In 1912, Marcel Proust conceived a vast novel in two major, almost dialectical parts: “Time…

In 1912, Marcel Proust conceived a vast novel in two major, almost dialectical parts: “Time Lost” and “Finding Time Again”. The work as a whole was titled “The Intermittences of the Heart”. ❤️‍🩹❤️💔❤️‍🩹❤️💔… as shown in the previously unpublished volume recently released by @editions_bouquins ✨.

The massive manuscript has been rejected by the editorial boards at @editionsgrasset, Fasquelle and @la_nrf 😢

The work is an ocean 🌊, but one that can nevertheless be crossed at one’s own pace 🏊🏻‍♀️🏊🏽🏊🏼‍♂️. Proust therefore realised that he needed to present smaller volumes to publishers and the public. He reworked his manuscript and produced a 📕 shorter version – though still quite long – which he belatedly titled “Swann's Way”, and which Grasset agreed to publish, but on a self-publishing basis. 💸 The diptych had become a trilogy: the author planned to publish “The Guermantes Way” next, followed by “Finding Time Again”.

But in June 1914, he learnt of the death of Alfred Agostinelli 💔 and, in August, France declared general mobilisation. The “Great War” would force Marcel Proust to stay in bed, so that he could nurture his work and develop it from within. 🛌

It has often been said that the Search is the story of a calling. 🙌🏻 Under the hashtag #proustcrastination, I’ll therefore be sharing with you, over time, a selection of passages that illustrate this tendency to put things off. Or how ‘lost time’ ends up being salvaged at the last minute as ‘Finding Time Again’. 🙂🙃

#marcelproust #RTP #letempsperdu #proustcrastination and a reference to @cdantzig’s latest book 🤓 #proustagram