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Albertine desapareguda, II
En el procés de dol per la mort de l’Albertine, el protagonista decideix marxar de París i anar a un escenari ben Venècia, una ciutat amb què havia somiat des de petit però que no havia pogut visitar fins ara. Un cop allà retroba la serenor i l’energia, i es deixa seduir no només per la bellesa dels carrers, dels canals i dels palaus, sinó també per la de les noies que es va trobant en les seves passejades. En el viatge de tornada, s’assabenta del compromís d’en Saint -Loup amb la Gilberte Swann, i a continuació decideix passar una temporada als afores de Combray, a casa d’ella, ara ja una dona casada, on, inevitablement, en moments d’intimitat es faran reveladores confidències.
176 pages, Paperback
Published June 1, 2021
10 people want to read
About the author
Marcel Proust
2,154 books7,453 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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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 10, 2025
Albertine Disparue by Marcel Proust
I was seventeen when I first started to read Marcel Proust. Back then, I was very interested in the multiple aspects of love that Proust reveals. Intrigued and baffled by the discovery that we love the unattainable, people who say no and the ones who love us. It may very well be that “Proust did change my life” as Alain de Botton has it. After my first encounter with Proust, I was shocked to find that Proust was homosexual. Not so much as a man raised in a kind of a discriminatory environment, which the communist regime was- even it rather not mentioned “deviations”, but more in a state of awe at the intricacies of love between a man and a woman that Proust unveiled. How could he know so much about what a man feels for a woman, when he loved men? Gradually, I started to get it: because he knew so much about many aspects of life: psychology, art, painting, politics, diplomacy, flowers, Venice, philosophy, Ruskin and many more… then there is Sodome and Gomorrhe, where we learn so much about the attraction for the same sex. Nowadays, I have a friend who keeps making guesses about who is gay, at the locker room and sauna and I remember Proust and say to him: since we’re not gay, we do not really know, Proust says that “they „know each other on the spot, they have a way to identify members of the same club…we are left to wonder when we see an obvious, specific walk, but that is rare- I for one don’t know if I’ve seen it twice, except for movies or news reports from gay prides.
When reading Albertine Disparue I recalled what Proust’s brother has said about reading A La Recherche: “one has to have his leg broken, to find the time to read it”… I love Proust who is my very favorite writer, but his obsession with Albertine, her infidelities, her escapades with women and men, which happened or maybe not, but then we find proofs, which may turn out to be false, end up with me losing track and sometimes even interest for short spells.
Proust’s style is so beautiful that interest is shortly back and even if I tend to wonder for short spells why the hell do I read about the “blanchisseuse”, there is a psychological insight which moves the “intrigue”, from the lamentations of a cheated lover, to a general, interesting point of view where we can watch ourselves in a mirror, understand how our mind works, our habits, shortcomings.
Bloch turns out to be inspired by a real life friend, who ignored an article written by Proust, only to demand a point of view on his own work later.
One of the major themes of Albertine Disparue is high society, snobs. I was fascinated, as I see myself as a kind of a snob, even if not descending from any grand family; I tend to look down on forestières, rude guys, uneducated, like I was the Prince of Persia.
Proust does influence the way I think, even in some unexpected details: I know a man who talks with everybody and anybody, without any consideration for education, occupation-at the gym, that means body builders, pensioners, old women, escaped convicts, you name it.
There is in Albertine Disparue a passage on nobility, which made me think of Eddy, who used to be a kind of a potentate, a man for all seasons- Proust talks about the high nobility, which, by receiving, inviting all the “roturiers” end by diluting their importance until they end up with no “salon” at all, at least in the sense of a salon worth going to…
I like the nobility la duchesse, le baron Charlus, even his brother, la duchesse de Parme, madame de Villeparisis- and I was sad to find her in Albertine Disparue with a lèpre rouge, in a restaurant in Venice.
As I write this, with the TV on, but silent in the background, I notice on the “headline news „that yet another gipsy princess got married and I get upset, not because of any racism I presume, even if I learned from psychology books that I‘ve been reading that we are biased and even racist in many of our spontaneous answers, even if consciously we are not prejudiced. It is a longing for the “real „nobility of Proust, with all their idiosyncrasies, they knew about art, they had grace and style. The RRoma queens and kings don’t know how to talk properly, have tacky palaces and dubious, to say the least, fortunes.
