Marcel Proust: In Search of Lost Time Vols. V & VI - The Prisoner & The Fugitive

“Every reader finds himself. The writer’s work is merely a kind of optical instrument that makes it possible for the reader to discern what, without this book, he would perhaps never have seen in himself.”

– Marcel Proust, The Prisoner & The Fugitive

We continue our voyage through Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time with this, the fifth and sixth volumes (combined), which together consider closely the seductive agony of jealousy. There are one or two spaces in the study alongside people who have already journeyed through the first four volumes. If you are interested in joining the group please use the ‘enquire’ link below to discuss.

Here is how one Salonista describes the pleasure and work of reading Proust: ” This is a velvet jewel of a book that demands the attention of a lover full of enchantment  and obsession, we need not get impatient as all good lovers perfect their art in taking their time.”

Reading Proust teaches the reader to observe how the world is experienced, to be aware that although humans are tempted to give greater weight to the perceptual universe, it is the entwining of memory, idealised experience (dreams) and relationships with what our senses perceive that moulds our consciousness.

SALON DETAILS

• Virtual study facilitated by Toby Brothers
• Wednesdays, 6.30-8.30 pm (UK time)
• 15 meeting study from 7 February to 19 June 2024
• Recommended edition: Penguin Classics, ISBN-13:‎ 978-0141180359
• £350 for 15 meetings (includes background materials, literary criticism, opening notes and discussion notes)