Monday, May 28, 2007

Swann’s jealousy

What is Odette doing when she is not with M. Swann? What is she doing at, say, five o’clock? Swann wonders. And wonders:

His jealousy, like an octopus that casts a first, then a second, then a third mooring, attached itself solidly first to that time, five o’clock in the afternoon, then to another, then to yet another.

From Swann's Way, translated by Lydia Davis (New York: Viking, 2002), 294

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comments: 2

Unknown said...

CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHY AND HOW SWANN MARRIED ODDETE

Michael Leddy said...

Well, his love is likened to a disease that is "no longer opearable," which would make him a hopeless case. I don't think the novel offers an explanation that makes Swann's love appear rational.