Letters to His Neighbor

Fiction & Literature, Essays & Letters, Biography & Memoir, Literary
Cover of the book Letters to His Neighbor by Marcel Proust, New Directions
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Marcel Proust ISBN: 9780811224123
Publisher: New Directions Publication: August 22, 2017
Imprint: New Directions Language: English
Author: Marcel Proust
ISBN: 9780811224123
Publisher: New Directions
Publication: August 22, 2017
Imprint: New Directions
Language: English

Brilliantly translated by Lydia Davis, here are Proust’s tormented, touching, and often very funny letters to his noisy neighbor.

Marcel Proust’s genius for illuminating pain is on spectacular display in this recently discovered trove of his correspondence, Letters to His Neighbor. Already suffering from noise within his cork-lined walls, his poor soul was not ready for the fresh hell when his neighbor Dr. Williams married a widow with small children.

Chiefly to Mrs. Williams, these ever-polite letters (often accompanied by flowers, compliments, books, even pheasants) are frequently hilarious—Proust couches his fury in a gracious tone. In Lydia Davis’s hands, the digressive brilliance of his sentences shines: “Don't speak of annoying neighbors, but of neighbors so charming (an association of words contradictory in principle since Montesquiou claims that most horrible of all are 1) neighbors 2) the smell of post offices) that they leave the constant tantalizing regret that one cannot take advantage of their neighborliness.”

Proust makes fine distinctions among his auditory torments: “The valet de chambre makes noise and that doesn't matter. But later he knocks with little tiny raps.  And that is worse.”

Lydia Davis has written a generous translator’s note, tracing much of what we can know about Proust’s perpetually dark room; she details the furnishings as well as the life he lived there: burning his powders, talking with friends, hiring musicians, and, most of all, suffering. Letters to His Neighboris richly illustrated with facsimile letters and photographs—catnip for lovers of Proust.

With an Introduction by Jean-Yves Tadié and a translator’s note by Lydia Davis.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Brilliantly translated by Lydia Davis, here are Proust’s tormented, touching, and often very funny letters to his noisy neighbor.

Marcel Proust’s genius for illuminating pain is on spectacular display in this recently discovered trove of his correspondence, Letters to His Neighbor. Already suffering from noise within his cork-lined walls, his poor soul was not ready for the fresh hell when his neighbor Dr. Williams married a widow with small children.

Chiefly to Mrs. Williams, these ever-polite letters (often accompanied by flowers, compliments, books, even pheasants) are frequently hilarious—Proust couches his fury in a gracious tone. In Lydia Davis’s hands, the digressive brilliance of his sentences shines: “Don't speak of annoying neighbors, but of neighbors so charming (an association of words contradictory in principle since Montesquiou claims that most horrible of all are 1) neighbors 2) the smell of post offices) that they leave the constant tantalizing regret that one cannot take advantage of their neighborliness.”

Proust makes fine distinctions among his auditory torments: “The valet de chambre makes noise and that doesn't matter. But later he knocks with little tiny raps.  And that is worse.”

Lydia Davis has written a generous translator’s note, tracing much of what we can know about Proust’s perpetually dark room; she details the furnishings as well as the life he lived there: burning his powders, talking with friends, hiring musicians, and, most of all, suffering. Letters to His Neighboris richly illustrated with facsimile letters and photographs—catnip for lovers of Proust.

With an Introduction by Jean-Yves Tadié and a translator’s note by Lydia Davis.

More books from New Directions

Cover of the book Temple of the Scapegoat: Opera Stories by Marcel Proust
Cover of the book Da Vinci's Bicycle (New Directions Classic) by Marcel Proust
Cover of the book Robinson (New Directions Classic) by Marcel Proust
Cover of the book Written on the Sky: Poems from the Japanese by Marcel Proust
Cover of the book The Little Buddhist Monk & The Proof by Marcel Proust
Cover of the book The Back Country by Marcel Proust
Cover of the book This Great Unknowing: Last Poems by Marcel Proust
Cover of the book Last Evenings on Earth by Marcel Proust
Cover of the book I Served the King of England (New Directions Classic) by Marcel Proust
Cover of the book My Argument with the Gestapo: Autobiographical novel by Marcel Proust
Cover of the book Written Lives by Marcel Proust
Cover of the book Not to Disturb: A Novel by Marcel Proust
Cover of the book Now the Cats With Jeweled Claws & Other One-Act Plays by Marcel Proust
Cover of the book Gandhi on Non-Violence by Marcel Proust
Cover of the book The Poetry of Thought: From Hellenism to Celan by Marcel Proust
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy