***Group Read: The Guermantes Way

Angela and I are reading our way slowing through In Search of Lost Time. We are starting the third volume on January 1, 2011. The tentative schedule is:

Part One: January 1 through February 5.

Part Two: February 6 through March 12.

Anyone else interested? Please join us! :)

What do you think of the schedule? Each part is about 300 pages in my book. I think I scheduled 5 weeks for each part.
--BJ

I added a link to this thread to the wiki page...

Thanks for starting this thread, BJ. Your schedule looks great! It's nice and relaxed, which is the only way to read Proust, imho...
We can always adjust it if we need to, right? :)

Thanks for doing that Doc! I've got to figure out the wiki page soon. Never used a wiki before...

#2> I am seconding the thanks for the link to the wiki page. I don't know anything about how to do that on wiki. In 2011 I need to overcome my deficiencies in the area of computer skills!

#3> Yes, we can adjust the schedule any way. It is just a sort of target. Do you think we will remember where we left off?
--BJ

Didn't we leave off at the end of that VERY long trip to the shore, where the narrator fell in love...again...with that new girl...Albertine??

I think it will come back to us as we read. I hope...

Yes, you're right. I remember now!
--BJ

Well, I had some free time today so I started on this. It's the 'same old Proust' all right! His narrative style is familiar to me now and I slipped right back into his world.

Now the family has moved to the Guermantes Hotel, where they live near the Princess Guermantes. The narrator is obsessed with the world of the Guermantes family, no surprise here, as he imagines their world to be so much loftier than his.

We get a more detailed view of Francoise and her thoughts and feelings about their new house.

The narrator goes to see Berma again at the opera, which he enjoys more than the first time, and goes into detail describing many of the people at the performance.

I made the mistake of reading this around naptime on a Sunday afternoon, and nearly fell asleep several times! The prose is as relaxing as always, lol...

I also started on Proust today, and I loved reading it. His writing is just beautiful! Francoise is hilarious to me! I loved this part from the beginning:

Francoise, who would not allow the least of her own ailments to pass unnoticed, if I were in pain would turn her head away so that I should not have the satisfaction of seeing my sufferings pitied, or so much as observed.

I really love that character!

Also from the beginning, when he is describing the name Guermantes and Combray, I loved this part:

And the name Guermantes of those days is also like one of those little balloons which have been filled with oxygen or some other gas; when I come to prick it, to extract its contents from it, I breathe the air of the Combray of that year, of that day, mingled with a fragrance of hawthorne blossom blown by the wind from the corner of the square, harbinger of rain, which now sent the sun packing, now let it spread itself over the red woollen carpet of the sacristy, clothing it in a bright geranium pink and in that, so to speak, Wagnerian sweetness and solemnity in joy that give such nobility to a festive occasion. But even apart from such rare moments as these, in which suddenly we feel the original entity quiver and resume its form, carve itself out of syllables now dead, if in the dizzy whirl of daily life, in which they serve only the most practical purpose, names have lost all their color, like a prismatic top that spins too quickly and seems only grey, when, on the other hand, we reflect upon the past in our day-dreams and seek, in order to recapture it, to slacken, to suspend the perpetual motion by which we are borne along, gradually we see once more appear, side by side but entirely distinct from one another, the tints which in the course of our existence have been successively presented to us by a single name.

Sorry, I got a little carried away with that one! I did not read as far as you did today, but I found that I also enjoyed slipping back into his world. He really can turn a phrase! I ended at the part about Francoise and the butler.
--BJ

Never worry about being carried away here! I enjoyed it. :)

I might have said this before, but I wonder how much of the narrator is Proust himself?? I remember reading about Proust being sick for most of his life, staying indoors a lot, and not being able to work at a steady occupation. I think he only got down to writing his masterpiece toward the end of his life. I also think he was 'extra attached' to his mother.

That's beginning to sound just like our hero, the narrator of these books.

I read somewhere that the narrator is named Marcel, but so far I haven't seen that anywhere. I read somewhere else that we should not assume that the narrator is Proust. On the other hand, Proust had problems with asthma just like our narrator. I guess he wrote what he knew, but not everything happened in real life. I bought two companion books to this series, but I have not read them. I read a little of one and none of the other! Maybe if I read them they could shed some light on this, because I have been wondering about this quite a bit myself.
--BJ

I guess I will try to remember that A LOT of what I'm reading is taken from real life but even so...this is fiction.

I'm reading a bit more again today and I continue to be amazed at the length of the 'visits' and 'holidays' these people take. It's like that in all the old books I read. People go on holiday and don't come back for 3 months! Or they go to visit a friend and stay for weeks, months, longer! (Maybe I'm just reading about the richer classes. I suppose the poor working class or those with no rich friends could never afford to do this.) In a way, I wish it was like that now, but in another way I'm glad it isn't!

I think you are right that it is the upper classes and the poorer classes worked all the time. Haven't picked it up yet today, but I definitely will. :) I will check back in later.
--BJ

OK, I have read my part for today. I fell asleep with only 2 pages to go, kept waking up and falling back asleep!!! But I finally stayed awake once I realized that it was the warm fuzzy blanket making me sleepy!

I caught up to the opera/play and loved this description of Marquis de Palancy:

Now and again he paused, venerable, wheezing, moss-grown, and the audience could not have told whether he was in pain, asleep, swimming, about to spawn, or merely taking a breath.

And what about that jealous actress in the audience raising such a ruckus?

Then through the whole discussion of the last time he saw Berme and this time and comparing it to how he felt toward Gilberte, (which I loved), I thought he is maturing in his attitudes. And then he returns to his stalking ways! And poor Saint Loup, only a friend when it suits our narrator's need.

Here was my favorite part about stalking Mme Guermantes:

I was genuinely in love with Mme Guermantes. The greatest happiness that I could have asked of God would have been that he should send down on her every imaginable calamity, and that ruined despised, stripped of all the privileges that separated her from me, having no longer any home of her own or people who would condescend to speak to her, she should come to me for asylum.

Hilarious! And if she were to be reduced? He probably would not even think about her! Maturing? Not so much!
--BJ

Yes, I was proud of his maturing ways too, and then it quickly fell to ruins. He tends to be obsessed with one unattainable thing/person after another. Although somewhere in this reading he mentioned that it was because he was pursuing perfection.
If he's a hopeless perfectionist, that does explain a few things. And since I've struggled with perfectionism myself, it helps me feel a bit more compassionate towards him.

I'll be interested to see what you think of his time spent with Saint Loup. I really liked Saint Loup when the narrator first went to see him, but now that the visit is progressing, I'm not as sure whether he genuinely cares for the narrator or not. But he's an interesting character. I'm not done with his visit yet so perhaps more will come up to answer my question.

I have read some more today. I am still at the dinner with Saint-Loup where he is discussing military things. So much of what I read today was just beautiful! Here is one part that I liked:

I got up only after my fire had been lighted, and studied the picture, so delicate and transparent, of the pink and golden morning, to which I had now added by artificial means the element of warmth that it lacked, poking my fire which burned and smoked like a good pipe and gave me, as a pipe would have given me, a pleasure at once coarse because it was based upon a material comfort and delicate because behind it were the soft outlines of a pure vision.

I love his descriptions looking out the window!

I hope that I am not reading much too slowly. I will try to pick up the pace a little and catch up to you, because Friday I will go out of town to take my daughter back to college. I will not be able to read Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.

I see what you mean about Saint-Loup. However, I seem to recall how when Saint-Loup really needed the friendship of our narrator in the last book, our hero totally blew him off. (Wouldn't visit him at camp or something, can't recall exactly.) Maybe this is payback. Or maybe because he (SL) has called it off with the girlfriend, he is embarrasses that Marcel (or whatever his name is) knows about her. Maybe all will become clear later. He does seem to be making fun of him, though.

