Proust’s letters to a neighbor. Unexpected sensation Automatic translate

ST. PETERSBURG. The publishing house "Limbus Press" published a book by Marcel Proust, "Letters to the Neighbor."

The first private publishing house of the Northern capital, Limbus Press, celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. All these years, it acquaints readers with the best examples of intellectual literature. Letters to a Neighbor (Lettres à sa voisine) by Marcel Proust, a French modernist writer, is one of them.

In house No. 102 on Osmann boulevard (102 Boulevard Haussmann) near the Saint-Lazare metro station, the writer moved in December 1906. He had to face the same problems in everyday life as ordinary people. A dusty apartment with poor sound insulation, in which his uncle used to live, did not suit Proust, suffering from asthma and "noise-phobia". To make it more comfortable for living, I had to trim the walls with noise-absorbing bark of cork oak.

His neighbors on top were an American dentist and his French wife, Marie Williams. The existence of correspondence with this family is one of the sensations of recent times. Last year, she was translated into English by Lydia Davis and published by one of London’s publishers. In January 2018, she saw the light in Russian.

The answers of charming Madame Williams were not preserved, but twenty-six messages of Proust himself testify to the warm friendly feelings that these people had for each other. The first letters are requests expressed in a delicate and ironic manner to minimize constant noise interference: the crash of repairs, the sounds of the harp and piano, the calls of patients at the dentist’s neighbor who were mistaken by the door. The degree of affection and sympathy with each subsequent message increases. This book is a wonderful opportunity to get acquainted with Proust the man, and then to learn better about Proust the writer. According to Alexander Genis, the great Frenchman is still underestimated by the reading public in Russia, for her he is a “ivory tower” in contrast to the same Kafka or Joyce.

Elena Tanakova © Gallerix.ru