4.5
Sodom and Gomorrah
ByPublisher Description
"
is the fourth volume of Marcel Proust's masterpiece,
and the last publication from the French literary classic that Proust was able to preside over before his death in 1922. Touching on homosexuality for the first time,
is also a penetrating, often comic portrayal of French high society as well as a metaphysical exploration of the nature of time, memory, art, love, and death.
"Proust so titillates my own desire for expression that I can hardly set out the sentence. Oh if I could write like that!" —Virginia Woolf
"The greatest fiction to date." —W. Somerset Maugham
"Proust is the greatest novelist of the 20th century." —Graham Greene
Download the free Fable app
Stay organized
Keep track of what you’re reading, what you’ve finished, and what’s next.
Build a better TBR
Swipe, skip, and save with our smart list-building tool
Rate and review
Share your take with other readers with half stars, emojis, and tags
Curate your feed
Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesStay organized
Keep track of what you’re reading, what you’ve finished, and what’s next.Build a better TBR
Swipe, skip, and save with our smart list-building toolRate and review
Share your take with other readers with half stars, emojis, and tagsCurate your feed
Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesSodom and Gomorrah Reviews
4.5
Amber Kinder
Created almost 3 years agoShare
Report
Sol Smith
Created almost 4 years agoShare
Report
“The fourth episode in the series gets a bit dark, as the narrator exposes a somewhat manipulative and controlling side of himself. Again we are set heavily in the pretentious salons of France, as many different characters jockey for status and reputation through manners, taste, and display. As with many novels dealing with high society, it’s easy to say that “not much happens,” except through the subtext of conversation and relationships.
Decoding this subject, the narrator gives us a rather lengthy presentation of his views of homosexuality and the proclivities of the various, closeted homosexuals who pepper the scene. He is not at all damning, but rather understanding, at least as much as his culture and time allow. He draws extended metaphors concerning the genders and reproduction methods of flowers; and indeed conflates notions of gender with notions of sexuality, as no doubt many people through history tend to. The lecture seems startlingly frank for the time, and not without its cultural insights.
We also see the tumultuous, womanizing ways of the narrator, as he toys with the affections of a woman while still seeing others. When it turns out that the woman is bisexual, if not simply using the narrator as a public distraction, the narrator is torn apart by jealousy.
I make the distinction between Proust and The Narrator, as I think it is too easy, now, to see them as the same. My understanding is that Proust was bisexual, and much of the analysis of this book dives into the girl being a metaphor for a man he was dating and on and on. I don’t know enough about Proust and his life to say one way or the other, but I do want to say that we often make too much of autobiographical elements in fiction. When a writer writes a story, they are the ones telling it and they get to do it how they want. If they want to use elements from their life, fine. If they want to veer from the facts and into fiction, fine. If they want to change names, change genders, change whatever they want, they get to. We don’t have to beat a veiled meaning out of it. Let it be their story. We don’t have to conflate it with their life, saying “oh, but he was much to afraid to be clear about his life!” I believe Proust wrote what he felt like. There’s enough here, enough going on, without us having to think that the unreliable narrator is twice so.
I guess I hit 101 books on the year. I should’ve saved this to start next year strong.”
About Marcel Proust
Marcel Proust (1871–1922) was a French novelist, critic, and essayist best known for his monumental novel
(
; earlier rendered as
), published in seven parts between 1913 and 1927. He is considered by critics and writers to be one of the most influential authors of the twentieth century.
Other books by Marcel Proust
Start a Book Club
Start a public or private book club with this book on the Fable app today!FAQ
Do I have to buy the ebook to participate in a book club?
Why can’t I buy the ebook on the app?
How is Fable’s reader different from Kindle?
Do you sell physical books too?
Are book clubs free to join on Fable?
How do I start a book club with this book on Fable?
Books Similar to Sodom and Gomorrah
Save to a list
0
/30
0
/100
Private List