书目

In Search of Lost Time, Volume II: Within a Budding Grove

内容简介

ThefinalvolumeofInSearchofLostTimechroniclestheyearsofWorldWarI,when,asM.deCharlusreflectsonamoonlitwalk,ParisthreatenstobecomeanotherPompeii.Yearslater,afterthewar'send,Proust'snarratorreturnstoParis,whereMme.VerdurinhasbecomethePrincessedeGuermantes.Hereflectsontime,reality,jealousy,artisticcreation,andtherawmaterialforliterature-hispastlife.ThisvolumealsoincludestheindispensableGuidetoProust,anindextoallsixvolumesofthenovel.Thefinalvolumeofanew,definitivetextofAlarecherchedutempsperduwaspublishedbytheBibliothequedelaPleiadein1989.ForthisauthoritativeEnglish-languageedition,D.J.EnrighthasrevisedthelateTerenceKilmartin'sacclaimedreworkingofC.K.ScottMoncrieff'stranslationtotakeintoaccountthenewFrencheditions.

作者简介

MarcelProustwasbornintheParisiansuburbofAuteuilonJuly10,1871.Hisfather,AdrienProust,wasadoctorcelebratedforhisworkinepidemiology;hismother,JeanneWeil,wasastockbroker'sdaughterofJewishdescent.HelivedasachildinthefamilyhomeonBoulevardMalesherbesinParis,butspentvacationswithhisauntanduncleinthetownofIlliersnearChartres,wheretheProustshadlivedforgenerationsandwhichbecamethemodelfortheCombrayofhisgreatnovel.(InrecentyearsitwasofficiallyrenamedIlliers-Combray.)Sicklyfrombirth,Marcelwassubjectfromtheageofninetoviolentattacksofasthma,andalthoughhedidayearofmilitaryserviceasayoungmanandstudiedlawandpoliticalscience,hisinvalidismdisqualifiedhimfromanactiveprofessionallife.Duringthe1890sProustcontributedsketchestoLeFigaroandtoashort-livedmagazine,LeBanquet,foundedbysomeofhisschoolfriendsin1892.PleasuresandDays,acollectionofhisstories,essays,andpoems,waspublishedin1896.InhisyouthProustledanactivesociallife,penetratingthehighestcirclesofwealthandaristocracy.Artisticallyandintellectually,hisinfluencesincludedtheaestheticcriticismofJohnRuskin,thephilosophyofHenriBergson,themusicofWagner,andthefictionofAnatoleFrance(onwhomhemodeledhischaracterBergotte).Anaffairbegunin1894withthecomposerandpianistReynaldoHahnmarkedthebeginningofProust'softenanguishedacknowledgmentofhishomosexuality.FollowingthepublicationofEmileZola'sletterindefenseofColonelDreyfusin1898,Proustbecame'thefirstDreyfusard,'ashelaterphrasedit.BythetimeDreyfuswasfinallyvindicatedofchargesoftreason,Proust'ssocialcircleshadbeentornapartbytheanti-Semitismandpoliticalhatredsstirredupbytheaffair.Proustwasveryattachedtohismother,andafterherdeathin1905hespentsometimeinasanitorium.Hishealthworsenedprogressively,andhewithdrewalmostcompletelyfromsocietyanddevotedhimselftowriting.Proust'searlyworkhaddonenothingtoestablishhisreputationasamajorwriter.Inanunfinishednovel,JeanSanteuil(notpublisheduntil1952),helaidsomeofthegroundworkforInSearchofLostTime,andinAgainstSainte-Beuve,writtenin1908-09,hestatedashisaestheticcredo:'Abookistheproductofadifferentselffromtheonewemanifestinourhabits,insociety,inourvices.Ifwemeantotrytounderstandthisselfitisonlyinourinmostdepths,byendeavoringtoreconstructitthere,thatthequestcanbeachieved.'Heappearstohavebegunworkonhislongmasterpiecesometimearound1908,andthefirstvolume,Swann'sWay,waspublishedin1913.In1919thesecondvolume,WithinaBuddingGrove,wontheGoncourtPrize,bringingProustgreatandinstantaneousfame.Twosubsequentsections--TheGuermantesWay(1920-21)andSodomandGomorrah(1921)--appearedinhislifetime.(Ofthedepictionofhomosexualityinthelatter,hisfriendAndréGidecomplained:'WillyouneverportraythisformofErosforusintheaspectofyouthandbeauty?')TheremainingvolumeswerepublishedfollowingProust'sdeathonNovember18,1922:TheCaptivein1923,TheFugitivein1925,andTimeRegainedin1927.BiographyBorntoawealthyfamily,iconicFrenchwriterMarcelProust(1871-1922)studiedlawandliterature.Hissocialconnectionsallowedhimtobecomeanobservanthabituéofthemostexclusivedrawingroomsofthenobility,andhewrotesocialpiecesforParisianjournals.Hepublishedessaysandstories,includingthestorycollectionPleasuresandDays(1896).Hehadsufferedfromasthmasincechildhood,andc.1897hebegantodisengagefromsociallifeashishealthdeclined.Half-Jewishhimself,hebecameamajorsupporterofAlfredDreyfusintheaffairthatmadeFrenchanti-Semitismintoanationalissue.Deeplyaffectedbyhismother'sdeathin1905,hewithdrewfurtherfromsociety.Anincidentofinvoluntaryrevivalofchildhoodmemoryin1909ledhimtoretirealmosttotallyintoaneccentricseclusioninhiscork-linedbedroomtowriteÀlarecherchedutempsperdu(inEnglish:InSearchofLostTimeorRemembranceofThingsPast).Publishedbetween1913and1927,thevastseven-partnovelisatonceakindofautobiography,avastsocialpanoramaofFranceintheyearsjustbeforeandduringWorldWarI,andanimmensemeditationonloveandjealousyandonartanditsrelationtoreality.Oneofthesupremeachievementsinfictionofalltime,itbroughthimworldwidefameandaffectedtheentireclimateofthe20th-centurynovel.

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Modern Library

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