Combray by Marcel Proust is part of the monumental A La Recherche du Temps Perdu, which is not just part of the Best 100 Books of All Time, as seen by Le Monde, Bokklubben World Library, and other serious lists, but it is at the top, on The Greatest Books of All Time site is ranked third, and in my book, this is nec plus ultra – a few hundred other works from these compilations are reviewed on my blog, where the best take is https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/02/is-this-unique-could-it-make-money.html

 

Combray by Marcel Proust is part of the monumental A La Recherche du Temps Perdu, which is not just part of the Best 100 Books of All Time, as seen by Le Monde, Bokklubben World Library, and other serious lists, but it is at the top, on The Greatest Books of All Time site is ranked third, and in my book, this is nec plus ultra – a few hundred other works from these compilations are reviewed on my blog, where the best take is https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/02/is-this-unique-could-it-make-money.html

 

 

 

10 out of 10

 

A La Recherche du Temps Perdu is a sublime, inspirational, divine chef d’oeuvre – indeed, now I realize that this is a powerful, perhaps absolute argument in favor of…

 

-          God

 

It reminds me of the argument of the watch – if you find a watch in the desert, you know it did not come together by chance, and then the notion of perfection, I think it was Anselm, you can find all about that in marvelous books by Karen Armstrong https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2024/03/a-short-history-of-myth-by-karen.html

 

Combray and A La Recherche overall are magnificent on all levels, but I will just mention two for now, the fact that they offer an escape, just as we have this febrile way of life, this is savoir faire at its best, joie de vivre, noblesse oblige, it does not have a relation with the speed which has humans engaged on the rat race

If one is looking for a space out of the turmoil, chaos, future invasion of Canada, Greenland, Panama, Gaza and whatever else the Orange Moron covets, and is not on Putin’s turf, the czar would allow the game, then what better place than Combray, or The Guermantes Way, where you find Le Temps Retrouve https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2024/12/le-temps-retrouve-by-marcel-proust.html aka The Time Regained

 

Another crucial element, is humor, sprinkled with munificence – a few instances: Swan is a frequent visitor in the family of the narrator – based on Marcel Proust himself – friend of the parents, a wealthy man, with the best connections within the aristocracy and the higher echelons of power, including the president

Indeed, the latter is mentioned by Swan, at the Verdurins, just in passing, not to impress, on the contrary, seeing that he is familiar with the crème de la crème, princesses, the Guermantes, a regular, respected, celebrated guest at the most exclusive soirees, the connection with the president is more humbling, than resplendent

 

In the family of the narrator, there are some who mock Swan, asking him if he is still living close to this wine depot, to be close to the railway station, they do not accept his wife, Odette, because of her ‘lower status’, she had been a cocotte which means a prostitute, albeit they do not know about her previous ‘occupation’

In fact, they are not aware of how noble Swan is, however generous he has always been, bringing in wine, fruits, gifts, and when the grandmother finds from the marquise de Villeparisis about the princes, duchesses who invite Swan all the time, they are more than surprised and look for explanations, and offer two possibilities

 

Either the marquise de Villeparisis is not the patrician they thought she was, or else, some of the women say ‘well, this is not good, instead of mixing with his own kind, this is the social climber’ words to that effect, nay, Marcel Proust is a magician, these are not even close to the art, the talent he has, which is unsurpassed

In the last lines, I must say that this is so outstanding that I will read Proust again, and again, and I will accumulate a number of notes on the subject – let me just mention aunt Leonie, her gossip, interest in any new person, albeit there is nobody she does not know in Combray

 

One of Marcel's most vivid memories of Combray involves his Aunt Léonie. Grief-stricken after the death of her husband, Léonie stays in bed all day with an acute case of hypochondria, hoping to earn the sympathy of her relatives by orally cataloguing her ailments. Indeed, Marcel would often overhear her whispering to herself, "I must not forget that I never slept a wink." He would always kiss her good morning and join her for her morning ritual of dipping a madeleine in tea. Before being eventually transferred to Marcel's family, Françoise took care of Léonie, doing everything from preparing her meals to discussing the townspeople that walked by her window. Eulalie, one of Léonie's friends, would come each Sunday afternoon to gossip about what had gone on during church.

 

Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/02/is-this-unique-could-it-make-money.html  – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

 There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

 

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

 

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’