☝️ A lighthearted summary of the book In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust. Contains Spoilers. Original post in Portuguese.
The book tells the life story of Marcel, who shares his name with the author. He grows up rich and is quite boring. Marcel wants to be a writer but he doesn’t write much throughout his whole life.
In the story we find two set of people, the first being stable folk like Marcel’s parents, the Guermantes family, and the Verdurins. These characters lead normal lives, with houses, what passes as jobs at the time, holidays, and they throw the occasional party. Then there is a group of ultra-sensitive individuals with a flair for the arts, like Marcel, Swann, Saint-Loup, and Baron Charlus. This second group spends their days falling in and out of love, trying to control romances that inevitably fizzle out or burst out in flames. They end up empty handed despite of the excessive effort they put into chasing after unrequited loves, or actualy because of those efforts. Away they squander their money and time. At its core, the book details the soap opera that is human life, with a special focus on the passion and jealousy within social classes and between them.
As readers, we see the main character Marcel grow up, fall in love with Gilberte, and later for Albertine. He ends up with neither.
Despite the story belonging to a long gone epoch (around 1900), Proust transcends it with a timeless portrait of the human soul. For instance, the book’s characters fall ill with diseases that no longer exist, but doctors and quacks profess a very recognizable and modern arrogance, wittily prescribing solutions which often are no more than a glimmer of hope and a glass of milk. On a broader take, the society depicted is vastly different from ours, starting with the very word “society”. In the book, it’s used in its original sense to mean a close-knit association of people with a shared purpose as they did in the 16th century. Basically, “society” is the upper crust of nobles, aristocrats, and intellectuals. But if Proust uses this verbal elitism, he never forgets to critize it, sketching the pedantry and anti-Semitism of this “Society”. On the opposite end, we have the common folk, portrayed as a collective of class-bound individuals that aren’t “in society”. They are limited by the knowledge of their trades and traditions, but Marcel reveals the cunning nature of these workers and servants, who include the maid, the tailor, coachmen, actors and musicians. They pop in and out of the narrative, adding a light, sometimes comedic touch. In the end, everything flips upside down: the poor become rich, the rich become aristocrats, and the once-important people fade into obscurity.
It’s a great book to read in a competition with a friend while you compare notes and make fun of characters.
Note: In translations this book is called “Swann’s Way”.
So, the narrator is Marcel, a boy who shares his name with the author of the book. Marcel begins this epic by recounting his trauma as an only child who spent his early years surrounded by old people. His conservative parents, a crazy aunt, and the housemaid. He spends hundreds of pages describing the time he spent at his family’s vacation home in Combray, in France. There, brat Marcel goes on and on describing the village, the houses, the fields, the sun, the wind, the sea, as well as the many regulars at mealtime, and of course, the meals themselves. These lengthy descriptions make it clear that life was incredibly dull before the internet and euro-rails, both for the adult characters, their children, and for readers of this 20th-century novel.
The Oedipus complex is apparent from the start. The main character, the narrator Marcel, is a somewhat slow and like all overly sensitive people as an irrational dependence on his mother. It’s as if he were born in 2010’s obsessive mother-son relationships. Just that in his case, his mother very much ignores him. This is becaujse she sees him through the lens of classical upbringing, with strict schedules, manners of speaking, and chosen companions — poor Marcel only wanted a goodnight kiss. Naturally, Marcel couldn’t grow up to be anything but an oddball, born into such a family, an only child tended to by the maid, and surrounded by pretentious old people who clearly had very little work to do.
The boy had such sensitivity and observational power that he wanted to be a writer. Much of the book is an ocean of descriptions, including of churches, streams, gardens, trains, Parisian streets, carriages, horses, servants, houses, curtains, clothes, hats, and food.
Amid this stroll through 1900s France, and after a lengthy introduction, the book focuses on a man named Charles Swann, who for a time attended Marcel’s family’s lunches and dinners. He always came alone, never bringing his wife. The book then embarks on a retrospective story spanning over two hundred pages about Swann’s life, starting from when he was already an adult. Swann was also a sensitive type, up-to-date with the intellectual and fashion trends of the time. However, Swann didn’t accomplish much — he procrastinated over various art-related matters, investing his time in knowing everyone, even princes and pricesses. Swann had a platonic relationship with a common woman named Odette, who he met at some social event. She was quite ordinary, relatively pretty, and she adored Swann’s status. Over time, Swann grows fond of her but never makes a real move — he remains both gentlemanly and aloof, only occasionally trying to grab her dress like a 16-year-old boy. She allows it, but soon grows tired of this ridiculous game and begins to ignore him. At this point, Swann loses control of the situation, and we spend countless pages watching her ignoring him, and him becoming more dependent on her attention. It becomes clear that he finances much of her life in a bid to keep her close. As he loses his mind, some of his friends try to talk sense into him, warning that she’s this and that, that they saw her in the company of other men. Swann acknowledges she has other friendships, that she loves male attention, and that she’s no longer seeking other amorous relationsips, but of course these rumors only fuel his obsession. This drags on and he doesn’t lose interest even as she ages and becomes less pretty.
Swann, driven to desperation, does something incredibly effective (NOT): he pressures her, makes demands, insults her, and when all that fails, chases after her.
Finally, the story reaches its climax when someone sends Swann an anonymous letter implying she’s slept with countless others, including a woman or two.
This tarnishes her image of purity, but it doesn’t destroy her allure. Still enchanted, Swann confronts her, and she casually admits that Yes, yes, she’s done it all “two or three times”, in an admission that statistically must be the most carefully chosen line in the book. And just like that, Swann’s tremendous passion begins to fade, though a certain attraction remains — perhaps because he’s pragmatic and reputation is a vague concept to him. After all, he belongs to a wealthy class, born of family investments, a background that doesn’t earn him the highest respect from the most aristocratic, even from the traditional families like Marcel’s father and grandfather. In fact, Marcel’s father makes it clear that the Swann family is Jewish.
After narrating the archetype of the guy who gets rejected by a girl, the narrator Marcel returns to his own childhood, recounting how he, too, fell for a girl at the Champs-Élysées in Paris. This was a girl he used to play with named Gilberte. He describes how he gradually became infatuated. Fortunately, this relationship unfolds more quickly in terms of pages.
But then there’s a twist in the story… this girl is actually Swann’s daughter! Ta-da!! The boy is amazed — it turns out Swann really is something special, because duh he’s the father of this beauty. A few pages later, another twist (NOT): the girl’s mother is Odette, the very same woman Swann pursued, the one with the questionable past who ignored him but is now transformed into Madame Swann.
It seems like gullible Swann eventually made up his mind, ignored her past - well, not enough to take her to parties that is - and that Odette stopped pushing him away. They married and had a daughter.
The Marcel kid tries to establish an emotional connection with Gilberte. He attempts to make Swann a topic of conversation at home, but neither the girl nor his own parents seem very interested in his infatuation. On one hand, his parents don’t care much for Swann, who, despite being interesting and well-connected, belongs to a caste of the moneyed that isn’t immune to gossip, especially after marrying someone like Odette, who has no caste at all. Meanwhile, the girl plays Marcel as her mother Odette played Swann — she completely ignores him, making it clear that any party with other friends is as good as, or better than, playing with him.
The book ends with the narrator frustrated, not getting even a squeeze, something even Swann managed to get while his beloved Odette strolled with others. #Sad.
Note: The correct translation options are “In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower” (EN), or “Within a Budding Grove” (EN) depending on the edition.
The second volume picks up right where the first left off, and we see Marcel maturing as a young man — without ever ceasing to be a monumental bore. (That’s the summary, you can skip to the next book.)
His exact age isn’t clear, but we know Marcel is friends with Gilberte and spends a lot of time at her house, the Swanns’ residence. At one of these gatherings he meets Bergotte, a super famous writer whom he starts idolizing. His family thinks that being around artistic people will help him become a good writer. Marcel doubts that — he thinks Bergotte is a genius, but at the Swanns’ he just chats away, and Marcel doesn’t feel like his writing is improving with so much chatter. To make things worse, Gilberte keeps playing hot and cold, and the kid starts getting fed up. He shifts his attention to her mother and her fancy silk house robes, gifting her flowers while ignoring the daughter. Not a bad strategy.
