pickI loved it, but I had to read it like a possessed person to get through it.... Actually that‘s how it has been for me with all of Proust.
As usual with these editions, the translator's intro in the beginning is excellent.
Some of this installment is like a fever dream; a new type of Proust. Fantasies and dreams and memories flood the reader. The prose is incredible as always, the observations revelatory. I also gasped audibly at one part.
For old age removes the ability to act, but not to desire. It is only in a third phase that those who live to a great age renounce desire, after being obliged to abandon action. They no longer stand for such petty elections as that of President of the Republic, where they so often formerly strove to succeed. They are content merely to go out, to eat, and to read the newspapers. They have outlived themselves.
I‘m halfway through this!
Really liking it so far. It‘s somewhat easy to follow and, like the previous volume, not crammed with characters to keep track of.
I can‘t believe I‘ve come this far in Proust…. The prose is filled with revelations (which I‘ve grown used to but is still heavily impressive), and I‘m fully in his world. I‘m reading this like a person possessed.
pickIn the Norwegian translation this is the next to last book in Proust massive work. So this far into In Search of Lost Times, you know what to expect writing wise.
This starts with Albertine leaving a note to our protagonist which says that she‘s leaving him. We then get ideas about people change according to who they are with and how the Albertine he misses isn‘t the only Albertine that exists.
so-soOn this raining autumn day I finally finished another Proust.
In between the typical, endless meandering sentences, there does happen a lot in this 6th book of In Search of Lost Time. Albertine loses much of her magic when Marcel learns more about her after she falls from a horse. He feels finally free to visit Venice with his mother. Also he meets Gilberte again, on the brink of yet another unhappy marriage, of which the series has a lot!
Sometime last fall, high on cappuccino and the wisdom of Pippi Longstocking (I've never tried that before, so I'm sure I'm good at it), I offered to embroider 2 (!) Norwegian national costumes from my region (sunnmørsbunad). Now I just have to practice and learn how... all I can say is thank God for Audible 😅🙈 At the right you see today's practice, at the left what the finished product should look like.
Albertine Gone | 