I can see why people like ISOLT so much. It is pretty addicting! I still don't think that when I finish the whole thing that I will start over again at the beginning. :)
--BJ

I enjoyed reading your favorite parts. You're right - reading this is addicting. I think reading it more slowly is better - you can absorb more of the beauty.

I'm actually 25% done with the book. I'm sorry to be going a little fast, but I want to explain what I'm trying to do. I'm aiming to finish Part 1 (which is about half the book) and then put it aside briefly to read Sense and Sensibility. I plan to finish that one pretty quickly, because I want to focus only on one book at a time.

I've overbooked myself a little! After S&S, I need to finish Proust, read a Wilkie Collins book along with Stasia, and I'm also loaning a 950 page book from Suzanne (Chatterbox) on my Kindle, which I will have only 2 weeks to read before it disappears! All of this is supposed to be done by mid-March. 3 chunksters in less than 3 months.

Do you think I bit off more than I can chew? Lol, I'm actually not stressing about it, but I AM trying to devote a good amount of time to reading this. I would like to be 50% done with the book by the 15th, when I will take a Proust break and read the Austen book.

So if you fall behind me you should have time to catch up to me at the end of this month. I will post here often and we can cheer each other on, and I promise I won't start part 2 until we can start it together. Sound okay?

And no, once we finish ISOLT, I don't think I'll be going back to the beginning and starting over either! At least not for many years, lol... ;)

I am also planning to read S&S (that is if I can locate one of my two copies of it!), so I can try to finish part 1 by the 15th with you. I always sign up for too many reading groups, too. Also reading Beowulf, The Master and Margarita, The Satanic Verses, and Cloud Atlas. But they all sound like good reads! Who can resist? Two weeks for 950 pages sounds too hard for me, though.

By the way, I am not worried about spoilers with this book, so you can comment on things that I haven't read yet.
--BJ

PS Which Wilkie Collins are you reading?

I'm at the part where the narrator goes home because he wants to see his grandmother again. After being away from her for a while, when he sees her again it finally hits him that she has aged.

Mlle. Guermantes has not agreed to see him yet. I find it interesting that she seems to be repulsed by him. I wonder why. I'm sure that Proust will tell us!

Stasia and I are reading The Law and the Lady. I'm glad to hear you're 'overbooked' too, lol...

Remember how when the narrator was in love with Gilberte, her parents hated him at first? I don't know how much of the attitudes of others are in his imagination, but maybe Guermantes is repulsed by him because she thinks he's stalking her. Kind of creepy that every time she goes out, there he is. But I have been thinking this for 3 books, so maybe it is just me.

I have never heard of The Law and the Lady, so I will follow your thread to see what you think of it. I always overbook. I have temptation issues! The only thing that saves me is if I have already read the book. I will return tomorrow, but I have Church both in the morning and evening, so not sure what time I will check in. Have a good evening!
--BJ

Hi, Angela!
I only read about 20 pages and most of it late last night. I was at the part where SL is worrying over the rift with his mistriss. I will try to read more today and then start back on Monday.
--BJ

I meant to post this last night, but I have been having computer problems.

I have read 25% of the book now and I just now noticed that part one and part two have no titles in my book. The other two books had titles to each part. I wonder if this is the same in your book?

I got to the part where our narrator meets SL's mistress and realizes that she is a prostitute. This sort of thing seems to happen a lot, doesn't it? I loved the description of making a phone call, when he talks to his grandmother prior to going home.

I am off to take my daughter back to college. See you when I get back.
--BJ

Sorry I haven't posted here in so long. I've been sick. I think it is/was the flu. Feeling a bit stronger today, and hoping I can survive work on Monday.

You're right - the parts in my book do not have titles either.

Fortunately or unfortunately - depending on your perspective - the sick time gave me more time to read Proust, so I'm done with the first part now. I'm going to start on S&S by Austen, and then my read with Stasia, and hope to get back to this book at the end of Jan, or Feb. Hope that's okay with you. If not I can adjust.

At first I thought Rachel (the mistress) wasn't too bad, but then I found her appalling. SL's relationship with her was another replay of Swann and Odette. Is every romantic relationship in this book going to be Swann and Odette???

I know we've talked about how we feel about the narrator. Well, SL's mistress humiliates an aspiring actress/singer and our narrator is upset by that. I was outraged by it too, so it made me love our narrator a bit more.

Then there is a HUGE section of the book devoted to a society gathering at the Villeparisis home. It went on a bit too long for me. But still interesting.

I wish I understood more about this Dreyfus case. It seems to be a huge issue and I've never heard of it before, and I don't know how the case turned out. I get the feeling lots of things are going over my head because of it, but yet I'm still intrigued by this book in spite of that.

What impressed me about the "party" section is how much everyone is turning out to be a hypocrite. It's as if our narrator is a silent observer, and he sees people acting one way, and then later, the opposite way. I don't "get" the society of those times! Everyone seems to be overly concerned about appearances and they don't stand up for what they truly believe because of fear of being excluded from society. I mean, I know people still do that today, but I think (I hope) it's not as extreme as it was back in those times.

It's as if our narrator has no one (other than his family) that he can be certain to trust - and that really bothers me.

The section ends with the narrator going home, and his grandmother getting ill. The second part of the book seems to start off with a section about his grandmother's illness.

You are right about Proust - he has an enjoyable way with words. And even when I'm not grasping 100% of what he's saying, I'm still interested in reading more - which is pretty amazing to me.

Loved seeing your thoughts here! I am sorry that you have been sick and hope you are now on the road to recovery.

I got in late last night and have only read about 20 pages so far today. I hope to read more later, but I have a dinner to go to first.

I am right at the part where Rachel has just insulted the other actress and now it appears that SL has broken off with her (we can only hope!). It is so much like Swann and Odette!

The narrator seems older now to me. I guess because he is doing work as a writer. He always has been a keen observer and then the writing puts it all into just the right words.

The whole part about the poor actress was perfectly written. How many times have we all witnessed acts of cruelty like that?

Well, I have to go get ready for the dinner. Hope to read some more tonight. Your schedule works great with me. I will try to finish Part 1 by the end of the week and we can restart after S&S and your other book. I am so glad that I still enjoy reading this. :) I hope that I make it all the way to the end.
--BJ

I was able to read a little more today than yesterday. I have about 45 pages left Part 1, and I hope to read those tomorrow.

Most of what I have read has been at the salon with the discussion of the Dreyfuss affair. I also don't really recall what it was about and might try to look it up some on wikipedia tomorrow. At last our hero gets his chance to speak to his new infatuation, but they don't really seem to hit it off. I am wondering what Part 2 will hold since I think he told someone that he will return to Balbec.
--BJ

No, they didn't seem to hit it off, but unfortunately I'm afraid it won't be enough to make our hero fall out of love with her.

Honestly, I wasn't very impressed with the Duchess either. Maybe that will change, but she seemed like a snob.

I noticed that she engaged in similar cruelty to that committed by Rachel, although in the form of gossip rather that pointed in your face cruelty. So why did our hero not find this distasteful enough to move on?
--BJ

Hi, Angela!
I have at last finished Part 1. I am wondering what to think of M. de Charlus. He seems like a pretty big character coming up. I must say that I felt sorry for Grandmamma, when no one would believe that she was too sick to go out.

I looked up the Dreyfus Affair, which I could not remember at all. According to wikipedia, he was accused of treason, but later the evidence pointed to Esterhazy. E. was totally acquitted because of his friends (I think), and Dreyfus retried on trumped up evidence. Ultimately, later he was released from prison as there was no real evidence against him. He served in the military throughout WW1.

I am wondering what the next part will bring. I thought he was going back to Balbec, but all this de Charlus talk makes me wonder. Still wondering about his age. De Charlus makes a comment about how soon he will have to shave. He also comments about him being in the lower middle class. I personally don't see it with all the servants and long trips.

When do you want to start on Part 2? I see that my library copy of S&S is now available. I don't seem to be reading very quickly these days. Hope you are feeling ok.
--BJ

Bumping this up so we can find it. I see that it has scheduled Part 2 to start on February 6th. I can start tomorrow (the first) or I can wait until the 6th. What would you like to do, Angela?
--BJ

Thanks, BJ. Let's stick with the plan...I forgot there WAS a plan, lol...

Today I read Chapter 1 of Part 2, which was fairly short. It was about Grandmamma's illness. Here is a quote that I liked:

And gathering up all her most ardent love, all her determination that her mother should recover, she entrusted them to a kiss which she accompanied with her whole mind, with her whole being until it flowered upon her lips, and bent down to lay it humbly, reverently, on the beloved forehead.

--BJ

I thought Francoise behavior was interesting in this part. Kind of different than I expected.

What pace do you want to set, Angela? Do you want a brisk pace like in part one? I know that Pride and Prejudice is coming up, but I am not sure what else you are reading these days. Hope you got to enjoy the Super Bowl! :)
--BJ

Pardon me for this stream of consciousness/rant here:

I haven't started Part 2 yet. Possibly today. I'm looking forward to it, and once I start I'll probably read at a faster pace.

I have not read one single book in Feb. so far. Wonder if I'll make 75 this year?

I'm not reading any other group reads until Pride and Prejudice which I think is in March, so I could probably do a faster pace. Unless my parents come up with more apartment improvement projects, lol...

We had a Superbowl Party - 9 people in our 4 room apartment. It was supposed to be 11 people, which would have been super tight. It was fun. Most of us didn't care about the game...we just talked and put a puzzle together and ate snacks, with the game on the TV next to us. I honestly didn't care who won this time. It was a good game, though. Some of the commercials were funny, but not too many, imho. And the sound quality for the halftime show was awful! We could barely hear the music playing...and you could tell that the Black Eyed Peas could not hear themselves sing! Christina messing up the national anthem was sort of funny...and sad...

We also watched the Super Bowl. No party, just hanging out. I missed the halftime show to cook dinner. I thought that overall, the commercials were a disappointment. I did like the McDonald's one, though.

I will also try to read at a brisk pace if I can. Feel free to comment no matter how far ahead you read. Not worried about spoilers with this one.
--BJ

I started Chapter 2 of Part 2, which is the last chapter of the book. I was so surprised to see chapters, although it is still not an easy book to break into bits. I read about our Hero and his collection of women. Here is a quote that caught my eye near the beginning of the chapter:

She was like an enchantress offering me a mirror that reflected time.

This was speaking of Albertine. This reflection of time seems to be quite a theme in this book.
--BJ

I read the part with Saint-Loup, who is also kind of fickle, I think, and on to the part where our Hero finally sees the Elstir paintings. I really loved that part. Here is my quote:

There was something enchanting about this waterside carnival. The river, the women's dresses, the sails of the boats, the innumerable reflections of one thing and another jostled together enchantingly in this little square panel of beauty which Elstir had cut out of a marvelous afternoon. What delighted one in the dress of a woman who had stopped dancing for a moment because she was hot and out of breath shimmered too, and in the same way, in the cloth of a motionless sail, in the water of the little harbour, in the wooden landing-stage, in the leaves of the trees and in the sky.
--BJ

I forgot to mention that when I saw the references to "Stendhalian girls," it reminded me that I never finished Red and Black. I hate when I put books down like that and just forget about them. I think that's what happens when I get too many of them going at once. Maybe I will find it again and finish this year. :)
--BJ

Today I read the digressions during the Guermantes' dinner party. Liked the discussion of nicknames and the discussion of social strata. Here are a couple of quotes:

So that it was the absence of grandeur which lay in the Duke's indifference to the splendour of his surroundings, in contrast to his deference towards a guest, however insignificant in himself, whom he desired to honour.

...

The Courvoisiers however, more than the Guermantes, maintained in a certain sense the integrity of the titled class thanks at once to the narrowness of their minds and the malevolence of their hearts.

Speak your mind, huh? Interesting also was how the Guermantes opposed the class strata but insisted on being called by their titles.
--BJ

Here I am...sorry...

I'm in chapter 2 of part 2 also, it's weird to have such long chapters!

I'm not as far as you...I'm at the part where our hero's date cancels on him and Saint Loup arrives during his despair.

Our home decorating/renovations are continuing. We've been needing a new entertainment center and desk for a long time and I finally found some that I liked, for a good price. So now I've got to put the furniture together - it came in boxes!

Got to go...thanks for helping me read this!

Good luck with the furniture building. :)

You are not that far behind me. The dinner party is next. It goes on and on. Do you want me to slow down? Any pace is fine with me.
--BJ

Oh, I forgot to mention, during the part about nicknames, I think, our Hero was being introduced to someone. I just KNEW that we would at last see his name in print. But no such luck! Do you think we will get to page 3000 and it will be signed?
--BJ

No, you don't need to slow down...not yet anyway! I appreciate reading your impressions! I found a website that summarizes each section, and I'm thinking about going back and reading a summary of all that we've read so far...maybe after we finish this book? That will keep everyone's names in my mind a little more. The only problem I'm having is keeping all the characters straight - the ones who are not mentioned very frequently over the series, anyway...

I laughed at something I read yesterday, and I wanted to quote it here, and now I forget what it was. Frustrating!

I have a feeling our hero is never going to be named in this series. We'll see. Not sure why I've heard his name is Marcel. Maybe he does wait until the last book.

I was a little disgusted with that scene in bed with Albertine. Especially since right before that someone said she was 'old for fourteen'. I sincerely hope they were joking and she wasn't really 14??? I wonder how old our narrator is here - he was referred to as a man in the last few pages.

He seems very disgusted and disillusioned with love and women when he writes this section, don't you think? I find it funny how he always loves the women he can't have, but doesn't love the ones who seem to love him back. I also find it immature...

Why don't we just call our Narrator/Hero Marcel? I know that there are conflicting opinions about it, but I surely would like to call him by name. What do you think?

What is the website?

I got through the discussion at the dinner party. I don't know whatever happened to M. Charlus. Maybe the next part will address that. I found the discussion of Victor Hugo interesting since my daughters are both huge Hugo fans! Here are my quotes from this reading.

But the Duchess had in dealing with her husband that sort of boldness which animal tamers show, or people who live with a madman and are not afraid of provoking him.

Oh, I can't find the other quote. Anyway, back to Marcel, I agree that he is immature and fickle still. But I wonder if he will always be like that? What I found surprising was Albertine. I did not really think she would behave the way she did. She seemed more assertive previously.

Thanks for reading Proust with me. :) Have a great day!
--BJ

I forgot to mention about the part about Elstir's painting of the asparagus. I saw a still life of a pile of asparagus in a magazine about art once, and I asked my daughter to paint me one. I loved it! I hope some summer when she is off from school that she will have time to paint one for me. :)
--BJ

I'm currently at the part where the dinner party has just started. I get the feeling that Marcel is implying things that are going over my head in places. Like at the dinner with Saint-Loup, was he implying that Saint Loup and all his friends were secretly homosexual? I think he was, and yet I'm not completely positive.

That's why I wanted a plot summary - to make sure I'm getting all the meaning out of this.

I went back to the website I mentioned and I was disappointed. It is not a complete summary like I thought. In fact, I was disappointed that there seems to be no detailed Proust summaries online. You have to buy them. I'm thinking of buying this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Marcel-Prousts-Search-Lost-Time/dp/0307472329/ref=tmm_pap_...

It seems to be what I'm looking for. Not too brief, and not too long. What do you think?

I was giggling inside at the part where Marcel gets stuck in the revolving glass doors at the restaurant! He seems to be an adult now, but in situations like this it seems he's just a child...

I'm still enjoying the way Marcel puts us inside his mind or the mind of others. Quite often I read something and realize that I have thought the exact same way at one time, or I've known people who have thought and acted that way.

There is a lot of hypocrisy here...but maybe all humans are hypocritical at times. Like when we're really tired and we don't want to talk to a certain friend because they can be draining, so we try to avoid them in some way? But then we act happy to see them when we run into them? I see a lot of that here.

That looks like an interesting guide. Way back last summer I bought a different guide (can't recall the name now), and I was disappointed in it. Maybe it is just too much book for a guide. I don't know.

I wondered the same thing about SL, but to me it didn't really make sense. Speaking of getting inside your head, a part I was reading today talked about that blank look in the eye when we don't know what someone is talking about. I get that look, for sure! I am about halfway through my reading for today. The end is really near now! I am hoping to finish this weekend, but my weekends have gotten super busy these days. So I am not sure that I will be able to.

I was guessing young adult -- maybe 18? But 18 seems so much older than 14. I had thought that he and Albertine were about the same age for some reason when they met at the beach.
--BJ

Was this the book you got?

http://www.amazon.com/Prousts-Way-Field-Guide-Search/dp/0393321800/ref=pd_bxgy_b...

This one, and the one in post 45, seem to be the best of the lot, from what I've been reading.

I'm hoping to finish in the next week or so.

Do you have any idea when you'd like to start book #4? I was thinking April at the very soonest.

Yes, that is the book that I got. I might look it back over again. It did not answer some of my questions from the first book, so I put it down and forgot it. And the organization was different from the order of the book, I think.

Yes, I would like a little break, too. Also, just to let you know, my daughter is getting married May 14th. My schedule might be sporadic during April - May. Not really sure. I haven't looked at the next book yet, so I am not sure how it is organized. But they all seem to be divided into two parts, so far, I think. Whatever start date you like is fine with me. Thanks for hanging in there with me!!! :)
--BJ

OK, I read to the end of the dinner party and right up to where he arrives at the house of M. Charlus. Here are my quotes, one from the very beginning, and one from the end.

Nothing is less cloying than that transmutation into flavour of a colour of a fruit, which, when cooked, seems to have travelled backwards to the season of its blossoming.

I had just slid them into the internal stereoscope through the lenses of which, as soon as we are no longer ourselves, as soon as, endowed with a worldly spirit, we wish to receive our life only from other people, we give depth and relief to what they have said and done.

The deep way Proust looks at things and describes them just amazes me.
--BJ

I just finished! I thought the ending was bizarre and showed the Guermantes the pinnacle of selfishness. Wonder where Proust will go from here?
--BJ

I'm still reading about the dinner party. I finally passed the asparagus picture, lol...I have about 100 pages to go but hope to finish this week.

The Guermantes seem like very phony people. And the way they manage to live together and use each other even though he has mistresses??? Disgusting.

Congratulations about your daughter's wedding. I think I knew that...I just forgot. Would you prefer to wait until after the wedding to start the next book? I know how crazy wedding prep can be.

Yes, I ended up not liking the Guermantes at all! (The dinner party goes on and on. At one point I thought it was over but it turned out that I was wrong!)

Not sure. My daughter is getting married in Austin, so she is doing most of it there. Hard for me to do much from Tulsa. I would say that we can start whenever, but my reading might be sporadic. April would be fine to start if you will be ready and then I'll just schedule around whatever else I am doing.

Wasn't there something about asparagus in the first book? I can't quite recall for sure.
--BJ

Sorry, can't remember any other asparagus references, although there probably were. This is why I want a book to summarize and aid me as I read this series.

I finished too! The Guermantes family seem to be very selfish and self-centered. Everything revolves around them. And see how she treats her servant who is in love? She won't let him see his girl because she's not happy like he is.

Didn't de Charlus remind you of an angry girlfriend? "Go away! No, come back! Now go away again! Come back!" Lol...I have a feeling he will return. He seems to be in love with Marcel, which is kind of icky.

I can't imagine this series without Swann. He's been in all three of these books, but it looks like the Swann era might be over.

I found the Charlus visit beyond strange. But then I never really figured him out. Also, I was kind of wondering if our Narrator had left out any important info.

It will be strange if Swann is out of the picture from here on out.

And you are so right about Mdm Guermantes and her petty behavior toward her servant.

Do you want to start April 1 or April 15? Two interesting days! April Fools and Tax Day. :) Guess what? We are halfway through!
--BJ

At this point it looks like April 1st should work. I have two planned reads for March, and I hope to finish them in March.

Yes, once we get into Book 4, we are 'over the hump' so to speak - yay!

OK, I will check out the next book and see how long it is. I am thinking that maybe Marcel will be in his 20s in that book. I wonder if we will figure it out. Let me know what you think of your commentary.
--BJ

Great, keep me posted. Oh, and what's the title of book #4?

Thanks for the reminder about the Proust guide. I just ordered it for my Kindle.

The book is called Sodom and Gomorrah. And it seems to divide up a lot more than the other books.
--BJ

59- Yikes - doesn't sound like a fun book, does it? ;)

Interesting title, for sure.
--BJ

I'm only about 10% done with the Proust guide, and so far I love it! So many little Proust pieces in my brain are starting to come together, and it's brought back to my mind all the little details we've read that I've forgotten already.

There WAS an asparagus section in the first volume! Francoise was serving asparagus every night at dinner and they wondered why. Later on they found out it was because the maid that F. detested was allergic to asparagus and F. wanted to force her to prepare it every day!

On the unfortunate side, I now know every major event yet to come in the remaining volumes. I didn't really want to know. But in order for me to get the most out of these books, I feel it was a necessary sacrifice.

It's also very helpful with reinforcing the names of all the characters in my mind, since characters who are briefly mentioned in earlier books become major characters later, so it's important to make the connection and remember them.

I did not remember the part about the maid being allergic to the asparagus. That Francoise is something else!

My set has only 6 volumes, so I am wondering if there are two in one book. It is supposed to be the complete In Search of Lost Time and is a boxed set.

I am glad that you like your Proust guide. I might get it after finishing. Who knows though? Then, I might want a break. :)
--BJ

I'm not sure if the maid's allergy was mentioned in the first book, or if it's revealed later. The guide says that Proust is famous for leaving unfinished business in volume 1 or 2 that isn't answered until book 6 or 7.

Oh, the guide also says that the narrator is never named. He was referred to as M. once or twice. But since calling him "the narrator" is cumbersome, and M. is confusing, all reviewers came to an agreement long ago to call the narrator Marcel.

I hope you have all the volumes! You probably do...
I always thought it was a 7 volume set, but maybe I'm wrong. Will have to check on that.

Remembrance of Things Past

1. The Way by Swann's (1913)
aka Swann's Way

2. In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower (1919)
aka Within a Budding Grove

3. The Guermantes Way (1920)

4. Sodom and Gomorrah (1921)
aka Cities of the Plain

5. The Prisoner (1923)
aka The Captive

6. Albertine Gone (1925)
aka The Fugitive / The Sweet Cheat Gone

7. Time Regained (1927)
aka The Past Recaptured / Finding Time Again

Just a thought...there's not a Proust group here on LT is there? There seems to be a group for just about everyone. Not that I'd post much, but it might be worth checking out.

Thanks for the list. I noticed that my books don't list the aka titles. Seems like there was a group read of ISOLT but I don't know about an entire group. You know, I really love asparagus, so all the writing about it is interesting to me. I can't check my titles until tomorrow as my husband is asleep and I keep them in my bedroom. I will check tomorrow. Interesting that Albertine gets a title to herself!
--BJ

OK, I checked my titles. Volume 5 is The Captive. Volume 6 is The Fugitive and Time Regained. So two books in the last volume. Thank goodness I have it all! I think the last three titles are shorter than the first four. That is kind of nice, too. :)
--BJ

68- Yes, I agree. It is nice that the last ones are shorter. :)