The Modern Library In Search of Lost Time, Complete and Unabridged : 6-Book Bundle

by Marcel Proust

  This was perhaps what might have happened to me in the long run if Albertine had lived. And yet, comforting though it must after all be, since worldly men and women sacrifice social life and ambition for it, I felt no regret that what might have been had failed to come about, so impervious had I become to the memory of Albertine. I cannot however say that sometimes in the evening, when we returned to our hotel (for, since our encounter with the old Villeparisis-Norpois couple, my mother had decided against our dining elsewhere), I did not feel, in the nervous restlessness of nightfall, that the Albertine of long ago, invisible to myself …

  Synopsis

  THE CAPTIVE

  Life with Albertine. Street sounds. Albertine and I under the same roof. My mother’s disapproval. My irregular sleeping habits. Françoise’s respect for tradition. Intellectual development and physical change in Albertine. My confidence in Andrée. I advise against a trip with Andrée to the Buttes-Chaumont. I no longer love Albertine, but my jealousy subsists. Ubiquity of Gomorrah. The virtues of solitude. I long to be free of Albertine. Jealousy, a spasmodic disease.

  Visits to the Duchesse de Guermantes. What survives of the magic of her name. The Fortuny dresses. Attraction of the Duchess’s conversation. Mme de Chaussepierre. Digression about the Dreyfus case.

  M. de Charlus and Morel chez Jupien. “Stand you tea”. M. de Charlus receives a note from a club doorman. Natural distinction of Jupien’s niece. M. de Charlus delighted at the prospect of her marriage with Morel. Morel’s capricious sentiments and pathological irritability.

  The syringa incident. Waiting for Albertine’s return: pleasures of art. Change in her since she has sensed my jealousy. Andrée’s defects; her calumnies about “I’m a wash-out”. Reports on her outings with Albertine. Albertine’s taste and elegance. Variability of the nature of girls. Persistence of my desire for the fleeting image of Albertine at Balbec. Albertine asleep. Watching her sleeping, and waking. The soothing power of her kiss, comparable to that of my mother at Combray. My increasing resemblance to all my relations.

  Changes of weather; their effect on my indolence and on my jealous suspicions. Bloch’s cousin Esther. Albertine’s plan to visit Mme Verdurin. I suggest other expeditions. A “fugitive being”. Françoise’s hostile prophecies about Albertine. Telephone call to Andrée about Albertine’s visit to the Verdurins. But can I trust Andrée?. Albertine tries to dissuade me from accompanying her to the Verdurins’. I advise her to go to the Trocadéro instead. The anguish of being deprived of her customary good-night kiss. Her sleep again and her charming awakening.

  Spring morning. Street sounds; the musical cries of the street-vendors. Reflections on different kinds of sleep. Albertine’s enthusiasm for the cries of Paris and the foodstuffs they offer; her eloquent disquisition on the subject of ices.

  The chauffeur and the expedition to Versailles. Alone at the window, I listen to the sounds of Paris. Nostalgia for little girls. Françoise sends me one to do an errand: a pretty dairymaid whom I had noticed, but whose glamour quickly evaporates when she is in my presence. Lea is to perform at the Trocadéro. How to prevent Albertine from meeting her?. I send Françoise to fetch her. Deterioration in Françoise’s speech; her inability to tell the right time. Awaiting Albertine’s return, I play Vinteuil’s sonata. Music and introspection. Reflections on the attitude to their work of nineteenth-century artists. Morel’s mysterious occupations. His outburst against Jupien’s niece: grand pied de grue. Drive to the Bois with Albertine. Similarities between desire and travel. Alternations of boredom and desire. Our shadows in the Bois. My servitude and hers. A meeting with Gisele. The lies of the little band fit together exactly. Albertine admits a lie.

  I learn of Bergotte’s death. His illness, prolonged by medical treatment. At the Vermeer exhibition: the little patch of yellow wall. Dead for ever?. Albertine’s lie about meeting Bergotte. Her technique of lying.

