What are you reading now?

[Maclintick]

I'd have to say I tend towards M. Vinteuil's opinion, or taste. Françoise is one of the great comic creations. I wonder whether Proust had read Richard III, where the wily Buckingham advises the future king to feign unwillingness when the orchestrated 'crowd' clamours for him to accept the crown:

Play the maid's part: say No - but take it.

Marcel describes the family's arrival at Combray, greeted by Françoise. At Maman's signal, gripping his arm tightly, Marcel drops a coin into Françoise's hand 'confuse mais tendue' - embarrassed but (nevertheless) outstretched to accept it. Slightly demurring, but eagerly taking it?

Interesting speculation, FF. Literary & dramatic references abound in Proust, but so far I've only encountered the usual Gallic suspects, Molière, Racine, Stendhal, inter alia, though of course Shakespeare was known to 19th cent Parisian audiences.

Françoise is, as you say, a peerless comic creation, one of many among Proust's dramatis personae -- Mme. Verdurin, Marquis de Norpois, Baron de Charlus & the egregious Bloch junior, who, in one of my favourite passages, arrives at Combray late for dinner, drenched to the skin, & rebuffs the narrator's father's solicitations thus "Sir, I am absolutely incapable of telling you whether it has rained. I live so resolutely apart from physical contingencies that my senses no longer trouble to inform me of them".

[vinteuil]

Françoise is, as you say, a peerless comic creation, one of many among Proust's dramatis personae -- Mme. Verdurin, Marquis de Norpois, Baron de Charlus & the egregious Bloch junior, who, in one of my favourite passages, arrives at Combray late for dinner, drenched to the skin, & counters solicitations from the narrator's father with the riposte: "Sir, I am absolutely incapable of telling you whether it has rained. I live so resolutely apart from physical contingencies that my senses no longer trouble to inform me of them".

... lovely!

( ... I think I shd have chosen M de Norpois rather than M Vinteuil as my nom de web. Or perhaps prof. Brichot... Or the egregious Legrandin! So many to choose from... )

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[verismissimo]

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… Nowadays I no longer feel the need to 'read it all the way through' - lazily I dwell on my favourite bits : Illiers/Combray, Cabourg/Balbec, the world of the Guermantes, the final sections. I can't always face the endless acres of the Albertine saga...

A page (any) … a paragraph … just a sentence … except, as you say, the acres of Albertine.

[Maclintick]

... lovely!

( ... I think I shd have chosen M de Norpois rather than M Vinteuil as my nom de web. Or perhaps prof. Brichot... Or the egregious Legrandin! So many to choose from... )

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It probably won't have escaped your attention that my own web-monicker is that of an appalling character created by an author sometimes dubbed "The English Proust".

[Conchis]

It probably won't have escaped your attention that my own web-monicker is that of an appalling character created by an author sometimes dubbed "The English Proust".

Only someone who’s never read Proust would seriously compare him to Anthony Powell.

The comparison is deeply insulting to the French author.

[Mal]

A friend lent me "Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe 1944-56", knowing about my interest in post-war Germany. I learnt a lot more. My previous knowledge of post-war developments in the other E European countries was shown to be very sketchy. Compelling and fascinatingly detailed.

I borrowed this from the library recently and it was excellent. I only have a passing interest in "Eastern Europe 1944-56" and often give up on history books as many, I find, are rather dry. Not this one though! "Compelling and fascinating" sums it up.

[gradus]

Bad Blood by Lorna Sage. Every bit as good as it's reputation.

[Maclintick]

Only someone who’s never read Proust would seriously compare him to Anthony Powell.

The comparison is deeply insulting to the French author.

Indeed, if the comparison were meant to be taken literally - which I doubt.

[verismissimo]

It probably won't have escaped your attention that my own web-monicker is that of an appalling character created by an author sometimes dubbed "The English Proust".

Stout caustic middle-aged music critic … 'humdrum appearance, although shabby, seemed aimed at concealing Bohemian affiliations … the air of a bad-tempered doctor' - according to Spurling and Powell.

Got your number, Macl?

[french frank]

Only someone who’s never read Proust would seriously compare him to Anthony Powell.

The comparison is deeply insulting to the French author.

Of course it is. Should be John Galsworthy

[Maclintick]

Stout caustic middle-aged music critic … 'humdrum appearance, although shabby, seemed aimed at concealing Bohemian affiliations … the air of a bad-tempered doctor' - according to Spurling and Powell.

Got your number, Macl?

You might think that, verismissimo. I couldn't possibly comment....

[verismissimo]

You might think that, verismissimo. I couldn't possibly comment....

After a break, just started up again with Vol 7 of 'A Dance ...'. In the army in WW2 in 'The Valley of Bones'.

Excellent - well up to standard. Not at all Proustian except for length. No sign of Maclintick, of course.

[Maclintick]

After a break, just started up again with Vol 7 of 'A Dance ...'. In the army in WW2 in 'The Valley of Bones'.

Excellent - well up to standard. Not at all Proustian except for length. No sign of Maclintick, of course.

Sadly not. My avatar comes to a sticky end in Vol 5 -- 'Casanova's Chinese Restaurant' -- my favourite from reading 'A Dance' 40 years ago...goodness, where did all that time go..?

[Stanfordian]

'The Fox' - Frederick Forsyth - I can hardly put it down. - A totally eye opening read!

[LMcD]

'Appeasing Hitler' by Tim Bouverie. Described as 'an astonishing debut' - a view with which I agree - by Sir Antony Beevor, no less.