tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2623210537837056131.post2482932312324266298..comments2022-10-28T04:58:37.790-07:00Comments on ramona and her mother: Nova Reads Proust vol.1 sleeping and name droppingNova Bradfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09490809938797579513noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2623210537837056131.post-24561662688090155972011-03-02T08:43:36.211-08:002011-03-02T08:43:36.211-08:00I like this comment, Dan. It's very Proust.I like this comment, Dan. It's very Proust.Nova Bradfieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09490809938797579513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2623210537837056131.post-18273073818159860772011-03-01T16:16:36.134-08:002011-03-01T16:16:36.134-08:00I'm so glad you're reading this. It's ...I'm so glad you're reading this. It's one of my favorite books. But, yes, things happen glacially. I remember when I started reading volume 2 a couple years ago, I charted the plot thus: little Marcel pines to see his favorite actress of the stage for the first time, Mme Berma. Then a diplomat friend of Marcel's father makes fun of Berma and Marcel is deeply hurt. His spirits are lifted when he learns he will get to SEE Berma perform with his grandmother, but then he starts to get sick and might not be able to go. But then he does and sees her perform, but he's so wrapped up in watching her for the first time he cannot concentrate on actually experiencing/enjoying it. I basically described like 200 pages.<br /><br />Swann’s Way is not really about anything. It’s just basically the reminiscences of a guy named Marcel (a stand in for Proust, but not actually Proust). You have to be cool with tangents because Proust goes through so many generations of tangents that you’ll forget about what he’s talking about in the first place. The protag is dropping names, not because you’ll know them, but because that’s what upper middle class French people of the nineteenth century did. As you read, some of them will become more recognizable.<br /> <br />This is my favorite book because it captures the nuanced movements of human emotion better than any other book I’ve read. It also perfectly captures the social interests and mores of a lost era. It’s good…BUT LONG!Dan Magershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10985586571776398487noreply@blogger.com