I've had a few short sessions now tackling another 20 pages of this behemoth.
This time I've tried to immerse myself in the time period by listening to music. Not everyone can read and listen to music without getting distracted, but I'd recommend it, if you can! Try to avoid songs with lyrics, though, and opt for "mood pieces" instead.
One of the reasons why I love learning languages so much is that they connect to everything, so there's always something to be learnt just by doing a little research around your materials. Wikipedia is fine for this. I know that in education you're advised to avoid it like the plague, but for casual research it's honestly a great way to get a general overview on a new topic. You can always diversify your learning with other sources if a topic really piques your interest!
So I looked up the date that Du côté de chez Swann was written - 1913 - and researched French music from that decade. I learnt that Erik Satie was very popular in this era - whose Gymnopédies are still very well known - and also picked up a new name, Albert Roussel, who seems to specialise in very dramatic symphonies in the minor scales; filled with crescendos.
...then our wireless connection went to pot because my boyfriend was downloading another crop of b-movies for us to watch (check out my instagram for more on that! @saywhat_uk)... so in the Erik Satie vein I searched out a classical piano CD from my collection - Lang Lang.
I've amazed myself by how much I've understood these last 20 pages so am able to abridge slightly for a change rather than focusing on little details.
Things I've learned....
- Aunt Octave is nosy and a gossip, and gets very concerned at seeing people, and even dogs, that she doesn't know.
- Aunt Léonie is very specific about her company. She has ailments that she feels others either preach to her about it or are too grim about it. She takes comfort confiding in Eulalie, a local Deaf lady who understand her predicament.
- Our narrator is partly (though innocently) to blame for a rift between the family and Uncle Adolphe - his grandfather's brother (on his mother's side). He used to frequently visit Uncle Adolphe, though chaperoned, at a time when he was interested in the Theatre, though not allowed to go.At this time he would go every day to see the new shows that were being announced and took joy in viewing the posters; his imagination filling in the other details. He learns, at this time, that his "uncle" has many actresses in his social circle, something that the family does not approve of.On one occasion he visits his uncle unannounced and on his own when his uncle is entertaining one of these actresses. He's reluctantly invited in and later asked never to mention this to his parents. Our narrator, though, feels indebted to his uncle and, naively, doesn't understand the need for secrecy. He blabs and his uncle gets ostracised from the family unit. He does see his uncle once more, but turns his head away in remorse. Then his uncle dies alone. Grim.
Vocabulary
On the subject of vocabulary I have a bit more advice for fellow readers - especially if your content is a little on the old-fashioned side...
- Note page numbers when you're recording vocabulary to look up later. You might need this for context if the word has multiple meanings
- Otherwise, note the word class for more clarity (e.g. noun, adjective, verb). In some languages, such as french, many nouns are formed from adjectives, so this can be important.
- Don't overburden yourself. Pick out just a few words from those that you've noted to add to your vocabulary learning. You'll never have time to learn every single word, and many of those you come across might be overly specific or dated, so pick wisely! You probably don't need to learn words for turn of the 20th century garments that are no longer in fashion and not likely to return!
I've taken the following words to learn from this session:
mander - to summon
un flocon (de neige) - (snow) flake
un paon - peacock
irisé - iridescent
grognon - grumpy
le massepain - marzipan
une cocotte - mistress
embarrassé - ill-at-ease, bothered, discomforted (not embarassed!)
un fardeau - burden, load.
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