Sodom and Gomorrah: In Search of Lost Time, Volume 4 (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

And so, I come to the end of book 4 and the end of the middle passage. From here on I am coming out of this Proust seven course high fat diet. This is one of those slogs that one feels every step gets to be a pain, but giving up is not a choice. In fact, I read this at a fair clip despite the fact that I started at a time when I had several major demands on my time, like class work and a major paper. Book 5 will take a while to get here and I fear losing momentum more than I fear having to read another thousand plus pages to get to the end of the cycle. And while clearing the Admin, mine is the new John Sturrock translation in the Penguin Classics deluxe edition. If you are going to take on this mountainous, steep read, these editions are the way to go.Book 4 Sodom and Gomorrah has the author taking us into the world of people he called “inverts” Proust was openly homosexual and this was his term for this life. His narrator, Marcel is not an invert. A lot of the muddle which is all over this narrator and so much of what is written, it was a mistake for the narrator Marcel, and the Author, Marcel Proust to pretend that the character was not an invert. Before Marcel writes word one of the novel the following is quoted from Alfred de Vigny”“Women will have Gomorrah and the men will have Sodom.” From this we may safely conclude that female and male homosexuality will be important in the novel. The lesbian aspect will be subsumed in speculation over which society matron is so inclined and Marcel's jealousy over the woman he does not love but he dose have an inordinate possessive attitude towards: Albretine. As always Marcel's love, lust interest, is a woman with an unusually male sounding name. The male aspect of homosexuality will be focused, literally and figuratively on the already suspect (if that is the right word) Baron Charlus, rather, Baron Palamède de Charlus.Literally because our Marcel will go to some extreme to play voyeur as the Baron conducts a tryst with someone he eyes out of the crows. To the rest of Marcelss failings , he does mostly nothing in terms of having a profession, is a social climber, a user of people for the purpose of social climbing, is a snob, is highly critical of the people he meets while social climbing, has a tendency to stalk older married women, esp women with titles, is overly possessive of the women he keeps, rather than loves, and now he is a deliberate voyeur. My nick name for Marcel is now PM, rhymes with BM as in French for a little piece of…..As for the Baron he is so family proud one has to think of the Grand Poohbah from the Mikado. Mikado predates Proust by about 20 plus years. Half the time Charlus speaks he always sounds like he is quoting the character:“POOHBAH: Don't mention it. I am, in point of fact, a particularly haughty and exclusive person, of pre- Adamite ancestral descent. You will understand this when I tell you that I can trace my ancestry back to a protoplasmal primordial atomic globule. Consequently, my family pride is something inconceivable. Ican't help it. I was born sneering. But I struggle hard to overcome this defect. I mortify my pride continually. “Exaggeration? Charlus thinks his family has heraldic claims prior to and more honorable that those of the King of France. For the rest of his speeches he is either staking out his current male love, a violinist and enlisted man in the Army, (suspiciously close to Sgt. St Loup, a major male friend of Marcel's) or speaking hesitantly in fear that his “invert” status be known or exposed. French high society may not have been homophobic, neither were they open to the thought of equal standing to those fresh out of what we now call the closet.Over all Marcel speaks both harshly and gently about male homosexuals.This being a relatively short volume in the Remembrances of Thing Past books, it is still over topped with lengthy digressions into the quirks between perception and reality. What emerges as a candidate for central theme of this book and perhaps the collection are the vagaries of love.This would be a worthy theme, except that love in the eye of Marcel is a less than wonderful thing. It is overly possessive jealous, filled with secret outside love affairs, greed and something more like mental and moral incompetence rather than soul saving and spirit lifting hearts and flours.At this point I do not like anyone outside of Marcel’s immediate family. Marcel least of all and impart because his family seems such decent people and he so little in his willingness to follow their example rather than go “swanning about.”Footnote Swanning about: Swanning around and swanning about mean to move about aimlessly, irresponsibly and in a carefree manner. Related terms are swan around or about, swans around or about, swanned around or about. When the terms swanning around and swanning about first appeared in the late nineteenth century, they simply described the process of swimming like a swan.Quoted from Gammarist

