Other Fiction Proust, Marcel: Swann's Way (Vol. 1) - Remembrance. v1, 08 Sept 2008

[Dr. Drib]

This novel, in 6 different parts, came from the University of Adelaide and is released under a Creative Commons License. Their website is listed below:

http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/

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In my opinion, Remembrance Of Things Past is one of the most important novels of the Twentieth Century.

Remembrance of Things Past touches upon universal themes of Jealousy, Time, Writing, Personality, Memory, and more.


Glossing Over Some Publication History:
This is the Scott Moncrief translation. There are a number of translations out there and this translation has been amended and parts retranslated. Later, a more definitive text, the Pléiade edition, appeared. (NOTE: I’m currently re-reading the entire novel – now more correctly titled In Search Of Lost Time - in the definitive Pléiade edition in English and published by Modern Library. The entire series of volumes is currently on sale from Sony, by the way, which is the edition I’m currently re-reading.)

Some background on why I love Proust:
I read this novel when I was a smart-mouthed kid in my early twenties (always ready to pick intellectual arguments because I was stupid like most kids of that age), and hot on the trail of reading all the work I could locate by nouveau roman novelists Claude Simon, Michel Butor, and Alain Robbe-Grillet [in English translations], and how they played with the concept of Time and Historicism in their work. I see now that my intelleuctual pursuits were very simple, but at that time I found myself fascinated by the use of the present participial verb, and how it seemingly both controlled and destroyed Time in the Novel. (Claude Simon, in particular, I found astounding, especially in his early Faulknerian-influenced writing. This man was literally in the process of writing a new Poetics of the Novel to create his fictional universe. I then realized how important the dialogic voice in fiction can be in both controlling and manipulating the text.

Later, as I worked on my Ph.D. in English [not completed], I found myself deeply engaged in the study of Postmodern novels, most notably in the writings of William Gaddis and Don DeLillo. Always at the core, however, there resided Proust….well, ok, I’ve gone on long enough about this.

I can only say this: READ PROUST. HE MAY CHANGE YOUR LIFE.

NOTE: Patricia has two titles available, also from Remembrance of Things Past. I want to thank her for making them available. Now…..where is the novel Jean Santeuil????

I worked on "assembling" this novel from 9:00 this morning 'til 3:00

I hope you enjoy it.

Don

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[CO'Neil]

Thanks for the Proust. Maybe I'll finish reading it on the Sony, while the Modern Library hardcopies continue to gather dust.

Good reference to that other guy's book, too. Wonder if he'd release it for free as a digital version.

Proust I believe for a Ph.D.. The same guy uploading Charles Willeford, though? Wonder if Willeford's The Machine in Ward Eleven is out of copyright? You actually feel your sanity slipping away as you read that one.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by CO'Neil

Thanks for the Proust. Maybe I'll finish reading it on the Sony, while the Modern Library hardcopies continue to gather dust.

Good reference to that other guy's book, too. Wonder if he'd release it for free as a digital version.

Proust I believe for a Ph.D.. The same guy uploading Charles Willeford, though? Wonder if Willeford's The Machine in Ward Eleven is out of copyright? You actually feel your sanity slipping away as you read that one.

Ph.D is not completed.

I first encountered the Willeford title as teenager. A "fun" horror novel. Wasn't that a Belmont book?

Yep, I'm the same guy who uploaded all the Willeford. I'm the one who has a passion for noir fiction AND great literature.

Sometimes, one just needs an enema

Don

[TedPark]

Thanks for these.

Being somewhat ignorant of the publication history of all this, please tell me about the 7th volume. Is it meant to be part of this or a separate work?

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by TedPark

Thanks for these.

Being somewhat ignorant of the publication history of all this, please tell me about the 7th volume. Is it meant to be part of this or a separate work?

Actually, I wasn't being very clear when I mentioned the unfinished 800+page novel, Jean Santeuil.

This is an early work that Proust started and then abandoned. The novel was discovered right after WWII.

For the Proust scholar, the novel is vital in understanding Proust. For the lover of Proust, the novel is a further glimpse into the Proustian mind of a genius and makes fascinating reading. My hardback copy is in the U.S., and I miss it.

For the casual reader, the novel should probably be skipped.

Don

P.S.: If you want an updated translation of (from) original Moncrief translations, then you might want to look at the editions that are currently on sale from Sony. (I haven't checked to see if they're available for the Kindle, as I don't have that Reader.)

[TedPark]

No, I didn't mean that one - I got this list from the Adelaide website:

1. Swann's Way (1922) translated by C K Scott Moncrieff (1889-1930)
2. Within a Budding Grove (1924) translated by C K Scott Moncrieff (1889-1930)
3. The Guermantes Way (1925) translated by C K Scott Moncrieff (1889-1930)
4. Cities of the Plain (1927) translated by C K Scott Moncrieff (1889-1930)
5. The Captive (1929) translated by C K Scott Moncrieff (1889-1930)
6. The Sweet Cheat Gone (1930) translated by C K Scott Moncrieff (1889-1930)
7. Time Regained (1931) translated by Stephen Hudson [Sydney Schiff] (1868-1944)

You seem to have uploaded 1-6, I was wondering about the 7th.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by TedPark

No, I didn't mean that one - I got this list from the Adelaide website:

1. Swann's Way (1922) translated by C K Scott Moncrieff (1889-1930)
2. Within a Budding Grove (1924) translated by C K Scott Moncrieff (1889-1930)
3. The Guermantes Way (1925) translated by C K Scott Moncrieff (1889-1930)
4. Cities of the Plain (1927) translated by C K Scott Moncrieff (1889-1930)
5. The Captive (1929) translated by C K Scott Moncrieff (1889-1930)
6. The Sweet Cheat Gone (1930) translated by C K Scott Moncrieff (1889-1930)
7. Time Regained (1931) translated by Stephen Hudson [Sydney Schiff] (1868-1944)

You seem to have uploaded 1-6, I was wondering about the 7th.

MY GOD, YOU'RE RIGHT!

I left off the final volume of the novel, "Time Regained."

Thanks for pointing this out. At this moment, I have a an hour of two left on my 22-volume project, "A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents - John Adams (Volume 1, Part 2)."

Let me get that out of the way tomorrow, and I'll start on the 7th volume of Proust.

Again, thank you for pointing that out to me.

Don