Within a Budding Grove (Part 1)

I don't know if it is my state of mind, but I found that after the gentle, meandering of the first book this was a little more difficult to read. Perhaps this was deliberate on Proust's part, after all, this is 'Marcel's' autobiography and we are  moving away from childhood.

The book opens with yet another party described in meticulous detail, this time a dinner party given by the narrator's parents who have invited the old ambassador, M. de Norpois over for dinner. It is some time after the narrator encountered Swann at his grandparent's house and he has fallen out of favour with the narrator's family due to Odette. Dr. Cottard, on the other hand, is enjoying the popularity that seems to have deserted Swann. Norpois, as a representative of the politica, is described satirically and is full of gossip about the Swann family.

The narrator is still somewhat obsessed with Gilberte, but is also completely obsessed with the actress Berma. He eventually manages to see her but is disappointed by her performance, only changing his mind about her when Norpois praises her.

Norpois scandalises the family by confessing he's been dining with Odette. She runs a kind of salon where married man go without their wives to meet women from the 'Republican world'. Swann has gone from discreetly associating with the pinnacle of society to openly boasting about the lower class people he invites over, and Swann's own aunt is trying to stop people from assoiciating with her. Norpois believes that Swann is 'not unhappy' although Odette uses Gilberte as a weapon to blackmail him. They seem to have found some sort of equilibrium where she is grateful for the marriage, although he worries about presenting her to the Duchesse. However, Norpois tells the narrator that Odette has already met her husband the Prince four years ago (before she married Swann), who likes her. Norpois met the writer Bergotte at the salon but disliked him so much that he puts the narrator off writing. Norpois offers to tell Odette and Gilberte about how much the writer admires them out of politeness but soon regrets it due to his gushing.

There is something sad about the way that Proust depicts Odette and Gilberte. I think that in one way the reader is meant to look down on them and on Swann for being in love with Odette, and the way that she is depicted is somewhat common and unattractive, particularly as she ages. Yet I think in some ways I sympathise with them. Swann seems to be terribly concerned with the opinions of society and despite Odette's commonness, there is probably something to be admired in a courtesan who manages to firmly cement her position in society despite all the problems she encounters. There is something sad about the narrator's obsession with Gilberte too, as if he can't help but follow Swann's example. Society, it turns out, does not make one happy, and the narrator is swayed by the opinions of the people around him, particularly his father's poor opinion of his ambition to become a writer.

Yet Proust also portrays society in such a satirical way that it is difficult to read the romance is a straightforward way. The opinions of the narrator's parents are not really either the narrator's opinions nor that of the writer. In retrospect the narrator does not seem to be that enamoured of Norpois even though his parents seem to believe he has class and the narrator himself takes his opinions as the truth, he is portrayed as being a bit shallow and gossipy. It's as if the people in the society have a kind of dual persona, the Swann who visits the grandparents is not the Swann of society, nor is he the Swann who is married to Odette giving dinner parties in the salon.

The narrator's ambitions to become a writer lead to major theme within the novel, that of the passing of time, which is capitalised. The narrator's childhood is behind him; his father believes that his personality is now fixed. something which the narrator finds rather depressing.

The new year brings a fresh determination to become acquainted with Gilberte, and resolves to write to Swann. Gilberte confesses to him that in actual fact her parents detest him and believe that he is 'a young person of love moral standard' whose 'influence over their daughter must be evil'. The narrator is rather offended and falls ill with chocking fits. The doctor prescribes caffeine along with whatever alcohol the narrator fancies, including beer, champagne and brandy. Dr. Cottarde then comes over and prescribes purges and milk (his wonder drug of choices), his parents are sceptical at first but eventually he tries it and recovers (due to not drinking more than anything).

Gilberte writes to him to invite him to tea. It is a kind of a parody of an adult tea party. He encounters Odette, who has become a copy of Mme Verdurin. They treat him like an honoured guest and the narrator imagines getting close to them. They are a bit too obsessed with impressing society, however, which amuses the narrator's parents. Then the Dreyfus affair happens, which affects society and no doubt society's opinion of Swann.

