i told ben: "i'm having a hard time not just picking up proust and starting it all over again." and he said, "why not do it then?" but i think i'll enjoy it more if i wait a little longer -- after all, i've only been not reading it for about as long as it took me to read it.
there is a short story collection, and there is jean fanueil, which i saw a copy of at the book trader and didn't get. tant pis pour moi! i'm reading nothing french now and i'm missing it a lot.
the day after her 33d birthday, amber resolved to read balzac's comédie humaine, consisting of over a hundred short stories and novels, many of which are no longer in print.
(here is an illustration for the comédie humaine, by aubrey beardsley, ca. 1895. i was terrorized throughout my childhood by aubrey beardsley drawings which decorated the staircase at the home of a strange aunt of mine.)
the balzac thing didn't go so well for amber. she didn't understand why she didn't like balzac the way she had loved proust, hugo, flaubert. she still doesn't understand why.
pourquoi? she asked, beating her breast.
so then she decided toalter this journal to be one focused on 19th century french lit -- not just balzac. but not avoiding him entirely, either!
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