One of Marcel’s father’s colleagues, Norpois, tells Marcel’s parents that Bergotte isn’t such a great writer after all, but adds that Marcel does have some writing potential.
Everyone seems to have servants. Some characters already have electricity at home, and others even have a telephone. Marcel’s health is weak.
The young Marcel heads to Balbec with his grandmother. Balbec is by the sea. On the train ride, he convinces her to buy him alcohol for some health reason, and he gets absolutely wasted.
Once in Balbec, he reconnects with his friend Bloch, a crazy Jewish guy whose father claims to have known Swann’s wife firsthand — as a prostitute.
O Marcel conhece também um pintor reputado, Elstir. O Elstir é obcecado pela mulher, que parece ao Marcel bastante normal. O Elstir apresenta-o à grupeta de miúdas populares nesta vila junto ao mar. Albertine é pobre, Andrée é rica, e há outras. A Albertine diz-lhe que gosta dele, mas quando o Marcel tenta dar-lhe um beijo ela afasta-o. Ele fica na boa, e acaba meio apaixonado pelo grupo todo.
Marcel also meets the famous painter Elstir. Elstir is obsessed with his own wife, whom Marcel finds pretty unremarkable. Elstir introduces him to the popular girl gang in town. Albertine is poor, Andrée is rich, and there are others. Albertine tells Marcel she likes him, but when he tries to kiss her, she pushes him away. He plays it cool and ends up kinda falling for the whole group indiscriminately.
Right near the end, an old lady gets hit on the head with a diabolo [1]. End of book two.
[1]. Yes, I had to reread that part like three times. A diabolo? I even googled it and confirmed that yes, it’s the same toy that was all the rage in the ’90s. But now I know that it was already popular back in 1900.
Note: The real Title is “The Guermantes Way” (EN).
In the third volume, Marcel’s family moves to Paris. They now live in an apartment building. Marcel notices that the servants mimic the complaints and expressions used by the neighbors’ servants toward their employers.
São vizinhos dos influentes Guermantes. O Marcel anda meio obcecado pela madame de Guermantes, a vizinha que não lhe liga puto. O jovem decide visitar um amigo que vive encostado ao quartel do serviço militar, o Robert Saint-Loup, que é sobrinho dela, para lhe pedir uma introdução sob uma desculpa esfarrapada, e depois uma um bocado melhor. O amigo Robert está por sua vez caído por uma fulana de reputação duvidosa, Rachel, uma Odette 2.0 que o maltrata enquanto ele anda atrás dela a dar-lhe jóias caríssimas de 30 mil francos. Aliás, esta Rachel é a mesma que o louco Bloch tinha apresentado ao Marcel numa dessas casas da especialidade, e que cobrava nada, por tudo.
Their new neighbors are the influential Guermantes family. Marcel is somewhat obsessed with Madame de Guermantes, the neighbor who pays him no attention. To get closer to her, he decides to visit his friend Robert Saint-Loup at the Barracks where he lives, because Robert is her nephew. Marcel uss a flimsy pretext to ask for an introduction, and later he comes up with a better excuse for that introduction. Robert, in the meantime, is head over heels for a woman of questionable reputation, Rachel — basically an Odette 2.0 — who mistreats him while he showers her with absurdly expensive gifts, including 30,000-franc jewelry. Fun fact: this Rachel is the same woman Bloch once introduced Marcel to at a certain type of establishment, where she charged nothing for everything.
The Dreyfus Affair blows up in France, dividing both the country and several families. Marcel’ relationship with his father is strained.
Nota bibliográfica: o caso Dreyfus aconteceu entre 1894 e 1906, quando o capitão de 35 anos Dreyfus foi acusado e julgado culpado de traição e passar segredos à Alemanha. A familia combateu a acusação, e descobriu-se que o caso tinha sido martelado, com provas forjadas, e falta de procedimentos legais. No meio disto, descobre-se um verdadeiro culpado, mas o exército ignora esses dados e forja um segundo julgamento para ilibar o verdadeiro autor, que acaba por fugir para Inglaterra, onde mais tarde assume a sua culpa. O caso opôs os Dreyfusards, e os anti-Dreyfusards. Os primeiros eram republicanos, para quem a defesa da justiça era elementar. Os segundos eram militaristas, nacionalistas, ou seja não queriam que a honra do Estado fosse atacada, e tinham diferentes graus de anti-semitismo. Porque Dreyfus era judeu. O caso dividiu a França. Foi neste caso que surgiu o famoso artigo “J’Accuse!”. Foi também na sequência das divisões que o caso causou que o termo “intelectual” se popularizou em França e Inglaterra, sendo usado para designar (negativamente) os homens letrados, que ao início suportavam todos o Dreyfus.
Historical Note: The Dreyfus Affair happened between 1894 and 1906 and involved Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a 35 year old officer wrongly convicted of treason for passing secrets to Germany. His family fought the conviction, which had been decided from the get-go, and exposed forged evidence and procedural misconduct. Despite discovering the true culprit, the military covered it up, even staging a second trial to exonerate the real traitor, who flees to England where he later admits his guilt. The scandal split France between the Dreyfusards and the anti-Dreyfusards. The first were republicans, for whoom the defense of justice was above all else. The second group was composed of militarists and nationalists focused on protecting state honor, and they had varying degrees of antisemitism. Because Dreyfus was Jewish. The case split France. This was the case where the famous headline “J’Accuse!” emerged. It was also then that the term “intellectual” became popular in France and England, innitially in a pure negative way, targeting literate men who largely supported Dreyfus.
Marcel’s grandmother falls ill. Three doctors try advanced treatments, like giving her milk. She dies.
The Guermantes family, it turns out, is actually two branches, differing in their titles, pride, artistic tastes, social connections, and wealth. These distinctions seem crucial to them and to the author, who dedicates about 200 pages to it. What matters is that Marcel finally scores an invite to a social event where Madame de Guermantes is busy spilling venom over half of France and a thenth of the European aristocracy. Shortly after, the Baron de Charlus, who is also a Guermantes, accuses Marcel of spreading gossip about him. He makes a dramatic scene, says he hates Marcel, but then insists on walking him home, caresses his face, and leaves a strong impression that the old man wanted… something more.
No fim, o Marcel recebe um convite para uma festa da Princesse de Guermantes, e enquanto vai perguntar se o convite é verdadeiro à madame Guermantes e ao marido, aparece o maluco do Swann que anuncia que vai morrer em breve. O casal ignora o Marcel e a doença fatal do Swann: só faltam 10 minutos para irem a um evento, e têm mesmo de ir.
In the end, Marcel receives an invitation to a party hosted by the Princesse de Guermantes. While he asks about the authenticity of the invitation to Madame de Guermantes and her husband, the eccentric Swann shows up and announces that he’s going to die soon. The Guermantes couple completely ignores both Marcel and Swann’s fatal disease: they’ late for an event, and they really must go.
Note: That’s the real name of the book “Sodom and Gomorrah” (EN). Proust got one right! Not bad.
The fourth book starts with Marcel in his building’s courtyard. There, he sees the tailor Jupien and Baron Charlus making out, first in a corner, then inside Jupien’s shop.
Vai à festa da Princesse de Guermantes que suportamente tem uma fonte incrível no jardim. Na festa começa a notar nos vários os homossexuais, que na época se chamavam “invertidos”, e a comentar sobre a sua vida, coisa que perdura por todo o livro.
He attends a party by the Princesse de Guermantes’, who is supposed to have a spectacular fountain in the garden of her mansion. At the party Marcel notices the many homosexual men present. In the period they’re mentioned as “inverts”. The author comments on their life, a theme that continues throughout the book.
O Swann é escoltado da festa pelo Prince de Guermantes, e toda a gente fica chocada. O Swann depois explica ao Marcel que saiu da festa por ser um Dreyfusard, mas (surpresa) que não é por o Prince ser contra isso. Pelo contrário, ele confessara-lhe que um general lhe disse que o processo de condenação de Dreyfus estava cheio de ilegalidades, o que converta o general e depois o próprio Prince, mas que às vezes tinha de manter as aparências.
Swann is escorted out of the party by the Prince de Guermantes, shocking other guests. Later, Swann explains to Marcel that he left because he is a Dreyfusard — but (plot twist) not because the Prince opposes it. In fact, the Prince had confessed that a general once told him the trial against Dreyfus was riddled with illegalities, which had changed the general’s mind and then the Prince’s. Still, the Prince had to maintain appearances.
The house of Guermantes loses social standing, while the Swanns’ rises. Part of this is because Odette has become the muse of the writer Bergotte, who’s back in fashion, and part of it is because their daughter Gilberte inherits millions of francs from one of Swann’s uncles.
Aristocracy is gradually penetrated by the middle class and bourgeoisie, through technical visits of doctors and artists, and more deeply through marriages with wealthy industrialists.
Marcel returns to Balbec. He thinks about his grandmother but spends most of his time in a cat-and-mouse game with Albertine, the poor girl he met during his first stay. She makes it clear she has other plans. So Marcel pretends to like her richer friend Andrée instead. Albertine understands and is so thrilled for them and she suddenly throws herself at Marcel and they start fooling around.
At the hotel, interactions between Albertine and two other women make Marcel suspect that Albertine might be a lesbian, or at least bisexual.
Marcel rents a car to take Albertine on drives. They discover that cars make distances feel shorter, and that they can visit two or three towns in a single afternoon. Marcel’s mother and their servant Françoise are scandalized by how much money he spends on her.
An airplane flies overhead, which is an extremely rare sight at the turn of the century, and Marcel is moved by it.
Meanwhile, old Baron Charlus is tangled up with a humble violinist named Morel. Charlus tries to control him anyway he can, including staging a fake duel to defend Morel’s honor, hoping to he’d feel indebted and stays with him. It works.
Marcel and Albertine pretend to be cousins and join the exclusive vacation clique of the Verdurins. The Verdurins’ circle now includes the pompous doctor Cottard, the academic Brichot, and the couple Charlus and Morel. Charlus and Morel also believe they’re keeping their relationship a secret.
Marcel starts getting bored of Albertine. Life feels stale, and his mother is delighted when he tells her he plans to break things off.
He tells Albertine he has other plans, that he feels like he’s dumbing, and makes up a story about wanting to hear the music of a composer named Vinteuil. Gilberte understands, says she can help him, that she knows the composer’s daughter. Marcel panics because he knows Vinteuil’s daughter is a lesbian and immediately spirals into jealousy. He invents a broken engagement and claims Albertine’s company is the only thing keeping him going. He begs her to return to Paris with him.
His mother wakes up, only to hear him declare that he plans to marry Albertine.
Cool quotes
Note: The real title of this volume is called “The Prisoner” (EN) or “The Captive” (EN).
Despite Marcel telling his mother he wanted to marry Albertine, he doesn’t follow through with it. Instead, he arranges for Albertine to move into his house in Paris under the pretext of friendship and whatnot. They live in separate rooms but somehow always end up in the same bedroom. Marcel’s mother disapproves but stays quiet. The housemaid Françoise disapproves much more.
From the descriptions, it becomes clear that Marcel and his friends are all over 20 now.
Out in the building’s courtyard, Baron de Charlus continues to visit the tailor Jupien and the violinist Morel. To keep them dependent on him, he helps them with money and favors and a few well-placed banana peels. The Baron seems more fond of Morel, as he plays the violin beautifully. But Morel is clearly unhinged, as evidenced by his fascination with the idea of getting a woman pregnant and then running away, just for the thrill.
Albertine is visited in her room by her friend Andrée. When they cross paths, Marcel asks Andrée if her friend behaves, meaning if she sleeps with other women or not. Andrée answers “of course,” which is code for “yeah, we totally sleep together sometimes.” At least, that’s what Marcel suspects.
O Marcel vai conseguindo o controlo que quer sendo generoso e atencioso, e ao mesmo tempo inferniza os planos da moça de uma forma ligeira mas tinhosa. Ora vai acompanha-la a sítios onde ela queria ir sozinha, ora sugere um plano melhor, ou outra coisa qualquer. Ele de qualquer forma também continua a ter umas amigas, mas se alguém delas tem ciúmes dele, não lho demonstra.
Marcel manages to tighten his grip on Albertine by being generous and attentive while sabotaging her plans with finesse. He insists on taking her to places she’d rather go alone, offers to upgrade her plans in a way that they include him, or something. He also keeps a few female friends on the side. None of them show they are jealous.
Swann dies. Marcel wants to go to Venice badly. He mentions it repeatedly but never goes. He clings to Albertine, terrified someone will awaken the lustful demon he’s increasingly convinced that lives within her. Since they live together, casual conversations with her social circle give him more and more fragments of her past. The more facts he collects, the more contradictions he finds in her own version of facts, mostly in meaningless details. But that only fuels his obsession.
Throughout the book, Marcel frequently attributes the illness of neurasthenia to his characters.
Side note: Judging by the English pronunciation, it’s neur-uh-STHEN-ia. It’s a now-obsolete medical term describing fatigue from an overworked nervous system. A physical and mental exhaustion leading to mood swings and depression. (Honestly it feels like a modern disease). It’s similar to how Eça de Queiroz uses “apoplexy” in book “Os Maias” for covering 50% of deaths, apoplexy included everything from strokes to heart attacks.
They attend a concert at the Verdurins’ house. Morel performs. There’s a musical interlude featuring a Vinteuil sonata described in excruciating detail for a solid 30 minutes. Madame Verdurin gets pissed that Charlus is stealing the spotlight by presenting Morel and Art, and subtly poisons Morel’s ear against the Baron. Charlus, who was in the next room, senses something’s off as soon as he enters. Without knowing exactly what was said, he feels the sting and storms out, never to return to these parties.
Ten minutes later, the Verdurins are incredibly kind to someone else. THis confusies young Marcel. People are capable or good or bad.
They go to an outdoor market at the Trocadéro. By this fifth volume, the plot is more about the characters than anything else, painful and slow slow, and with fewer descriptions of places and objects. This is an exception.
Marcel doesn’t tell his friends Albertine is living with him. He’s basically a creep. He also keeps piecing together her past from casual remarks by old acquaintances. His reconstruction reveal that Albertine was into… everything. Growing up poor, she got used to being a guest in wealthy homes, accepting invitations without expressing much personal desire. This passive attitude makes it easy for her to say yes when someone pulls her into something — Marcel and Andrée bend over backwards to keep her attention. She does seem to have taste, though, and gradually learns about history, architecture, and fashion from Marcel and others, and even appreciates it.
Marcel begins to realize he’s sacrificing a lot and that he isn’t even happy. Worse still, Albertine doesn’t seem happy either, which makes him even more anxious. He talks to her, suggesting they break up and stay friends. She says it’s sad but OK. This “OK” is enough to make him backpedal completely, only to repeat it all again: “We should break up… or maybe not.”
He buys her a long dress from the designer Fortuny. (It’s unclear if the style is more Chanel or Dolce & Gabbana.)
Then, one morning, the maid wakes him up with the news: Albertine has left.
Notable Quotes:
Note: The actual title of this volume is “The Fugitive” (EN).
After controlling Albertine for ages, she finally leaves Marcel’s apartment in Paris. She leaves him a letter saying she wants to stay friends and that this separation is hard for her, and so she ran away. Marcel knows the relationship was doomed and that the pleasures Albertine gave him were small compared to what others would give him.
Given that the relationship has fallen apart and she’s gone, Marcel decides that he must marry her, just like Swann married Odette. Instead of just saying this, he starts exchanging letters with her. He claims he’s thinking of marrying her friend Andrée instead, hoping to make Albertine jealous enough to come crawling back and marry him.
She doesn’t fall for it or doesn’t get it. In one last move, creep Marcel sends his buddy Saint-Loup to Albertine’s aunt, Madame Bontemps, so that she convinces Albertine to return. The mission fails. Albertine writes to Marcel saying she’d be happy to come back anytime — all he has to do is ask.
While he’s agonizing over the pros and cons, three big pieces of news arrive.
The first is a letter from Madame Bontemps saying Albertine fell from her horse and died.
Shock.
The other two letters are from Albertine herself, written right before the accident. One says she’ll be happy once Marcel married Andrée. The last one says she’s desperate to come back, that she loves him, and asks if she can please return!
A-ha! He’s won! Except… Albertine’s dead. So actually, he lost.
Marcel spirals deeper into obsession. Did Albertine really love him? Was she actually a lesbian? Apparently these were the burning questions of life in 1900.
To clear his doubts, he hires a hotel employee from Balbec, Aimé, to snoop around and find out if Albertine had really been messing around with other women. Aimé starts by saying he doesn’t know much but heard some rumors. Then he sends a letter confirming that yes, Albertine not only hooked up with girls at the beach but also seduced younger ones! This convinces Marcel. Until it doesn’t. What if Aimé just made all that up for the money? And anyway Albertine could have liked to have fun with other girls and also still have loved him!
So he asks Andrée directly. She doesn’t seem particularly upset about her best friend’s death. When Marcel presses her, she casually admits she has had experiences with women, but never with Albertine! Finally, Marcel can rest easy. Nope. A true stalker is never satisfied. His head spins even faster and harder around this question.
Time passes, and he starts thinking of Albertine more gently. It doesn’t matter what she was or wasn’t. They had good conversations, she was sweetm abd they also fooled around on top. He’ more at peace… until he gets weirdly mystical and starts talking about the afterlife. Even his dead grandmother makes a ghostly appearance, with a broken jaw no less, for some reason (?).
Meanwhile, Odette is now a moderately wealthy widow and remarries Forcheville, a broke aristocrat who’s supposed to bring her social status. One of Swann’s uncles also dies and their daughter Gilberte inherits an obscene fortune. She’s now high society, and the Guermantes host her.
Marcel finally publishes something. It’s an article in Le Figaro.
Andrée drops by again and confesses that actually, yes, all his previous suspicions were true. She had been involved with Albertine. More, she says Albertine did love Marcel too, that she was probably scared of him and had considered marrying him. She’d also been stringing along another guy, just in case Marcel wasn’t interested. People are like that.
The painter Elstir from Balbec becomes famous and valuable. One of his paintings shows young women playing by the water, shoving each other. Marcel wonders if it’s Albertine and her friends seducing one another.
Marcel takes that long-dreamed-of trip to Venice. He goes with his mom.
While there he gets a message taken from a telegram relayed from Albertine. She’s alive?! It’s hard to understand, its a terrible translation. But Marcel barely reacts. Honestly, at this point it would be inconvenient if she were alive. He’s over it.
The word azure gets massively overused in this book. Nothing is ever just “blue” (bleu). Everything is azure.
Back in Paris, Marcel hears that his friend Saint-Loup is marrying Gilberte, the millionaire. It makes sense, he’s probably also broke.
Marcel and Gilberte reconnect. He visits here, they talk, without great traces of love. Saint-Loup now ignores his old friend who he previously was obsessed with. He just wants him to keep his wife company. Meanwhile Saint-Loup takes on lover, which destabilizes his wedding. He’s always surrounded with women, but his lover is Morel the violinist, who was his own’s uncle’s ex-lover.
Marcel realizes that the confusing messages he received in Venice weren’t from Albertine but from Gilberte. Albertine really is dead after all. He still doesn’t care much.
Gilberte is rich but stingy, but that has a solution. Saint-Loup showers his mother-in law Odette with gifts, paid for using Gilberte’s own money, of course. Odette is broke after losing her second husband who’s dead, and in turn defends Saint-Loup’s absences, reassuring her daughter to just chill out when he disappears on vacations with his friend. She tells her daughter Gilberte to be generous towards him. And so the money goes around. Oh, and Saint-Loup also secretly supports his uncle, the Baron Charlus.
By the end of the sixth book, it’s clear Marcel was fragile. He probably hibernated, as most of the story happens during spring and summer. These 6 volumes have hardly any rain, snow, or winter. The light, walks, travel, seaside swims, the torment and failure of love, these are what shaped him and what he remembers.
Saint-Loup leaves his wife yet again to travel with a “friend”. While strolling together, Gilberte confesses to Marcel that she had feelings for him once but that he had completely ignored her.
Classic Marcel.
Nota: O nome real deste volume é “ Time regained” (EN).
O Marcel e a Gilberte continuam amigos, e passeiam por Combray. O marido dela, Saint-Loup, já não é grande amigo do autor. Continua a procurar homens, e quando é apanhado em viagens “com amigos” faz umas decarações de amor completamente absurdas à Gilberte a ver se ela não se passa.
