The Guermantes Way

This is one of the very very best books I have ever read. It takes a little time to get into his way of writing, but it is worth the trouble. He takes his time, as his characters run repeatedly over almost the same mental tracks, over and over, as they obsess about the women they love. Put like that, it sounds boring and repetitive, but not a bit. He works endless variety into it, and one of the most striking features (and strikingly true-to-life) is the way in which essentially the same line of thought can lead on successive days, or even successive hours, to contradictory conclusions. Besides, a great many passages are just plain beautiful.

This is not a literary review (We all know what Swann's Way is about), but my way of expressing relief that at last I have a readable copy of it. Out goes my old Folio paperback with its miniscule print -- Hooray!

The third volume of In search of Lost Time begins with the moving of Marcel's family to an apartment in a palace, next to the which Charlus lives. This is where Marcel begins to deal with the highest society: the Guermantes family, which seemed so distant to him in his child fantasies, becomes soon part of his life. He goes to parties and meetings, where he can see Mme Cambremer, duchess Orianne and her husband, Charlus, Odette, Swann, etc. The words of the narrator are as thorough as his sight, and he describes for pages and pages the dialogues and behaviours that take place during such encounters. In this volume is where we begin to find the diferent sexual tendencies that will be later explored. As Marcel keeps visiting Saint-Loup, Mr. Charlus develops an interest in Marcel, therefore he begins to play a series of odd games: Charlus will have outbursts of rage as Marcel's shallowness becomes clear to the count.The snobism and everchanging criteria, through the which political circles consider someone as part of the group of desireable relations, are shown through the detailed depiction of the Dreyfuss affair. The fears of society are suddenly embodied in the character of this german diplomatic, who apparently is spying on the french government. But, even worse, he is a jew. The colliding opinions about this affair divide society. In the midst of this social confusion, Marcel is but a quiet witness, whose interventions seem to stop in invitations and references to other great names of society. One of his favorite activities during this parties is to find and reconstruct the family ties between the different participants. An interesting relationship develops between Marcel and Orianne and her husband, while Charlus finds this to be of bad taste. Marcel will know through these people the details surrounding Saint-Loup's romance with an "indecent" dancer. He knew something from the days he spent visiting his friends while he was in service.By the end of this volume we get to see Swann's decadence in the high circles, while his wife, Odette, seems to gain more terrain everyday. Swann tries to mantain his contact with the Guermantes, but they are less interested in him as time goes by... and not even his revelation of being in the route of death, due to an ailment, captures their interest. Even more, they don't believe him. Proust keeps working in describing the defyning coordenates of this world of looks and absurd, hollow judgements. The life of the court parties is ruled by worldly signs, theatrical effects and empty forms. Although the character's fantasies surrounding the name of the Guermantes crumbles after he meets them and find them to be... just humans (and not the corporeal reality behind the images he used to see with endearment in Combray); although this fact, he is more and more fascinated by their importance between the other aristocrats. His desire is renewed by the inclusion of a third party that desires to establish contact, or to

Please note that the book under this listing with the ASIN/ISBN no. 2070392457 refers to PART ONE of the Folio paperback edition of LE COTE DE GUERMANTES published in France by Gallimard. It does NOT include the second part of Le Côté de Guermantes.

The third part of the novel follows the narrator into the aristocratic salons of turn-of-the-century Paris, and comments on such matters as the Dreyfus Affair, art and literature, and the disappointments which invaribly follow the achievement of goals sought after with unbridled desire. Whether The Guermantes Way is better or worse than the earlier parts of the novel (or those parts to follow) is not important as a recommendation or criticism; it makes up an integral part of the novel and cannot exist without the other parts. Proust is not easy reading and demands the undivided attention of the reader; as I am becoming aware, the effort put into reading the novel is eminently rewarding.