Lost Time Thursday: Fixed to the Ground

[evelyn_b]

Moreover, I forgot almost immediately these last weeks of our stay. What I saw almost invariably in my minds eye when I thought of Balbec were the hours which, every morning during the fine weather, since I was due to go out in the afternoon with Albertine and her friends, my grandmother, following the doctor's orders, insisted on my spending lying

Comments

[a_phoenixdragon]

*HUGS*

[osprey_archer]

Does Little M. ever get to go have fun with the other kids? Every time we see him he always seems to be sitting at home, thinking rapturously of all the fun he could be having if only he was allowed outside. The horses' hooves trampling over his heart! and all that.

[evelyn_b]

Don't worry! This passage is actually pretty unrepresentative, because Little M. spends a very large part of the book hanging out with Albertine and her friends, and a lot of it is quite good. I had a hard time picking out anything to quote, because the scenes tend to be long and cumulative. But he does spend his afternoons in the sunshine, despite the doctor's orders confining him to the dark room in the mornings.

Having said that, I thought the best writing, the parts where I felt as strongly as I did about most of Swann's Way, were the moments when he describes being isolated, either suddenly by memory or confusion, or consistently by illness/"doctor's orders". The outdoor stuff is good, but mostly not as striking for whatever reason (clearly my preferences and Little M's are at odds) (not that I want him to be stuck in that hotel room with his heart pounding. . . does the doctor really know best??)

I'll come back and post some outdoor M. next week before I move on; it's only fair!