Hello, everyone! I just wanted to add a note to let everyone know that there will be no meeting on the next scheduled date, October 31. Those of us at the last meeting decided that we would rather do something slightly more spooky on Halloween than discussing Proust, so we will take the week off and reconvene on November 14 when we will finish up lingering discussion on the Albertine cycle and dive right into We're almost there!
Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Wednesday, 10 October 2012
Update!
I apologize for falling behind on this blog. What can I say? I'm not the best blogger, that's for sure. If anyone would like to contribute any posts, I can add you as an editor and then perhaps this blog will have more content. Please let me know if you would like to be added as an editor.
At the last meeting, we decided that we could probably finish The Fugitive by October 31, which would give us two more meetings to discuss the Albertine cycle (The Captive and The Fugitive). After that, we can jump into the final volume and finish up by our potentially last meeting on December 12. I don't want to push it any closer to the holidays, as that's a busy time of year for everyone, but perhaps we can also plan an end-of-year party/movie viewing for the group. Stay tuned and see you on October 17!
At the last meeting, we decided that we could probably finish The Fugitive by October 31, which would give us two more meetings to discuss the Albertine cycle (The Captive and The Fugitive). After that, we can jump into the final volume and finish up by our potentially last meeting on December 12. I don't want to push it any closer to the holidays, as that's a busy time of year for everyone, but perhaps we can also plan an end-of-year party/movie viewing for the group. Stay tuned and see you on October 17!
Wednesday, 1 August 2012
August vacation
Hey, everyone! I just want to let you know that there will be no meeting on August 8th as our meeting space at the Strathcona Library is being taken over by the Fringe Festival for the month of August.
We will meet on August 22nd, though, for a Proust movie night. We will watch Swann in Love at Brad's house, so please get in touch if you need his address. After that, we will be back to our regular meeting schedule at our regular meeting location. We just finished discussing Sodom and Gomorrah at the last meeting so continue on with volume five, The Captive. Or The Prisoner, depending on which translation you have.
See you later!
We will meet on August 22nd, though, for a Proust movie night. We will watch Swann in Love at Brad's house, so please get in touch if you need his address. After that, we will be back to our regular meeting schedule at our regular meeting location. We just finished discussing Sodom and Gomorrah at the last meeting so continue on with volume five, The Captive. Or The Prisoner, depending on which translation you have.
See you later!
Wednesday, 18 July 2012
Interesting article
Hey, everyone! I came across this article at the Washington Post in honour of Proust's birthday on July 10th. It's a pretty amusing take on the self-congratulatory joys of reading Proust and made me laugh a bit.
Also, out next meeting will be on Wednesday, July 25th, at which time we'll wrap up discussion of Sodom and Gomorrah before possibly taking a break in August. We won't be meeting at the Strathcona Library in August, anyway, and will likely have a movie night in late August to watch the Jeremy Irons film, Swann in Love. It remains to be seen if we will meet in early August or take a well-deserved summer break. We'll decide at the next meeting and I'll be sure to post the news here.
Also, out next meeting will be on Wednesday, July 25th, at which time we'll wrap up discussion of Sodom and Gomorrah before possibly taking a break in August. We won't be meeting at the Strathcona Library in August, anyway, and will likely have a movie night in late August to watch the Jeremy Irons film, Swann in Love. It remains to be seen if we will meet in early August or take a well-deserved summer break. We'll decide at the next meeting and I'll be sure to post the news here.
Wednesday, 27 June 2012
June 27 meeting
Hey, everyone! Just another reminder that I won't be at tonight's meeting but please feel free to add any comments about the discussion from tonight's meeting or the previous meeting to this post. See you on July 11th!
Tuesday, 5 June 2012
May 30 meeting
Hello, everyone! Before I get to the May 30th meeting, there are some house-keeping items to take care of. We have our meeting room at the Strathcona branch of the Edmonton Public Library booked for the rest of the year with the exception of August. The meeting room will not be available for that entire month because of the Fringe Festival, which uses library space to mount performances. Therefore, we'll either have to take August off or come up with an alternate meeting place.
Second, I will not be able to attend the next two meetings (June 13 and June 27). There shouldn't be a problem with the meeting space, though. If there is, just explain to the library clerk that we have the space booked for the appropriate time but do not have a contract as the dates were sorted out and booked months in advance.
Ok, as for the meeting. We finished discussing The Guermantes Way, which is longest volume in the novel and thus took us forever to get through. The last section of the volume features a very long dinner party scene which is as exasperating to the narrator as perhaps it is to the reader. Once again, we see that all that glitters is not gold and that the world of the Faubourg Saint-Germain ultimately proves dissatisfying and facile to the narrator.
