In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower / À l'ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs

In the second episode of Proust Curious, hosts Emma Claussen and Hannah Weaver slog through the narrator’s first love on the Champs-Élysées and emerge onto the dazzling shore of Normandy, where he travels with his grandmother. We notice that Proust begins to introduce concepts critical to the project: the ongoing tussle between habit and novelty, the social kaleidoscope, the subject matter of art, and the essential perspectivalism of all human relations. We dissect a passage about toenails, classical statuary, and living nymphs. Plus, we’ll answer the question: “What is your favorite virtue?” Join us as we search for lost time and remember things Proust.

Produced by Michael Goldsmith in partnership with Public Books; visit publicbooks.org for transcripts and more information.

Resources:

• Proust Questionnaire
• In Search of Lost Time (trans. Moncrieff, Kilmartin, and Mayor; rev. Enright)
• Emma and Hannah discuss this volume further
• Logo image
• Madame de Sévigné (seventeenth-century French author)
• Céline Sciamma (dir.) Bande de filles (‘Girlhood’)
• Rubens, Marie de’ Medici Cycle