Otherwise, he tolerates and is even amused by Odette's ignorance, as the family tolerate the narrator, even though they seem to look down on him, probably because his parents are not really part of society.

Off the chick-lit wagon

Confession time. It's been rather a while since I updated on the Proust and even a while since I picked it up. I'm really going to have to start again, but I've recently started a new job which occupies a lot more time and brain power than the last one. I think to be honest, I'm not going to be able to keep up with the depth of analysis I've been trying to muster, not if I'm going to finish this damn book during my lifetime! So, the Proust posts will be resumed but in a more condensed length that doesn't require my re-reading the passages again and then writing lengthy posts. This is supposed to be fun and I'm not going to let it become a chore. As for further books, I'll just have to wait and see.

Otherwise, I am keeping up the reading, although I have been reading a few more 'comfort' books, mostly chick-lit which I read in a few days, along with the usual mixture of other books. I am currently attempting to finish Don DeLillo's Americana which I enjoyed the beginning of, but found part 2 a bit difficult to get into. I will attempt to post a review when I finish it and get the chance.

I suppose I might have come across as a bit snobby towards chick-lit previously, I think that there is some good, well written chick-lit out there but some generic things as well. I like reading out of my comfort zone and chick-lit can be a bit too comfortable at times, although it is proving ideal at the moment when I get home in the evening and find the thought of reading anything more complicated is a complete turn-off. Still, I don't intend to exclusively comfort-read, I still have a TBR list with 341 books on it and the mad plan to read 100 books this year. Only another 56 to go!

Brighton Rock by Graham Greene (spoilers)

This was the first Greene novel I’ve read and certainly won’t be the last. I loved the lyricism of the writing, the plot was gripping and the characters were really well written.  The story is about Pinkie, a young gang leader who tires to seduce and marry a young girl whom he fears will give away his alibi, pursued by Ida, who investigates him and tries to prevent him from marrying Rose.  It’s one of those books I would like to re-read or even study in a bit more depth, but at the same time I found it quite hard writing this review, even though I felt so enthusiastic about it. 

Love this image (link)

 Pinkie is a disturbing anti-hero, yet it is still possible for the reader to feel some sort of sympathy for him given his background and experiences and the fact that everything he tries to do fails. He can be completely cold and feels only repulsion for Rose because of witnessing his parent’s sexual intercourse. He has some twisted ideas about Roman Catholicism, believing that it doesn’t matter how evil he behaves in life, he can still be saved if he repents at the point of death ‘betwixt the stirrup and the ground’. He sees his marriage as a mortal sin, and although he is completely horrified by the idea of sex, he refuses to get married in church as he feels that it will not be a proper wedding if they get married in a registry office. 

Rose could be described as a passive, innocent character in the way that she falls under Pinkie’s attempt to seduce her, but in other ways she seems to realise that she has some power over him and wilfully ignores the signs that he is disgusted by her. There is a sense that she is trying to get away from her parents and takes the only way out that she can find, by marrying the first man who asks her. There is quite a disturbing passage in the book where Pinkie, who needs her parent’s consent because they are both underage, buys her off her parents who don’t seem to care very much about her. He believes that he is taking her in, but she seems to know very well what is happening and why he suddenly pays her attention. She forces him to make a recording for her of his voice so that she can keep it for later, one of the tragic elements of the novel is that she doesn’t realise that although he tells her that he has recorded a loving message, he has really recorded a horrible message for her which she will presumably listen to after his death. 

Ida, is an appealing investigator and almost the complete opposite of Pinkie. Whereas Rose and Pinkie are Roam Catholic, Ida has no real faith, just a belief in the power of ‘Right’ and ‘Wrong’ and a belief in life after death in that she perform séances. She is a sensual woman who enjoys sex, likes a drink and enjoys her food, whereas Pinkie has few pleasures.  

Brighton is vividly described, acting as an appropriately sleazy backdrop to the story, representing heaven and hell.

