Proust, Marcel. Remembrance of Things Past: Time Regained. Vol. 7. Translated by Stephen Hudson. Illustrated by Philippe Jullian. Chatto & Windus, 1960.
Reason read: to finally, finally, finally, finish the series started in honor of National Writing Month. As an aside, I heard that some people take a decade to read Proust so I don’t feel that bad!
I had to roll my eyes when I saw Gilberte and Albertine’s names as early as page two. Was this going to be another obsessive missive about these women? Had Albertine lived! That is the refrain. Not exactly. Time Regained, as the final installment of Remembrance of Things Past is exactly that – a circling back to remembering people, places, and experiences long since past. It is a mediation on society, aging, relationships, art, beauty, and truth. Proust even goes back to the first moments with his mother detailed in the first volume, Swann’s Way. We all grow old and we all learn things along the way. I am not sure what message Proust is trying to make with the aging of his nameless protagonist. He never really learns anything profound except that relationships are precious. Gilberte and Albertine are two women he never should have taken for granted.
Author fact: Since this is the final time I will be talking about Proust, let’s recap everything I said about him. I said he was compared to James Joyce but that Flaubert was one of his biggest influences. I gave you his full name and explained that he was a recluse. The term romans-fleuves was coined to describe his novels and that he spent a year in the army. He was also an essayist and a literary critic. The end.
Translator fact: Proust’s long-time translator, C. K. Scott Moncrieff past away before he could work on Time Regained. Stephen Hudson was able to make a translator’s dedication to the memory of Moncrieff, saying he was a friend and an incomparable translator. That touched me.
Book trivia: as the final book in the Remembrance of Things Past series, the eighth part was originally published in 1927.
Book trivia II: I was very happy to return to the Chatto & Windus series just so I could enjoy Philippe Jullian’s illustrations. “Berma” is really special, but so is “Madame Verdurin.”
Book trivia III: Time Regained was made into a movie in 2000. Nope. Haven’t seen it.
Nancy said: for the last time, the only thing Pearl said about the entire Remembrance of Things Past is that the term romans-fleuve first came about to describe Proust’s work.
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Romans-Fleuves” (p 208).
~*LunaSea*~ 