Ending in a positive note: I thought of an iPad or android application, which, after you introduce a number of your favorite literary authors, gives birth to a new work, in a style which takes all of your favorites into account and creates the ultimate masterpiece…or maybe not J
I was seventeen when I first started to read Marcel Proust. Back then, I was very interested in the multiple aspects of love that Proust reveals. Intrigued and baffled by the discovery that we love the unattainable, people who say no and the ones who love us. It may very well be that “Proust did change my life” as Alain de Botton has it. After my first encounter with Proust, I was shocked to find that Proust was homosexual. Not so much as a man raised in a kind of a discriminatory environment, which the communist regime was- even it rather not mentioned “deviations”, but more in a state of awe at the intricacies of love between a man and a woman that Proust unveiled. How could he know so much about what a man feels for a woman, when he loved men? Gradually, I started to get it: because he knew so much about many aspects of life: psychology, art, painting, politics, diplomacy, flowers, Venice, philosophy, Ruskin and many more… then there is Sodome and Gomorrhe, where we learn so much about the attraction for the same sex. Nowadays, I have a friend who keeps making guesses about who is gay, at the locker room and sauna and I remember Proust and say to him: since we’re not gay, we do not really know, Proust says that “they „know each other on the spot, they have a way to identify members of the same club…we are left to wonder when we see an obvious, specific walk, but that is rare- I for one don’t know if I’ve seen it twice, except for movies or news reports from gay prides.
When reading Albertine Disparue I recalled what Proust’s brother has said about reading A La Recherche: “one has to have his leg broken, to find the time to read it”… I love Proust who is my very favorite writer, but his obsession with Albertine, her infidelities, her escapades with women and men, which happened or maybe not, but then we find proofs, which may turn out to be false, end up with me losing track and sometimes even interest for short spells.
Proust’s style is so beautiful that interest is shortly back and even if I tend to wonder for short spells why the hell do I read about the “blanchisseuse”, there is a psychological insight which moves the “intrigue”, from the lamentations of a cheated lover, to a general, interesting point of view where we can watch ourselves in a mirror, understand how our mind works, our habits, shortcomings.
Bloch turns out to be inspired by a real life friend, who ignored an article written by Proust, only to demand a point of view on his own work later.
One of the major themes of Albertine Disparue is high society, snobs. I was fascinated, as I see myself as a kind of a snob, even if not descending from any grand family; I tend to look down on forestières, rude guys, uneducated, like I was the Prince of Persia.
Proust does influence the way I think, even in some unexpected details: I know a man who talks with everybody and anybody, without any consideration for education, occupation-at the gym, that means body builders, pensioners, old women, escaped convicts, you name it.
There is in Albertine Disparue a passage on nobility, which made me think of Eddy, who used to be a kind of a potentate, a man for all seasons- Proust talks about the high nobility, which, by receiving, inviting all the “roturiers” end by diluting their importance until they end up with no “salon” at all, at least in the sense of a salon worth going to…
I like the nobility la duchesse, le baron Charlus, even his brother, la duchesse de Parme, madame de Villeparisis- and I was sad to find her in Albertine Disparue with a lèpre rouge, in a restaurant in Venice.
As I write this, with the TV on, but silent in the background, I notice on the “headline news „that yet another gipsy princess got married and I get upset, not because of any racism I presume, even if I learned from psychology books that I‘ve been reading that we are biased and even racist in many of our spontaneous answers, even if consciously we are not prejudiced. It is a longing for the “real „nobility of Proust, with all their idiosyncrasies, they knew about art, they had grace and style. The RRoma queens and kings don’t know how to talk properly, have tacky palaces and dubious, to say the least, fortunes.
Ending in a positive note: I thought of an iPad or android application, which, after you introduce a number of your favorite literary authors, gives birth to a new work, in a style which takes all of your favorites into account and creates the ultimate masterpiece…or maybe not J
August 8, 2025
Quina llàstima que aquest home, que es va passar els últims anys de la seva vida corregint una feina inicial que ja devia ser brillant i ampliant-la sense parar, no fos a temps de revisar amb tot detall els últims volums i hi hagin hagut de quedar algunes petites tares, repeticions de fragments, petites inconsistències en les accions i destins d'alguns personatges, petites imperfeccions. Ens ho podem prendre de moltes maneres: com un recordatori que la perfecció no existeix, com una petita taca que fa destacar més la bellesa de tota la resta, com un petit exemple del desengany i la decepció que, diu Proust, segueixen inevitablement l'apropament a tot allò que ens fascina.
