CAN PROUST BE ABRIDGED? Of course, I mean can Proust be abridged successfully? (The old law school joke tells of the Vermont farmer who asked if he believed in infant baptism, responded that yes, he had seen it done). I posted here on Adam Gopnik’s reflections on abridging MOBY-DICK. Laurence Grenier has done an abridgment in French with quotations from Proust interspersed with summaries of bridging passages. The book is available here (in French–an English version is a possibility). It has been about a year since I finished Proust (in translation). My nephew Andrew Schaefer says that because I read it in translation, I have never read Proust. I miss the time spent with Proust in the evenings, and some time this year I expect to read
Laurence’s abridgment.
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Would you ever consider reading Proust in French? I know it’s an extremely long book and therefore a considerable undertaking, but think how familiar you are with the material right now. With your memory of how the narrative goes and a sturdy French-English dictionary by your side, it might be worth your effort. Andrew makes an interesting point about your reading of Proust.
In a similar-but-reversed situation, I enjoy reading my French translation of The Lord of the Rings. I’m familiar enough with The Fellowship of the Ring that it’s not a terrible effort to read the beginning of The Lord of the Rings in French, as I can figure out a lot of unfamiliar words by the familiar context of the story. Reading LotR in French is something I’m tentatively planning to do the next time I’m home (as that’s where my French copy and dictionary reside).
Samuel Johnson used to learn languages by reading the Bible in the new language. He knew the Bible very well.
Of course Proust can be abridged. That’s what I am looking for. The 3 pages of a walk down a country lane or a page’s description of a church steeple can easily be cut to the minimum without losing anything of import.