Emma’s Comments (group member since Sep 18, 2011)

Emma’s comments from the NYRB Classics group.

Thanks for the JSTOR article!

thanks!

Louise wrote: "Proust really need to be read very very slowly. Even though it took me a whole year reading 10-15 pages per day, I still feel I read it too quickly. Still, I would have savored it more had it been ..."
It took me over a year to read the 7 volumes, Yes, some passages were painful, for instance the super long meal in book 3, but with Proust, you are suddenly surprised by a beautiful gem at the turn of a page. These passages made it worth it. And wow, the final book is so good! If I were younger, I would reread the whole thing, to get more of the connections between all the books. There are a lot. A French friend of mine has reread the whole thing 5 or 6 times, precisely to better see the work as one whole.
I can't help with editions here. I read it in French my native language. In an online edition that was very good.
Even though I'm a translator myself, I have to admit, I have a hard time to accept the idea of this book in any other language than French. Sorry, not sure what I really mean myself by saying this!

I'm lost. What book was then decided for March?

I like the mention of jackhammers in the review. I feel this is exactly what Franz experienced in his brain, facing the over-stimulation and disorientation at discovering city life after so many years in prison.
Even though I DNFed the book at about 25%, I enjoyed a lot the beginning, and the way the author captured Franz's difficulty to readjust to "normal" life, by constantly going back in mind to the milieu he had known for years, thinking about the guys back there, what they would be doing at the time of the day, etc. The style used to convey that was very successful, I thought.

sorry, I have to quit. I was at 25%, and had by then really the feeling of wasting my time

Thank you!

Top 2 look so depressing, I'm not sure I'll read them, though I do like Hungarian literature

Struggling, but persevering, so far

I nominate:
Fatale, by Manchette
A Balcony in the Forest, by Gracq
Act of Passion, by Simenon
Confusion, by Zweig
The Gate, by Soseki

I'm reading a few pages a day. I enjoy the style very much. I was a bit concerned when I saw it compared to Ulysses. It does indeed feel a bit like it at the beginning, though much easier to follow than James Joyce. Nice surprise for the style. I enjoy books that are "different"

I have the Jolas translation as well, but I'm French and could compare with the French text from time to time, for difficult passages. I actually read German, but if it's a very difficult text, I may not be very useful..
This is actually my very first time here for a read-along with you. So, how does it work? Are we assigned a certain number of chapters every week?

sorry, I had just listed classics I mean to read. Now these are NYRB:
Fatale, by Manchette
A Balcony in the Forest, by Gracq
Act of Passion, by Simenon
Confusion, by Zweig
The Gate, by Soseki