  The Verdurins quarrel with M. de Charlus. I set off for the Verdurins’ in secret. Encounter with a repentant Morel. His capriciousness and cynicism, and his rancour towards those to whom he causes pain. Meeting with Brichot. The death of Swann. Brichot evokes the Verdurin salon of old. Arrival of M. de Charlus, greatly changed. Brichot’s attitude towards him. Homosexuality and the refinement of artistic tastes. M. de Charlus’s conjugal behaviour with Morel. His detachment from social constraints. Morel’s letter from Lea M. de Charlus admires Morel’s successes with women; and meanwhile tries to seduce other young men, in particular Bloch.

  Arrival at the Verdurins’ house. M. de Charlus and the footman. Saniette snubbed by M. Verdurin for announcing Princess Sherbatoff’s death. Mme Verdurin obsessed with the desire to separate Charlus and Morel. Her reasons for resentment against the Baron: his veto on the society women she wanted to invite, in particular Mme Mole. The Verdurin salon and the Dreyfus Case, and the Ballets russes. Mme Verdurin and the death of Princess Sherbatoff. Her medical precautions against the effects of Vinteuil’s music. Morel’s improved manners. M. de Charlus’s furtive exchanges with several important guests. Mme Verdurin draws up her plans. Rudeness of the Baron’s guests, with the exception of the Queen of Naples.

  The concert begins. An unpublished work by Vinteuil. Attitudes of Mme Verdurin, the musicians, Morel. Mysterious promise of the music. Art and life. Vinteuil’s unique and unmistakable voice. The artist’s “unknown country”. Music, language of souls. Final triumph of the joyful motif. The role of Mlle Vinteuil’s friend in the revelation of this work.

  The guests file past the Baron; his witty or caustic remarks. Mme de Mortemart puts out feelers for a musical soiree. M. d’Argencourt and inverts. Mme Verdurin’s growing rage. The Queen of Naples’ fan. M. de Charlus and General Deltour. Mme Verdurin asks Brichot to talk to the Baron while M. Verdurin tackles Morel. Brichot reluctantly complies. M. de Charlus’s remarks on Morel’s playing: the lock of hair. He appreciates Brichot’s wit. His attendance at Brichot’s Sorbonne lectures. Mme de Villeparisis’s real social position. Brichot and Charlus on homosexuality; M. de Charlus’s statistic; Swann, Odette and her many lovers, M. de Crécy. General observations on sodomy (404 et sqq.)

  M. Verdurin’s revelations to Morel about the Baron; Mme Verdurin confirms and reinforces them. Morel repudiates the Baron, who remains dumbfounded. The Queen of Naples, returning to collect her fan, leads M. de Charlus away. The change in the Baron after this soirée; his illness; moral improvement followed by a new decline. The Verdurins’ generosity towards Saniette. Unexpected side to M. Verdurin’s character.

  Disappearance of Albertine. Return from the Verdurins’ with Brichot. The window streaked with light, symbol of my servitude. Albertine’s anger. Her admission about the supposed three-day trip to Balbec. A mysterious and horrible Albertine reveals herself (“casser le pot”). My mendacious proposal that we should separate. Esther’s photograph. I am intoxicated by my grief, Albertine and Lea, which I suddenly bring to an end by “a renewal of the lease”. Albertine’s sleeping body: a mysterious allegory. A letter from my mother. Curiosity and sagacity of Françoise. Albertine’s artistic tastes. The Fortuny gowns. Albertine plays me some music. The profound truth of Vinteuil’s music. Reflections on genius. Key-phrases; the example of Dostoievsky.

  Return of spring; vain resolution to change my way of life. Mme Bontemps’s revelations about the Buttes-Chaumont and Albertine’s readiness to leave Balbec with me. Two character traits: the multiple utilisation of a single action, and the incapacity to resist the temptation of a pleasure. My outburst of anger. Interrogation of Albertine about her relations with Andrée. Reconciliation, but no good-night kiss. A presentiment of death. The noise of a window being opened in the silence of the night.