Other topics of discussion revolved around the masterful "red shoes" scene, in which Oriane and Basin downplay the news that Swann is dying so as not to be inconvenienced on their way to a party. For me, the final line in the volume is as devastating as the final line in the "Swann in Love" section of Swann's Way; is this an intentional parallel? Where once Swann was the heartless dismisser of another, now he is being dismissed?
Anyway, time to move on to Sodom and Gomorrah, which we will discuss the beginning of at the next meeting.
Second, I will not be able to attend the next two meetings (June 13 and June 27). There shouldn't be a problem with the meeting space, though. If there is, just explain to the library clerk that we have the space booked for the appropriate time but do not have a contract as the dates were sorted out and booked months in advance.
Ok, as for the meeting. We finished discussing The Guermantes Way, which is longest volume in the novel and thus took us forever to get through. The last section of the volume features a very long dinner party scene which is as exasperating to the narrator as perhaps it is to the reader. Once again, we see that all that glitters is not gold and that the world of the Faubourg Saint-Germain ultimately proves dissatisfying and facile to the narrator.
Other topics of discussion revolved around the masterful "red shoes" scene, in which Oriane and Basin downplay the news that Swann is dying so as not to be inconvenienced on their way to a party. For me, the final line in the volume is as devastating as the final line in the "Swann in Love" section of Swann's Way; is this an intentional parallel? Where once Swann was the heartless dismisser of another, now he is being dismissed?
Anyway, time to move on to Sodom and Gomorrah, which we will discuss the beginning of at the next meeting.
Thursday, 17 May 2012
May 16 meeting
Hey, everyone! I'm back on track with these blog updates (hopefully). What can I say? I am a poor blogger.
Anyway, last night's meeting covered a good chunk of The Guermantes Way. Topics ranged from the salon at Mme de Villeparisis's house through the death of the narrator's grandmother with a bit more from later in the book sprinkled in. Not everyone has finished the volume though, so we'll wrap up discussion of The Guermantes Way on May 30.
We spent a good deal of time talking about Proust's narrative choices and his propensity to sabotage his own narrative climaxes, or what would be highpoints in other novels. He often focuses on the mundane and completely brushes over major developments (with some exceptions). We discussed how this is a deliberate attempt to re-calibrate how the reader thinks of narrative structure and novels in general. One example of this is with the grandmother's death. The first chapter of section two actually starts off with a brief summary of coming events, which is the first time that that very 19th century device pops up. It's odd that it pops up then because it gives away the death of the grandmother, which is the sort of a plot point that might be used as a surprise in the hands of a different author. But it's as if Proust is deliberately undermining our expectations.
Beyond that, we discussed the narrator's realization that Charlus is not who he thought he was and perhaps might be rather unhinged, as his bizarre comments regarding the Bloch family show. We also talked about the masterful passage of the grandmother's death and what it says about social attitudes toward death.
Also, we talked about the La Pléiade edition of Proust, which is seen as the definitive version. La Pléiade is a series published by Gallimard that seeks to compile the complete works of major figures in French literature. The Pléiade edition of any particular work is seen to be the definitive version and often compiles annotations and criticism as well as the original texts. So there you go!
Anyway, last night's meeting covered a good chunk of The Guermantes Way. Topics ranged from the salon at Mme de Villeparisis's house through the death of the narrator's grandmother with a bit more from later in the book sprinkled in. Not everyone has finished the volume though, so we'll wrap up discussion of The Guermantes Way on May 30.
We spent a good deal of time talking about Proust's narrative choices and his propensity to sabotage his own narrative climaxes, or what would be highpoints in other novels. He often focuses on the mundane and completely brushes over major developments (with some exceptions). We discussed how this is a deliberate attempt to re-calibrate how the reader thinks of narrative structure and novels in general. One example of this is with the grandmother's death. The first chapter of section two actually starts off with a brief summary of coming events, which is the first time that that very 19th century device pops up. It's odd that it pops up then because it gives away the death of the grandmother, which is the sort of a plot point that might be used as a surprise in the hands of a different author. But it's as if Proust is deliberately undermining our expectations.
Beyond that, we discussed the narrator's realization that Charlus is not who he thought he was and perhaps might be rather unhinged, as his bizarre comments regarding the Bloch family show. We also talked about the masterful passage of the grandmother's death and what it says about social attitudes toward death.
Also, we talked about the La Pléiade edition of Proust, which is seen as the definitive version. La Pléiade is a series published by Gallimard that seeks to compile the complete works of major figures in French literature. The Pléiade edition of any particular work is seen to be the definitive version and often compiles annotations and criticism as well as the original texts. So there you go!
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