The Way by Swann’s - 2

Yesterday’s New York Times Crossword had the following clue for 46 down: “Subject of the 1999 film ‘Le Temps Retrouvé,’” which is the title of the final volume of A la recherche du temps perdu. So the answer to the clue, of course, is Proust. Seeing that clue in the crossword was like a sign from Will Shortz that my Proust project has been blessed by the stars. Thanks Will.

Here’s something I noticed about the first section of volume 1: Proust takes no pains, initially, to put me in a real place or connect me with a real person. The narrator is more or less anonymous and the location of his musings is unclear. It feels like Proust is purposely withholding the anchors most of us need to be able to understand where we are. He’s recreating in prose the sensations of being lost in a hypnagogic state. This violates the rules of popular fiction and goes against what most writing teachers tell you to do: Identify your protagonist as soon as possible and place him or her in a real place as soon as possible. It’s actually quite refreshing to be at the mercy of Proust, to let him give what he wants, when he wants to give it. It feels liberating to fall under his spell.

Eventually, we begin to discern what is going on. The narrator is older, perhaps very elderly, and he is thinking back on his childhood. He remembers some things vividly. His mother kissing him goodnight, and his father’s impatience with that particular ritual. His father made it clear that he wished the maternal kisses would end because it was so absurd. And then the narrator tells how his mother grew impatient with the good night kisses herself, in response to her husband’s opinion. You get the feeling of the narrator trying to cling to something long past; not just youth, but the comfort of those around him that appreciated his youth and innocence. But then, even that comfort evaporated. He had to grow up, and his parents were ready for him to grow up.