A part d'això, aquest volum m'ha semblat extraordinari, com tota la resta. Proust tenia molt clar on volia arribar, què volia dir, què havia de representar cada personatge, cada gest, cada fet. Pren un camí molt llarg, ple de reflexions complementàries a les idees principals, però acaba tornant a gairebé totes les escenes dels primers volums per dotar-les de nou sentit, per construir, il·lustrar i reforçar les seves conclusions. Tot el que va poder ordenar està extraordinàriament ben ordit i acabes la lectura dels diferents volums amb una barreja de sensacions postives: meravellat, embriagat per la bellesa i també decebut amb tu mateix perquè tens la sensació que el teu cervell és incapaç de contenir tot el que t'hi ha abocat la lectura i que sents com se t'escapa massa ràpidament. També, ja s'ha vist, surts del llibre amb una afició a intentar-te acostar als misteris de l'existència a través de frases llarguíssimes que mai sabràs construir tan bé com Proust.
A part d'això, aquest volum m'ha semblat extraordinari, com tota la resta. Proust tenia molt clar on volia arribar, què volia dir, què havia de representar cada personatge, cada gest, cada fet. Pren un camí molt llarg, ple de reflexions complementàries a les idees principals, però acaba tornant a gairebé totes les escenes dels primers volums per dotar-les de nou sentit, per construir, il·lustrar i reforçar les seves conclusions. Tot el que va poder ordenar està extraordinàriament ben ordit i acabes la lectura dels diferents volums amb una barreja de sensacions postives: meravellat, embriagat per la bellesa i també decebut amb tu mateix perquè tens la sensació que el teu cervell és incapaç de contenir tot el que t'hi ha abocat la lectura i que sents com se t'escapa massa ràpidament. També, ja s'ha vist, surts del llibre amb una afició a intentar-te acostar als misteris de l'existència a través de frases llarguíssimes que mai sabràs construir tan bé com Proust.
March 18, 2023
A veces, cuando el trabajo u otra circunstancia me alienan, abro cualquier libro de Proust al azar y leo. Al cabo de quince o veinte minutos, mi sensibilidad se activa de nuevo, tal es su poder (esto se puede hacer también con los salmos, pero no es el objeto de esta reseña).
Su análisis de los celos, las relaciones entre las clases, los matices de las mismas, la vida secreta de las personas, la doblez, la vida, al fin y al cabo, es delicioso y de una profundidad psicológica que no deja de asombrarme. Uno de los autores que me ha cambiado la vida.
Su análisis de los celos, las relaciones entre las clases, los matices de las mismas, la vida secreta de las personas, la doblez, la vida, al fin y al cabo, es delicioso y de una profundidad psicológica que no deja de asombrarme. Uno de los autores que me ha cambiado la vida.
January 31, 2021
Free download available at Project Gutenberg
I made the proofing of this book for Free Literature and Project Gutenberg will publish it.
TABLE DES MATIÈRES
CHAPITRE II - Mademoiselle de Forcheville
CHAPITRE III - Séjour à Venise
CHAPITRE IV - Nouvel aspect de Robert de Saint-Loup
I made the proofing of this book for Free Literature and Project Gutenberg will publish it.
TABLE DES MATIÈRES
CHAPITRE II - Mademoiselle de Forcheville
CHAPITRE III - Séjour à Venise
CHAPITRE IV - Nouvel aspect de Robert de Saint-Loup
December 15, 2021
Sí quelcom té de debò rellegir, és poder descobrir detalls que vas passar per alt o no recordaves i que et sorprenen com si fossin nous.
És el que m'ha passat amb el telegrama que rep el protagonista mentre està a Venècia amb la mare. Un telegrama que trasbalsa tota l'acció i que es barreja amb les emocions que es desprenen d'una Venècia bellament descrita.
A més, aquest volum tanca tot el periple emocional del protagonista —no oblidem que el proper serà El temps retrobat—, portant-lo a trobar i reescriure els sentiments i les experiències de la infància, ara ja, des d'una mirada adulta.
La recerca del temps perdut, és una lectura imprescindible i que satisfà sempre al lector.
És el que m'ha passat amb el telegrama que rep el protagonista mentre està a Venècia amb la mare. Un telegrama que trasbalsa tota l'acció i que es barreja amb les emocions que es desprenen d'una Venècia bellament descrita.
A més, aquest volum tanca tot el periple emocional del protagonista —no oblidem que el proper serà El temps retrobat—, portant-lo a trobar i reescriure els sentiments i les experiències de la infància, ara ja, des d'una mirada adulta.
La recerca del temps perdut, és una lectura imprescindible i que satisfà sempre al lector.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews