Jan. 25 meeting

I'm pleased to report that two new members of the reading group came out for our latest meeting, expanding our numbers and bringing a wealth of insight to Proust that will assuredly be beneficial for everyone.  This week we delved further into Swann's Way, discussing in particular the significance of the "two ways" (Swann's Way and the Guermantes Way), the lesbian scene between Mlle. Vinteuil and her young friend, and the beginning of "Swann in Love," which included the introduction of Vinteuil's "little phrase" and the "little clan" surrounding the Verdurin salon.  Needless to say, there was a lot of important material introduced from our last session.

Other topics included the important of John Ruskin and Henri Bergson on Proust's intellectual development, differences in translation between all of the various versions of In Search of Lost Time that group members are reading, and the shift in narrative voice from first-person to third-person in "Swann in Love."  Am I forgetting anything else?

Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, Feb. 8 in the meeting room of the Strathcona Library at 7 o'clock.  We'll still be discussing Swann's Way.  See you then!

First meeting

Thanks to everyone who came out; I think we're going to have a highly enjoyable time reading and discussing Proust together!  Not much to say just yet as our first meeting was mostly introductory with a bit of discussion on what we have read so far (which mostly revolved around the themes of the novel that have been introduced thus far, the characters, and the highly unique prose style).

We're going to keep a pace of about 10 pages a day, so for our next meeting (Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 7 o'clock in the meeting room of the Strathcona Library) everyone should be roughly 250 pages into Swann's Way.  Try to keep track of your favourite passages or topics you would like to discuss for next time.  Also keep an eye out for passages that you feel might be worded differently in the original French or in another English translation and we can compare at the next meeting.

Take care!

First meeting, Jan. 11

The first meeting of the Proust reading group is coming up next week on Wednesday, Jan. 11.  The meeting will be held in the meeting room of the Strathcona branch of the Edmonton Public Library (8331 104 Street) at 7 o'clock.  Hope to see you there!