O autor abandonou a ideia de ser escritor, acha que não tem talento.
Veio a guerra 1a guerra mundial. O Marcel é débil e não se junta. Sofre de saúde fraca, sem explicar qualquer detalhe médico, o que significa que é daqueles que apanha uns resfriados, tem dores de cabeça, sofre de cólicas, é hipocondríaco e é um mariquinhas. O Saint-Loup não vai ao quartel porque afirma publicamente que não tem interesse em morrer, mas secretamente tenta na mesma alistar-se porque é um patriota. O Bloch tenta não ser aceite com a desculpa que vê mal, mas é alistado na mesma. O Barão de Charlus e o Morel já não falam há muito. Ambos seguiram em frente. A Gilberte sai de Paris com a filha, e manda uma carta ao Marcel onde diz que os alemães lá alojados até são simpáticos. O Saint-Loup falha-lhe a descrever a guerra e estratégias.
2 anos depois do início da guerra em 1916 ela ainda mantém a casa dela, tolerando os alemães. Os franceses passam o tempo em previsões de vitórias que não se materializam, sem perder a convicção que vão ganhar. Os alemães pelo contrário arriscam uma fome que aniquila a sua capacidade naturalmente superior. Os raides se aviões são constantes mas as descrições são muito pouco destrutivos para a nossa experiência moderna de leitor e consumidor de guerra.
O Marcel dá uma volta pela cidade escura, onde tudo está fechado ou semi-fechado para dificultar ataques aéreos. Vê um militar de aparência desconhecida a sair de um hotel manhoso. Segue-o. Lá em cima, descobre um quarto onde o barão de Charlus paga a homens para o atarem com correntes e para lhe baterem. À saída cruza-se com o Jupien, o alfaiate, que gere o Hotel todo contente. Encontra também uma condecoração no meio do chão.
O Saint-Loup morre na guerra a proteger a retirada do seu batalhão e o Marcel fica numa nova depressão. A empregada dá-lhe a notícia dizendo que ainda há uns dias tinha lá estado em casa à procura de uma medalha.. Implicando que o Saint-Loupe provavelmente também gostava de uma espancamentos sado-maso. Entretanto o Morel deserta e quando é apanhado chiba-se todo e culpa o Charlus e as suas perversões, e este é preso. Ambos são libertados, e o Morel até ganha uma medalha e fica um tipo respeitável na sociedade.
A guerra acaba, os velhos ricos fingem-se de pobres para não pagar impostos, e os novos ricos compram diamantes para evitar as oscilações das obrigações regulares.
O Marcel vai a uma festa na nova casa do Prince de Guermantes e da Madame de Guermantes. A caminho encontra o Charlus, velho e a recuperar de uma apoplexia (enfarte ou AVC), e a ser cuidado pelo Jupien. Na festa o Marcel é transportado para as suas memórias por qualquer coisa: a entrada, um degrau, um guardanapo. Estas impressões são agradáveis sobretudo para o autor, para o leitor duram 150 páginas mais coisa menos coisa. Ele passa pela razão de ser dos escritores e da arte e da vida. Na sua grande volta menciona até “Board Meetings”, assim garantindo que as mais de 4000 páginas da obra servem para tocar tudo o que se passa no mundo. “Board Meetings ✔️” terá riscado o Proust. Menciona comer madalenas com chá umas seis vezes. Na festa está lá a Odette, ainda bonita, mas sem grande interesse. Está lá o Bloch que é um escritor reputado, mas ainda cheio de manhas. A Madame Verdurin tornou-se a Princess de Guermantes ao casar com o príncipe viúvo. A Andreé e o marido são muito amigos da Gilberte. A Rachel, que era uma meretriz, agora é uma actriz conhecida e amiga da Madame de Guermantes. E assim pessoas ricas tornam-se aristocratas, pobres tornam-se ricos, e as famílias renovam-se.
A Gilberte apresenta-lhe a filha de 16 anos, que bonita. Faz-lo lembrar-se da sua juventude.
No final, o Marcel reflete sobre o que viveu e viu, e decide-se a finalmente escrever um livro, sobre pessoas. A empregada Françoise fica ao lado dele.
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