Proust recommendations

[Paul Derouda]

Hello,
This is not exactly Green or Latin, but well. Years ago, I tried to read Proust's À la recherche du temps perdu (in French), but never got too far. I thought I'd give it a new try, but I'm a bit overwhelmed by the different editions that are available. I used to have the Flammarion edition of the first volume, but I can't find it anywhere, so I need to get a new copy anyway (just the first volume, for starters).

Can anyone recommend a particular edition? I couldn't find much information just by googling. There seems to be some controversy about the newest Pleaide ("too" much material?), and I got the impression that older versions were bowdlerized to a point (homosexuality?), but I couldn't find a definite answer. I'd be thankful for any advice!

[cb]

Hi Paul, I have the Gallimard (Collection Quarto) edition of the whole book in a single volume: this was the edition most commonly displayed in major Parisian bookstores when I was there a few years ago, and for a 2,400+ pg paperback it's holding up well, and is a good size for reading (but I do like quarto-sized books generally):

http://www.gallimard.fr/Catalogue/GALLI ... emps-perdu

It uses the Pléiade text under the direction of Jean-Yves Tadié.

It looks like there's a newer version which you might want to check out:

http://www.gallimard.fr/Catalogue/GALLI ... mps-perdu2

Cheers, Chad

[mwh]

In case you don't know it:
https://twitter.com/bbcradio4/status/11 ... 7920163841

(inspired by the classic Monty Python skit
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5v0vms)

[Paul Derouda]

Thanks.

Chad, does the Quarto version have any notes? I don’t want to spoil the joy of reading by spending most of the time looking up notes, but I like to have some clarification (and prefer footnotes to endnotes).

Michael, I was looking for the whole thing, not just a summary.

[cb]

Hi Paul, no the Quarto edition has no notes, no introduction: open the book and flick past a few pages and you're straight into the start of the book, without footnotes or endnotes.

Cheers, Chad

[Paul Derouda]

Finally I found an article has some relevance to my question. Others might find it interesting as well, so I'll share it. The last parts of the work were published posthumously and before his death, Proust had made important changes to the second last volume. When he died, this created a problem because the last volume didn't quite fit with the second last, and the editor decided not to take account of Proust's final changes.

This still doesn't quite give the definite answer to the question "which edition should I read?", though...

https://www.persee.fr/doc/litt_0047-480 ... _88_4_1558

[cb]

Many thanks Paul, very interesting article. Did the distinction between critical and genetic approaches to editing a text discussed in the article remind you a little of West's versus Nagy's approaches to editing Homer?

Also, a confession: I am not as sufficiently well-read as the author presumed, for the title of the article did not, as suggested in the opening sentence, call to my mind Pierrot's article from Les Cahiers de Textologie no. 2 in 1988.

Cheers, Chad

[Paul Derouda]

Haha, let me assure you that I just skimmed through that article to find the bits that interested me... I didn't even notice the rest.

I think Hylander has mentioned Proust somewhere along the way on Textkit, perhaps in discussion related to editing Homer. There are indeed some similarities. But Proust's work is long enough as it is, I won't be needing any alternative versions any time soon, just a nice Text.

But I'm still haven't made up my mind about the version I'm going to read. I've decided to resist the luxurious (and expensive) appeal of Pléiade for something more concise, but I still have to choose between Folio, Flammarion, Bouquins/Laffont and Livre de poche, which all apparently offer a different commented edition (and perhaps I've missed some)!

[Bart]

Paul, my two cents: don't resist the temptation of the Pléiade. Those 4 volumes are a κτῆμα εἰς ἀεί.

[Paul Derouda]

I've lost considerable amount of time without finding anything (pun intended), but finally I discovered this article (part of larger series on Proust), which answers my question, more or less. (It might be that the link didn't work a few days ago).

http://www.udenap.org/Proust/Numero_004.html