Post #400: Proust

As an English major and avid reader, I should have read Proust years ago, but I never managed to do so.  I did once read a book called My Year of Reading Proust (by Phyllis Rose)--which I might have remembered with more clarity had I actually read Marcel's own words first.

Marcel Proust has been called one of the best (some say the best) writers of the 20th Century.  I've read enough about his writing that I can use the word "Proustian" in sentences, knowing more or less what it means--though I quickly scuttle away from the topic before revealing the superficiality of my acquaintance.

I was talking to a friend today with whom I enjoy literary discussions and one of us said, "Proustian" something or other--and somehow, in the circuitous conversation-- we both shamelessly admitted that we'd not actually read a page of Marcel Proust's own writing!  So we have decided to begin at the beginning, reading Remembrances of Things Past. (After writing this line, I had a talk with my friend Hope who suggested we save it for a winter read--as it is rather tedious for Texas summer reading.)

A couple of weeks ago, I watched all three seasons of a series on Netflix called The Killing, starring the beautiful Mireille Enos as the obsessive homicide detective:

When asked what book had made a difference in her life, here is what she said:

"Proust's multivolume In Search of Lost Time took me three years to read--an amazing journey that reminded me why I love being an actor.  Acting enables you to explore the strangeness of humanity, to get past all the armor and defenses and learn to be compassionate, to have more generosity toward the people around you.  Proust's Narrator always felt alien in the world.  He has a broken openness that makes walking through life painful for him, yet he's always striving to be more vulnerable, to be more understanding.  I believe that's the key to being an actor--the ability to put yourself in another's shoes and not judge."