcel can no longer stand the idea of losing her, he needs to own her, make her his, and make sure she never deceives him again.
He brings her to Paris, where he keeps her, metaphorically, under lock and key, with the excuse that he may marry her.
To me this particular part of “In Search of Lost Time” seemed an amalgamation of all the parts that came before it, which is what Proust does. He mirrors storylines, characters, moments throughout the book. This in particular seemed the culmination of Marcel in society, and the start of Marcel in jealous love.
Being back in Balbec is strange and interesting. It’s where the narrator first met Albertine, who he’s now in love with (or not, depending on the day), it’s where he first met Charlus and Saint Loup. Marcel is a lot less innocent than he was the first time around, and yet he has a naiveté that persists. This is also Marcel on the slippery slope of a love affair. He loves Albertine and he doesn’t love her, he needs her and he wants to leave her. Being back in Balbec brings back memories (some haunted, like the memories of his grandmother) and it highlights the changes Marcel has been through. Balbec is not the same nor is Marcel, and yet, some things remain unchanged.
There are two tracks in this book. The paths of Sodom and Gomorrah. Where as the first part was almost exclusively centered around Charlus and thus Sodom, there Marcel suddenly realized that inversion was more common than he believed, this second part is centered around Albertine and Gomorrah. It’s Albertines secret, hidden inversion – that Marcel at times has a hard time truly believing, but still suspecting – and Charlus’ obvious inversion, that he thinks is hidden, but that everyone around him sees.
Just as Marcel builds up the courage to finally break it off with Albertine, she lets it slip that she used to live with Mademoiselle Vinteuil and her friend; the couple Marcel accidentally watched and overheard have sex with each other back in the very first book. Back then he comments on the fact that this particular occurrence will bring him a great deal of pain later on – he was referring to this moment, to Albertine revealing she knows them. Of course this brings back Marcels love for Albertine full force; it’s only when he trusts her, believes her to not deceive him, when he thinks he knows her, that he tires of her. The moment it’s hinted there may be something he doesn’t know, that she could live a life outside of his vision, his imagination, he loves her again.
For the entirety of the time they’ve spent in Balbec Marcel has suspected her lesbianism, and he spends as much time with her as possible, so she can’t spend time with anyone else. It’s a small taste of what’s to come after Albertines revelation. Marcel can no longer stand the idea of losing her, he needs to own her, make her his, and make sure she never deceives him again.
He brings her to Paris, where he keeps her, metaphorically, under lock and key, with the excuse that he may marry her.
To me this particular part of “In Search of Lost Time” seemed an amalgamation of all the parts that came before it, which is what Proust does. He mirrors storylines, characters, moments throughout the book. This in particular seemed the culmination of Marcel in society, and the start of Marcel in jealous love.
March 7, 2014
Précurseur du courant de la conscience en écriture.... Phraséologie induite de poussiere de pavots Inversion sexuelle et statut social....
February 3, 2015
Sodome et Gomorrhe II
by Marcel Proust
by Marcel Proust
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews