In Search of Lost Time - Volume IV: Sodom & Gomorrah

Volume IV - Sodom & Gomorrah/Cities of the Plain - Marcel Proust




It's that time again, Proust must take a trip off the shelf! My copy of this volume is still on it's way, but I am tantalised by the opening of the translators introduction:

This fourth volume in the sequence of In Search of Lost Time is remarkable for giving a new and radical inflection to the narrative course of Proust's great novel, a turn which it would take an unusually clairvoyant reader of the earlier volumes to have foreseen. The volume's outspoken title, Sodom and Gomorrah - whose boldness was somewhat muffled in Scott-Moncrieff's allusive English translation of it as 'Cities of the Plain' - is a fair indication that the novel is about to take on a darker and sexually more adventurous tone...

So, here we go...

it certainly does... within the first 30 or so pages...

I got my copy yesterday and will start it as soon as I get another book off my plate, so probably within a day or two. Looking forward to it!

I'm finding it a lot more readable than the last half of Guermantes' Way which was really starting to drag for me. I can even see myself finishing this within a month rather than the usual two... and then it's all downhill after that with the three shortest volumes to finish. Can't believe that the end is in sight... kind of!

That is a nice thought!

My copy finally arrived so I will probably start it tomorrow. I'm very much looking forward to it now.

I finished this one already and started The Captive by Proust today. I liked the start of this one but it ended with rating this section only two stars. I liked the return to memory but we continue with the narrators obnoxious dating behavior. What games.

A bit of a delay on finishing this one for me, but here are my usual slightly long-winded wafflings:

Phew! With real life getting in the way, there was a real danger of my 2014 Proust challenge coming off the rails, but I find a second wind to get through the fourth installment.

On the whole I enjoyed this one, but it was still somewhat hit and miss. Like the previous volume there was a little bit too much "high society" for my tastes and I felt my attention starting to wander. However, something that struck me was that in some ways I wish I did have more experience of this kind of living, because I'm sure I'm missing out of some of Proust's subtle but profound deconstructions of human interactions.

While there is certainly a feeling of self deprecation in how he describes his adolescent romantic thoughts and actions, I can't help but loathe the narrators character. I haven't decided if that is a criticism of the novel or vindication of the reaction that Proust was going for. It's interesting that the narrators criticism of M. De Charlus' actions seems very hypocritical given his treatment of Albertine.

On the positive side, this volume is much more open about discussing taboos (of the time) such as homosexuality, infidelity and prostitution which I thought really invigorated the work as a whole (although I couldn't stand the use of the word "invert," but presumably neither could Proust!) I was also delighted with yet more profound deconstructions of memory and dreams, particularly the perfect description of the blending of dreams with reality as we slowly wake up. Another highlight for me was his thoughts on his changing feelings towards a train journey which more than anything made me long to travel in the same way!

I'm happy to report that I'm still looking forward to the next volume, although it's nice to know I'm into the home stretch now!

good review... I'm about 150 pages off the end of this one. On target for the end of the month