URTH |
From: Alex Groce <agroce+@cs.cmu.edu> Subject: (urth) More Proust Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1999 14:39:32 It's strange, given how strong the atmospheric influence of Proust on BOTNS and 5HC is, how few overt references Wolfe makes to Proust in his fiction. I count: the quote that opens "Hour of Trust," the title of "Suzanne Delage," and the opening of 5HC. More subtle possibilities include Severian's comment about the possibility of Dorcas and Jolenta indulging in sexual play, which maps them onto Albertine and Andree, and, although I cannot find it now that I'm looking for it, a line somewhere in BOTNS (in Citadel, I believe), that is a VERY close echo of the "A large part of what we believe to be true (and this applies even to our final conclusions) with a persistence equalled only by our sincerity, springs from an original misconception of our premisses" that closes the Venice section of Albertine Disparue. Does anyone know which translation Wolfe uses (or if he is like some of our list members and sufficiently adept at French to brave the original). I have a 1932 Random House copy of the C. K. Scott Moncrieff translation I found in a used book store about bought because the writing in the front of Vol I shows it was carried by some soldier through France in WWII. "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." John 8:32 -- Alex David Groce (agroce@cs.cmu.edu) Ph.D. Student, Carnegie Mellon University School of Computer Science http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~agroce *More Wolfe info & archive of this list at http://www.urth.net/urth/