So how come you all don't talk about this masterwork nearly as much as you should?
>>7886052
Nigga that shit is 2000 pages fuck that shit
>>7886052
it actually gets talked about quite a lot. just not constantly. it gets what it deserves.
>>7886052
old lit would discuss it from time to time.
new lit doesn't because new lit doesn't read.
it's all about the memes now.
>>7886072
I bet you're from the old lit, right ? You're a smart boy ;)
Why don't you start talking about it? I wouldn't mind reading some ramblings about Proust...
>>7886066
>it gets what it deserves.
Kinda disagree.
I'm an enormous fan of Gravity's Rainbow, and I think Joyce was a great writer, but this book is stranger and more wonderful than Gravity's Rainbow or Ulysses. And Pynchon and Joyce will have several posts per page dedicated to them, especially Pynchon, which I admittedly understand considering this is 4chan.
>>7886103
I-I am? Will daddy reward me for being smart and reading?
>>7886123
Let's cuddle in bed while reading dostoevskij senpai ;)
I think a big reason is that it's in French, and more than that, Proust is supposed to be a powerful, beautiful stylist in his native language. Not only is it incredibly long, then, but reading it in translation, which most of /lit/ would have to do, would remove some of the excellence of the work. It spooks people away.
>>7886118
I mean, where to begin?
Might as well ask for some ramblings about the Pacific Ocean.
Condensing the subjective experience of simultaneous development/decay that goes with this very strange experience we all go through that's both identical and radically different...
>>7886127
*blushing romantically* Y-yes, I'd like that. We can read bratya karamazovy and roleplay as the characters, and have incestuous make-outs where I'm Alyosha. Oh, what a thrill that shall be
>>7886052
I am reading the first book right now and I am stunned by it. Haven't read Ulysses yet, but this book definitely has the best prose prose I've ever seen, along with being the most difficult. Made me sorry I got fooled by /lit/ and read Infinite Jest before reading this. It's a shame that we rather see Nabokov, Pynchon or even Cormac Mccarthy as examples of good prose and no mention of this one.
>>7886188
Flaubert is still the greatest french prose writer.
>>7886052
becauee niqqa, dat ish gots more then 9000 pagees
>>7886188
Same here, still have about 50 pages to go until finishing but apart from the rest of the book these last pages seem a bit tedious to me... How much I enjoyed, as much I hated. But that is I suppose because he articulates a bunch of complex and very personal experiences that are very association bound and therefore hard to empathize with. I can appreciate certain passages very much, others not so much. What else to say? There sure is a lot to discover, but only in the abstract?
OP here
I think what surprised me most was the sheer amount of participation required on my part to begin enjoying, savoring, these curlicue sentences. I had to slow down quite a bit, read aloud at times, all kinds of methods I thought I stopped needing to do back in high school.
Then, there's this wonderful roster of weird and strange characters, which I find lacking in so much of what I read from this century and the last, who are either intentionally or unintentionally funny (Princesse des Laumes, Francoise, Cottard, the Narrator, Legrandin) or obnoxious (The Verdurins).
This will sound stupid, but it really feels like I'm a child again, learning to read and falling in love with a story and its characters.
>>7886188
Are you talking about the translation or the French?
If Steve Carell were gay and suicidal, I bet this would be his favorite book.
>>7886339
What a really bad joke.
>>7886052
It's too patrician for me
It's also really expensive to get that nice collection
>>7886131
This. It's not that people who have read it don't appreciate it enough to talk about it. It just doesn't get discussed because few people, even on /lit/, are willing to get past the language barrier and the immense length of the thing.
>>7886636
well the length thing shouldn't be an issue, it's split up in different parts you know
>>7886727
To me the language thing is more important. It's one thing to read Dostoevsky in translation, since he wasn't much a stylist and most of the impact of his work comes from the characters and the ideas. Proust is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language. It would be a shame to read him translated.
>>7886733
your loss, dumbass
>>7886733
While I agree Proust should be read in its native French,
translations are still quite accurate, and the purpley goodness only suffers a bit when translated to English
Besides, French to English is not much a hop anyway
>>7886052
I'm guessing no ones read it
i personally don't talk about it because i haven't got around to reading it yet
>>7886052
No one has read it.
>>7886774
OP here
Yeah, probably right.
I'm on my second read-through, only because it's ridiculous to say Proust, in any language, is an easy read. But the plot isn't really linear, more centrifugal, so much is happening all at once without the first-time reader even knowing.
All this aside, I cannot recommend this book enough.
And, if you want some support (which, trust me, you do) I recommend Roger Shattuck's Proust's Way (particularly the essay "Proust's Binoculars") and Eric Karpeles' Paintings in Proust.
>>7886137
just post your fucking term paper and we'll r8 it, will that make you shut up already? i'm being 110% serious.
Does anybody know if this (Lydia Davis) translation is any good? I never see it posted, but I can good a good deal on the whole set at my local bookstore.
>>7887094
Avoid.
Moncrieff was a master stylist - you won't find a better translation.
>>7887094
No. Moncrieff is the best. Not even a question.
best translation lads??
2 busy riding dostoevskys dick
>>7887070
I don't have one. This is a literature board where people discuss their thoughts about works of literature they've read or are reading. I'm being 110% serious.
I've read Swann's way. It's very good. Boring at times with its obsession on petty and silly bourgeois trifles. But still pretty entertaining. I've been meaning to read the rest but I always push it back because something else comes up.
>>7887094
Don't listen to the memers. The retards here have a hardon for Moncrieff but Davis's translation of Swann's Way is the best translation yet. I'd recommend reading her for Swann's Way and the Enright correction of Moncrieff for the rest. Under no circumstances should you read the original Moncrieff translation.
my copy
1/4
>>7886052
Because /lit/ is mostly a jumping-off point for serious readers. We mostly discuss relatively accessible books by entertaining authors, and some entry-level Greek stuff.
This board is about understanding the canon rather than applying its understanding to less accessible or relatable material. Proust's masterwork is simply too large and too dense to include in any introductory canon.
>>7886733
>Dostoevsky wasn't much of a stylist
You're insane
>>7886052
It's called in search of lost time because that's what you'll be doing after you waste 500 hours reading this trash
>>7887490
>it took him 500 hours to read in search of lost time
>he still didn't get it
kek
