In Search of Lost Time, Volume 1: To Sevres

Author: (French) Proust
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-05-01
Features: With this house, the image of this small town, whether in fine weather or rain, from morning to night, also appeared. There was the square where I was often teased before lunch, the streets where I often bought things, and the small paths we often took for walks on sunny days. This is very similar to a game played by the Japanese. They immerse small folded paper pieces in a bowl filled with clear water. These small paper pieces, which are roughly the same shape, spread out as they sink, revealing their outlines, displaying their colors, changing endlessly, sometimes resembling flowers, sometimes houses, or people, each with its own unique form, lifelike. Now, it is the same. Our garden and all the flowers in Mr. Swann's nursery, as well as the lotus flowers in the River Vivera, the simple villagers and their small houses, the church, the entire town of Combray and its surroundings—all of everything, in vibrant forms, vividly detailed, the streets and alleys and gardens—all emerged from my teacup.