Remembrance of Things Past or In Search of Lost Time

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Although I enjoy Balzac and Flaubert I must admit I have always avoided Proust.  Along with Trollope, this summer I made the commitment to start Remembrance of Things Past.  My initial inclination was to answer wryly when asked what I was reading that I was definitely on my way to losing time but within a few hours I knew how absolutely wrong I was.  Now 2 novels in- Swann’s Way and Within a Budding Grove completed and starting Gueramantes Way, I would not be doing the works justice by limiting them to the narrow confines of a man’s memories  from his childhood to adulthood and the sometimes inane prejudices of period french society.  The remembrances are richly told, characters are developed and frailties and prejudices exposed.

In the first two installments the narrator experiences his first  two loves (Gilberte-Swann’s daughter and Albertine), watches Swann  “a bon vivant” love /loathe/marry and travels from Combray to Balbec.  As much as I love the narrator the secondary characters such as Aunt Leonie and her competition with her maid, Uncle Adolphe and his “actresses”, Bergotte and Saint-Loup and their opinions of the french aristocracy are vivid and compelling.  So far on this Proustian journey the one thing that keeps me turning the pages is simply the gorgeous dialogue and for that I have to especially thank C.K. Moncrieff for not losing any of Proust’s Proustness.

Birds of America: Stories

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Lorrie Moore does an excellent job of exhibiting our flaws in a very painful yet acceptable narrative. Themes of loss, betrayal, infidelity and anger are handled deftly and each vignette feels complete-although I did occasionally have to put the stories down and take a deep breath. She has the talent to cut a little to close to the heart of the matter and as the reader I found I at times wanted to push back and ask for the traditional Happily Ever After. Like Bark I appreciated the use of birds as a narrative link in the stories whether it was actual birds, associated sounds or symbolic elements. As in her previous works that I have read-she stays with you and causes you to evaluate motivations and responses.

The Greatest Knight

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I have to admit I love a good chivalrous tale and when it is a true story even more enticing.  The life of William Marshal is quite literally the stuff of legends-young captive of King Stephen, impoverished younger son, tournament champion, loyal to 5 Angevin Kings and instrumental in the Magna Carta. I first learned of William Marshal through Elizabeth Chadwick’s two works The Greatest Knight and Scarlet Lion-this non fiction work is as engrossing as the fictionalized accounts. Granted Marshal is an exceptional character to work with but  Thomas Asbridge does a great job of presenting a balanced view of his life and even when done you are still in awe of the subject.

The Novel Habits of Happiness

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This is the 10th installment in the Isabel Dalhousie series from Alexander McCall Smith  and I continue to enjoy the thoughtful nature of the series.  They are never your traditional mysteries and for some readers the idea of having to evaluate human response can diminish the pleasure of a mystery story.    In terms of life or death consequences Isabel is drafted to help determine if a boy’s stories about another life are plausible or childhood fantasy.  As in all of the previous books you meander with Isabel and what she questions you question.  I loved her evaluation of negative thoughts about people-yes we all do it but do we really have to and her vision of Toby in an avalanche was priceless.  If you are looking for “thoughtful guilty pleasure” you can’t go wrong this summer with spending some time with Isabel.

A Trip to Trollope

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I have been having a bit of a classic mania summer and currently am immersed in the Chronicles of Barsetshire. For those of you that have already visited with Septimus Harding of The Warden or Mary Thorne of Dr. Thorne you will  understand how easy it is to get vested in the country life of Trollope .   Lily Dale from the Small House at Allington is my new acquaintance and I am trying desperately to not jump ahead and see if Adolphus is the cad I fear he is. After the Small House at Allington I have only to read The Last Chronicles of Barchester to have completed this summer’s “Trip to Trollope”.

If you have read the “6” I welcome your comments on your favorite and least favorite characters!

What on earth could be more luxurious than a sofa, a book, and a cup of coffee?…Was ever anything so civil?”
-Anthony Trollope, The Warden