“The Guermantes Way” tires some readers: the social scene can seem endless.

“The Guermantes Way” tires some readers: the social scene can seem endless. But if you stop there 🙅🏻‍♂️, you’ll miss out on the revelations of Sodom, the conclusion of the Albertine cycle, and the grand finale that is “Finding Time Again” 🙌🏻.

Here is what Jacques Rivière, editor of @nrf.larevue, wrote to Proust on 29 June 1920:

🖋️ “When I left Paris, I took the proofs of “Guermantes” with me. I began reading them on the train 🚂, and immediately felt an irresistible surge of emotion, enthusiasm and passion. You are a great writer 🤵🏻‍♂️📚, and in this opening of your new book, which is even more poetic than psychological, or at least contains more extensive passages of external description than any of the previous ones (as I write this, I wonder if that is really true, and whether my impression might simply stem from the fact that I haven’t found any continuous psychological developments in it, such as the falling-out with Gilberte 💔, or the blossoming of love for Albertine ❤️‍🩹), you display stylistic qualities even more astonishing than those you had already shown. Did I tell you (you’ll no doubt find this amusing) that André Breton, the chief Dadaist, who came to help us proofread your galley proofs, expressed to me his intense admiration for you, based precisely on the poetic treasures ✨✨ he discovered in your work?”

To which Proust replied:

🖋️ “I’m adding a postscript to my letter to thank you and put your mind at rest regarding the ‘psychological’ aspect of my work. As it is a structure, inevitably there are solid sections and pillars, and in the space between the two pillars I can indulge in meticulous paintings 🖼️. The entire volume on the separation from Albertine 👩🏻, her death and oblivion leaves the falling-out with Gilberte 👩🏻‍🦰 far behind. Consequently, there will be three very different sketches of the same subject (Swann in Love – the falling-out with Gilberte in “The Young Ladies in Flower” 🌺 – and the separation from Albertine in “Sodom and Gomorrah”, the best part).”

—

#JacquesRivière #MarcelProust #proustagram #NRF #1920 #AndréBreton