This year marks the 150th birth anniversary of one of the pioneers of the modernist style of writing, Marcel Proust. Born in 1871, less than a year after the formation of the Third Republic, in one of the most plush and richest areas of Paris, Neuilly-Auteuil-Passy, in which resided figures like Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and Honore de Balzac, Victor Hugo and Charles Baudelaire at various points in history, Proust redefined the scope of literature with his masterpiece, À la recherche du temps perdu, or In Search of Lost Time, alternatively known as Remembrance of Things Past, published between 1913 and 1927.
At 1.2 million words in length, and spread over seven parts, it is recognised by the Guinness World Records as the longest novel ever written. Through the semi-autobiographical disposition of the narrative of the novel, Proust critically examines the life experiences of his protagonist through the interplay of space, time and memory. The superficiality of high society, the turbulence of youthful love, and the ever redeeming nature of art form the crux of the themes explored in the novel.
It is a bridge between the classical French novel mastered by writers such as Balzac, Stendhal, and Zola and the Nouveau Roman (the New Novel), made famous in the 20th century by writers like Samuel Beckett, Italo Calvino, and Julio Cortazar. The stream of consciousness made popular by Proust was emulated by the likes of James Joyce in Ulysses and Virginia Woolf in her most well known works of fiction. Proust’s work also highlights the concept of involuntary memory, which is a sense of nostalgia brought about by our interaction with various objects. Madeleine cakes in the novel is synonymous with it.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought life to a standstill for a number of people, both literally and metaphorically. Some of us have the privilege of working from home, while most of us do not as highlighted by the migrant labour crisis in 2020. For those stuck at home, bored with all the work, now would be an opportune time to read the thoughtful prose of Proust, which makes us stop and introspect on the course our lives have taken in the past year and a half.
Let us not forget that when this novel was being written, the world was being reshaped both politically and medically as a consequence of the outbreaks of the First World War and the Spanish Flu, respectively. The number of the deceased population ranges from anywhere between 12 million and 18 million in India alone. “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” wrote the Spanish Philosopher George Santayana. With the trauma of the second wave still haunting countless people , and the next four months being crucial for the effects of the third wave, now would be the perfect time to dig into Proustian prose instead of flocking to tourist destinations. Adequate effort may leave an everlasting imprint of joy and bliss on our memories.
The sophisticated approach Proust uses in the dissection and refinement of memories is especially vital to possess an understanding of the current age when the usage of the Internet has skyrocketed to its zenith. As more and more people continue to join the Internet, more and more information is being preserved in all its triteness. The minds of the youth are embroiled in fruitless arguments over various social media platforms. The futility of these can manifest itself in various degrees of mental health issues.
From experience, one can state that investing time in reading Proust is highly rewarding. If one is to complete reading the entirety of ISOLT, one may cherish the memories some years down the line or one may simply wish to re-read it, in a wholly different form altogether. In the words of Italo Calvino, the Italian novelist and journalist, the truly great works of literature are meant to be re-read. Most of all, Proust’s writing style helps the reader develop a multifaceted viewpoint or what he called perspective. “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes,” he wrote. The aforesaid statement can help come to terms with the fact that even if our options of travel and seeing are limited, our senses can grow to their optimum level through the fair use of the resources of the Internet we have at our disposal.
Proust, while writing ISOLT, was an ailing man. He could only afford to write about 10 pages a day (or night, which was his preferred time of writing). Before his death, he was able to edit only the first volumes of the novel, the editing and publication of the final three volumes was overseen by his brother, Robert Proust.
In reading this symphonic novel (there is a fictional symphony whose echoes are resounded throughout the novel), the readers can acclimatise themselves with a plethora of visual art (Vermeer being Proust’s favourite painter), the History of French Literature dating back to La Chanson de Roland (The Song of Roland), an 11th century epic poem and the earliest piece of literature in the French Literary Canon to Antole France (Proust’s contemporary), who has been immortalised in the novel, serving as model for the character of Bergotte, the novelist.