Pinkie falls over the cliff in the course of trying to escape the police, having failed to convince Rose to commit suicide. It is a bleak ending; Rose seeks absolution from a priest and convinces herself that she has salvaged something from her love for Pinkie through her pregnancy and the love she believes he has confessed on the recording, the reader knows that she has deluded herself. It is left to the reader to fill in the blanks –Is Rose really pregnant? What will happen to her when she listens to the recording?

Love and Inheritance by Fay Weldon (spoilers for both books)

 First, a general update. Although I am doing pretty well on the general reading and keeping up to date on my Goodreads target, I am not doing that great on the Proust, particularly during the half term I have just enjoyed. This week I am hoping to get to a point where I can start writing another section for BIHNR. Otherwise, I have two reviews that I want to write for books that I have read recently.

I have recently read two books out of the Love and Inheritance trilogy. I have previously read some Fay Weldon, but not that much. I admit, I was expecting the books to be a bit more literary and I found them quite a disappointing read overall, although they were quite entertaining and readable, they could also be quite frustrating at times. 

The books chart the fortunes of a rich family at the beginning of the twentieth century, in the first one there are descriptions of both the lives of the family and the servants, but in the second book Long live the King there is not as much description of the servants. The primary reason I think that the first book is a let down is that the family are both quite dislikeable and the use of reported speech seems to remove them from the reader so that they don’t come across as being that realistic. Rosina, the daughter, seems to fair particularly badly. She is a complete prig with seemingly no redeeming features or much of a reason for being the way that she is, so she just puts the reader off. By no means am I saying that a writer should write characters that readers would want to be friends with (as Jennifer Weiner has spouted off about recently), but there should be something that makes the reader want to follow the course of their story. 

To be honest, none of the characters are really that interesting, and I doubted the veracity of Isobel (the wife’s) title and position as a leader of society considering she was the illegitimate daughter of a showgirl and a coal magnate and her parents never married.  They are really snobbish towards the Baums (Robert’s lawyer who tries to save their fortune) in particular, for little reason. 

The plot of Book one (Habits of the House) centres around the attempts of the family to marry the son off to a wealthy meat heiress as they have lost money during the war in Transvaal, and to organise a dinner party for the Prince of Wales. The dinner party is never covered, the book ends on the invitations being sent out, and the loss of money is never that keenly felt. Just as Arthur is about to marry his meat heiress, the head of the family (Robert) saves them all anyway by winning a fortune on a horse and the book ends abruptly.

Book Two opens a couple of years later with Arthur and his meat heiress married (there were some problems as Minnie had left America having had a well-publicised affair with an artist which she had foolishly admitted to Arthur) and the introduction of Adela, a cousin who lives with her strict religious parents. There is a little less emphasis on the servants of the family, and a bit more on the Baums, who I found interesting, particularly Mrs. Baum the Zionist scientist; I think I would have preferred it if there was more emphasis on her. 

There is less use of reported speech, thankfully, but Rosina still gets short shrift. This time, she has a romance with an artist which is scarcely described, I wonder if Fay just didn’t like writing about her? The parts with Adela start off promisingly but descend into a ludicrous plot about clairvoyancy culminating in her saving the King’s life by touch alone. The King and the Queen are good friends of the family and there are lots of dinner parties where Isobel advises the Queen on what to wear and what crown to have created. It doesn’t lend an air of realism to the book. 

Lucky they've got the illegitimate daughter of a showgirl and a coal baron to advise them

Overall, the first book got two stars and the second book got three (out of five). I feel a little bit like I am being a bit harsh here and giving the books a hatchet job, and they are both readable and entertaining, I think the most disappointing thing about them is that there are good books poking out in places, which makes it frustrating for the reader. There is a sense that she was cashing in on Downton, but at least with Downton you feel some sympathy with the characters and the plot is engaging, even when it’s being more like a period soap. I will read the third book, but I’m not in a hurry to buy it or get it out from the library as soon as it comes out.