My Mother, who celebrated her 90th birthday last October, has just completed her journey through A La Recherche du Temps Perdu by Marcel Proust, in the justly famous Kilmartin/Enright translation. Yes, I do mean all SIX volumes. It took her 13 months to the day.
What makes this the more remarkable is that she wasn't much of a reader until the age of 83, when, laid up in hospital for around 10 weeks, she asked for "something different from the daily papers" and I took her the Penguin Book of Classic American Short Stories (Bartleby and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow were big hits). After which she romped through Russian epics and English Classics at an alarming - well, shaming, rate - specialising in pre and post-war British writers like Dorothy Whipple and Mary Webb. Various adventurings into Austen's integrale and the complete Saul Bellow followed (favourite - Augie March...). Dinner table conversations were never the same again!
So now she's arrived at the great culmination of the tale of a piece of cake, getting about 4 and a half volumes further than I ever did. (Look, I was proud of THAT...)
So tonight we celebrated with Scampi & Chips (with a side order of Prawn Salad) - and Champagne!
What makes this the more remarkable is that she wasn't much of a reader until the age of 83, when, laid up in hospital for around 10 weeks, she asked for "something different from the daily papers" and I took her the Penguin Book of Classic American Short Stories (Bartleby and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow were big hits). After which she romped through Russian epics and English Classics at an alarming - well, shaming, rate - specialising in pre and post-war British writers like Dorothy Whipple and Mary Webb. Various adventurings into Austen's integrale and the complete Saul Bellow followed (favourite - Augie March...). Dinner table conversations were never the same again!
So now she's arrived at the great culmination of the tale of a piece of cake, getting about 4 and a half volumes further than I ever did. (Look, I was proud of THAT...)
So tonight we celebrated with Scampi & Chips (with a side order of Prawn Salad) - and Champagne!
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