(NOTE: This is a review of the John Sturrock translation of Marcel Proust's "Sodom And Gomorrah" as published by Penguin. This is *not* the William Carter/Scott Moncrieff translation.)"Sodom And Gomorrah" is volume 4 of the 7-volume "In Search Of Lost Time" by Marcel Proust (1871-1922).The original book was published three sections. The first forty pages were published as the ending of "The Guermantes Way," (1920/1921) and the remainder was published in two parts (1921/1922). "Sodom And Gomorrah" was the last volume over which Proust supervised publication before he died (Nov 1922). The publication of the remaining volumes was carried out by his brother, Robert Proust, and Jacques Rivière.Okay, this book is basically a novel about homosexuality and the various effects on the characters of the book. Readers beware: Homosexuality is *not* treated with any positive or redeeming qualities; there are no positive gay role models anywhere here.Homosexuality is not just another topic for Proust's frequent diversionary essays; we are not talking about church steeples and hawthorns. In "Sodom And Gomorrah", homosexuality plays a *major* role that drives the actions of major characters and upcooming events of the plot.Was Marcel Proust gay? He never admitted to it. But apparently, many of his friends and contemporaries, including his fellow writer André Gide say otherwise.The tone of the book is immediately set with the title itself, "Sodom And Gomorrah" the two cities described in the Book of Genesis which were destroyed because of the depravity of the citizens. The connection with Sodom (and its derivative 'sodomy') to homosexuality was made because in the Bible story, the citizens of Sodaom wanted to see Lot's guests so that they may "know" (sexually) them.Proust doesn't leave the reader waiting. The very first chapter opens with a description of a scene in which the Narrator (never identified in the book) witnesses a gay encounter. This scene is meant to be comical and makes the actions of the two protagonists look silly. The Narrator not only overhears them making out together ("If there is one thing as noisy as suffering, it is pleasure"), but also their comments about other young males available in the neighborhood. The gay characters are described as women who are only male in appearance who try to conceal their feminine temperament by acting virile. Gays willingly to expose any gay trying to conceal their true sexuality. Gays are rejected even by their own kind who are disgusted to see themselves for what they really are. Proust describes homosexuality as an incurable malady, although occasionally a gay will seem 'cured' when he is, for example, grieving for a lost relative. But once the grief is over, his gay habits return.Proust concludes this opening chapter by stating that just because there is homosexuality in the upcoming story, it does not mean that the author is trying to start a gay pride movement.The remaining 481 pages of the book are filled with episodes involving gays. None of them are in any manner supportive or sympathetic with being gay. Gays are shown in comical scenes, scouting the territory for potential partners. They cry when the object of their affection doesn't spend time with them, then resort to hysterical schemes and deception to win back their attention. "Sodom and Gomorrah" contains the usual dinner party scenes seen in previous books. But now they re enhanced with scenes of gays admiring the young men.The effects of same-sex attraction are not confined to male homosexuality. Lesbianism - and particularly the fear of lesbianism - is a major driver in the book's plot, and produces a significant (negative) personality change in the Narrator who now becomes obsessed with protecting his friends from being exposed to known lesbians. In fact, lesbianism is portrayed with a darker, more corrupting nature, while homosexuality is usually presented for humorous effect.This isn't the first volume in "In Search Of Lost Time" with gay episodes. But this is the first time they take center stage.The story in "Sodom and Gomorrah" isn't just about gays. We meet some new characters, and learn more about others. Charles Morel, for example, the teen violin virtuoso, becomes a major character, and not because he is playing concerts. Baron de Charlus's role is significantly expanded. Also, Mme de Verdurin, who seemed to fade into the background after "Swann's Way" now re-emerges as a significant force in Paris' privileged society.In addition, we discover the rampant verbal abuse permitted in the Verdurin salon, as well as the dark side of Mme de Verdurin, who will resort to any means to keep her regulars from straying."Sodom and Gomorrah" is not a boring book. It is nothing like "Swann's Way" with its endless observations about the weather and and plant life. "Sodom and Gomorrah" is really a soap opera, complete with dastardly bad guys and a fast-moving, melodramatic plot. In a way, it reminds me of Émile Zola's "La Bête Humaine" with its wide array of characters and melodramatic plot.I'm giving this book five stars for the soap opera plot, and the reader-friendly English translation courtesy of John Sturrock. The Notes and Synopsis are exceptional. But I'd hold off from the otherwise insightful Introduction because it has spoilers. Like other comments have mentioned, I like the overall book design; the pages don't tear when you handle them nor do they fall out of the binding after frequent handling.Highly recommended.

Und wohl einer der lesenswertesten Stoffe unsere Zeit. Obwohl es noch eine ganze Zeit dauern wird, bis ich alle sechs Bände gelesen habe.Einziges Problem war die Bestellung des gesammelten Werkes, da man diese nicht zusammen bestellen kann. Man muss die Einzelbände zusammensuchen und aufpassen, dass man wirklich die verschiedenen Bände kauft und nicht versehentlich eine gleiche Ausgabe nur mit einem anderen Cover.Würde ich das gesammelte Werk beurteilen, gäbe es dafür einen Punktabzug.Da ich aber jeden Band einzeln bewerte, kann ich dabei keinen Punkt abziehen. Würde auch dem großartigen Inhalt nicht gerecht werden!