  We go out together. The aeroplane. Albertine and the pastry-cook. Sounds and scents of spring; thirst for Venice. I resolve to leave Albertine immediately. Françoise informs me that she has just left.

  THE FUGITIVE

  Grieving and Forgetting. “Mlle Albertine has gone”. Alberti
ne’s letter. Hypotheses about the reasons for her departure. All my different “selves” must learn to live with my suffering. Albertine in Touraine. The little poor girl in my room.

  Saint-Loup’s mission to Touraine. His astonishment on seeing Albertine’s photograph. Bloch’s indiscretion and my anger. Summons from the Sûreté. First furtive hint of forgetting. My sleep is full of Albertine. First telegram from Saint-Loup: mission delayed; second telegram: Albertine has seen him. Furious, I cable to him telling him to return. A letter from Albertine. My mendacious reply. The declaration scene in Phèdre. The mystery of Albertine’s rings. Another letter from Albertine. I ask Andrée to come and live with me, and tell Albertine. Saint-Loup’s return; an overheard conversation shows him in a new light. His report on his mission.

  A telegram from Mme Bontemps: Albertine’s death in a riding accident. New and unprecedented suffering. Proliferation of memories. The baths at Balbec. Aimé’s mission of inquiry. Alternation of odious suspicions and tender memories. Analogy between my love for Gilberte and my love for Albertine. Our mistresses are the daughters of our anguish. Lying words become prophetic truths. Aimé’s letter confirming my suspicions. His mission to Touraine. Albertine and the laundry-girl; evocation of an Elstir painting. Revival in my memory of a sweet, kind and innocent Albertine.

  Beginnings of recovery. I grow accustomed to the idea of Albertine’s death. Intermittent revival of my love and my suffering (723 et sqq.). Andrée confesses her taste for women, but denies having had relations with Albertine. Renewal of desire for other women. The power of oblivion.

  Mlle de Forcheville. Three stages on the road to indifference. A walk in the Bois on All Saints’ Day. The three girls. Some days later, one of them gives me a look which rouses my passion. I identify her with Mlle d’Eporcheville, whom Robert had met in a house of assignation. Robert, in reply to a cable from me, tells me it is the wrong girl. My article in the Figaro. Visit to the Guermantes’. The blonde girl: Mlle de Forcheville, in other words Gilberte. Mme de Guermantes’s changed attitude towards Swann’s wife and daughter after his death; she entertains Gilberte and talks to her about her father. The Duke reads my article. Gilberte’s snobbery. Two congratulatory letters. Gilberte helps to bury the memory of her father and hastens the process of forgetting in me as regards Albertine. A new social self replaces the one that loved Albertine.

  Second stage on the road towards indifference: second conversation with Andrée; her relations with Albertine; Albertine and Morel; the evening of the syringa. Andrée’s different natures; her engagement to the Verdurins’ nephew, “I’m a wash-out”, an artist of genius underneath his crude and frivolous exterior. The Princesse de Parme’s visit to my mother. Third visit from Andrée; a new explanation for Albertine’s departure. Albertine and “I’m a wash-out”. His attitude towards me.

  Sojourn in Venice. Third stage towards indifference. Venice and Combray. Mme de Villeparisis and M. de Norpois, greatly aged. A telegram from Albertine telling me she is alive; it gives me no joy. The self that loved Albertine is dead. My outings in Venice, alone or with my mother. The Giotto chapel at Padua. Evening walks in Venice.

  I ask my mother to postpone our departure; she refuses, and I decide to stay. Solitude, misery, O sole mio. The train. A letter from Gilberte announcing her engagement to Robert de Saint-Loup; the recent telegram was from her.

  New Aspect of Saint-Loup. My mother tells me of another marriage, that of the Cambremers’ son and Mlle d’Oloron, Jupien’s niece. My mother’s reflexions on the news, and thoughts of my grandmother. Ups and downs of Saint-Loup’s engagement plans. Disapproval from Combray. Reactions of society people. Opposite effects of the same vice in Charlus and Legrandin. Roles of the Princesse de Parme, Charlus and Legrandin in Mlle d’Oloron’s marriage. Change in Legrandin. Gilberte, at first happy in her new social position, becomes indifferent to it. Mlle d’Oloron’s death. The Muse of History.

  A visit to Tansonville. Saint-Loup’s infidelity; his relations with Morel. Retrospective analysis of Robert’s sexual tastes. Robert and Mme de Forcheville. My tarnished friendship.

  2003 Modern Library Paperback Edition

  Biographical note copyright © 1992 by Random House, Inc.

  Revisions to the translation copyright © 1992 by D. J. Enright

  Copyright © 1981 by Chatto & Windus and Random House, Inc.

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Modern Library, an imprint of The Random House Ballantine Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.

  MODERN LIBRARY and the TORCHBEARER Design are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

  This edition was originally published in hardcover in Great Britain by Chatto & Windus in 1992 and in the United States by Modern Library in 1993.

  This translation is a revised edition of the 1981 translation of The Past Recaptured by Andreas Mayor and Terence Kilmartin, published in the United States by Random House, Inc., and in Great Britain by

  Chatto & Windus. Revisions by D. J. Enright.

  LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

  Proust, Marcel, 1871–1922.

  [Temps retrouvé. English]

  Time regained/Marcel Proust; translated by Andreas Mayor and Terence Kilmartin; revised by D. J. Enright. A guide to Proust/compiled by Terence Kilmartin; revised by Joanna Kilmartin.

  p. cm.—(In search of lost time; 6)

  eISBN: 978-0-679-64183-4

  I. Mayor, Andreas. II. Kilmartin, Terence. III. Enright, D. J. (Dennis Joseph), 1920–. IV. Kilmartin, Terence. Guide to Proust. 1993. V. Title.

  VI. Series: Proust, Marcel, 1871–1922. À la recherche du temps perdu.

  English; v. 6.

  PQ2631.R63T413 1993

  843′.912—dc20 93–3628

  Modern Library website address: www.modernlibrary.com

  v3.1_r1jc

  MARCEL PROUST

  Marcel Proust was born in the Parisian suburb of Auteuil on July 10, 1871. His father, Adrien Proust, was a doctor celebrated for his work in epidemiology; his mother, Jeanne Weil, was a stockbroker’s daughter of Jewish descent. He lived as a child in the family home on Boulevard Malesherbes in Paris, but spent vacations with his aunt and uncle in the town of Illiers near Chartres, where the Prousts had lived for generations and which became the model for the Combray of his great novel. (In recent years it was officially renamed Illiers-Combray.) Sickly from birth, Marcel was subject from the age of nine to violent attacks of asthma, and although he did a year of military service as a young man and studied law and political science, his invalidism disqualified him from an active professional life.

  During the 1890s Proust contributed sketches to Le Figaro and to a short-lived magazine, Le Banquet, founded by some of his school friends in 1892. Pleasures and Days, a collection of his stories, essays, and poems, was published in 1896. In his youth Proust led an active social life, penetrating the highest circles of wealth and aristocracy. Artistically and intellectually, his influences included the aesthetic criticism of John Ruskin, the philosophy of Henri Bergson, the music of Wagner, and the fiction of Anatole France (on whom he modeled his character Bergotte). An affair begun in 1894 with the composer and pianist Reynaldo Hahn marked the beginning of Proust’s often anguished acknowledgment of his homosexuality. Following the publication of Emile Zola’s letter in defense of Colonel Dreyfus in 1898, Proust became “the first Dreyfusard,” as he later phrased it. By the time Dreyfus was finally vindicated of charges of treason, Proust’s social circles had been torn apart by the anti-Semitism and political hatreds stirred up by the affair.