The Mysterious Correspondent: New Stories

by Marcel Proust, Charlotte Mandell (Translator)

Overview

'Startlingly audacious.' Literary Review

New writing from the literary master

Throughout Proust’s life, nine of his short stories remained unseen – the writer never even spoke of them. Perhaps he was not ready to share the early themes he was nurturing for his masterpiece, In Search of Lost Time. Or perhaps, in dealing directly with gay desire, they were too audacious – too near to life – for the censorious society of the time.

In these stories, published in English for the first time, we find an intimate portrait of a young author full of darkness, complexity and melancholy, longing to reveal himself to the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781786079244
Publisher:	Oneworld Publications
Publication date:	04/13/2021
Pages:	144
Sales rank:	541,315
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Marcel Proust (1871–1922) is a titan of twentieth century European literature. The stories that make up The Mysterious Correspondent were written when the author was still in his twenties. Having been discovered by the late Proust specialist Bernard de Fallois in the 1950s, they were held back from publication in France until 2019.

Charlotte Mandell is a French literary translator of over 40 books that include Gustave Flaubert, Guy de Maupassant, Honoré de Balzac, Mathias Énard and Jean-Luc Nancy.

Date of Birth:

July 10, 1871

Date of Death:

November 18, 1922

Place of Birth:

Auteuil, near Paris, France

Place of Death:

Paris, France

Editorial Reviews

★ 02/15/2021

This revelatory collection by Proust (1877–1922), written almost two decades before he began to publish In Search of Lost Time, offers a lush and emotionally raw view into his evolution as a writer. The nine entries, annotated by footnotes, address topics such as love and suffering, homosexuality, and, of course, time lost and regained. As Friasse observes in his fine introduction, “the very fact of homosexuality” was a taboo subject in late 19th-century France, and thus the stories “comprise, hiding in plain sight, the private diary the writer entrusted to no one” (all but one were left unpublished). “In the Underworld” experiments with the form of a philosophical play, as Samson and the Comte de Quélus discuss the homosexual themes of Sodom and Gomorrah, which Proust would develop further in book four of In Search of Lost Time. The stories have plenty of scholarly appeal, but they are elegant on their own. In “Pauline De S.,” one of several meditations on death, Proust displays a piercing accuracy and poignancy in describing a visit to a dying friend. “A Captain’s Reminiscence,” the only story to have previously appeared, features an older man’s recollections of a corporal he was attracted to in his youth. The best may be the title story, about a woman who fancies a soldier, which is enthralling in its sensorial detail. Each tale features exquisite moments with expert annotations from Friasse. This volume is a fantastic discovery. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

‘Finely translated and startlingly audacious... Elements of [Proust’s] greatness are already in place: his ability to combine the qualities of the satirist and the moralist; his curiosity about the workings of the human heart. There is even the first glimpse of his lasting discovery – that art, thought and analysis can draw the thorn of suffering.’

Literary Review

‘The stories are of considerable scholarly interest... at once revelatory and oddly familiar... intriguing.’

Evening Standard - Ian Thomson

‘Fascinating.’

New Yorker

‘The dramatic birth of a writer destined for greatness.’

Les Inrockuptibles Nelly Kaprièlian

‘A hundred years after his Prix Goncourt, the author of In Search of Lost Time returns, stronger than ever!’

Le Point Michel Schneider

‘To think that this treasure might have remained hidden in the shadows of the archives...’

Le Figaro Littéraire Mohammed Aïssaoui

‘To think that this treasure might have remained hidden in the shadows of the archives…’

Le Figaro Littéraire Mohammed Aïssaoui

‘The dramatic birth of a writer destined for greatness.’

Les Inrockuptibles Nelly Kaprièlian

‘To think that this treasure might have remained hidden in the shadows of the archives…’

Le Figaro Littéraire Mohammed Aïssaoui

‘The dramatic birth of a writer destined for greatness.’

Les Inrockuptibles Nelly Kaprièlian

'The dramatic birth of a writer destined for greatness'

Les Inrockuptibles - Nelly Kaprièlian

'A hundred years after his Prix Goncourt, the author of In Search of Lost Time returns, stronger than ever!'

Le Point - Michel Schneider

'To think that this treasure might have remained hidden in the shadows of the archives...'

Le Figaro Littéraire - Mohammed Aïssaoui

'An aspiring writer in search of perfection, already preoccupied by the idea of transforming life into literature.'

Le Figaro Littéraire - Etienne de Montety

Narrator Simon Vance gives these never-before-published stories by Proust charm of their own with his amiable tone and gentle cadence. This short work includes contextual explanations of themes that are seen in later works, including IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME. In “The Awareness of Loving Her,” Vance captures the first-person narrator’s sense of loss and earnestness as he searches for solace. In “The Mysterious Correspondent,” Vance’s emotional restraint parallels the caution of Proust’s own prose in carefully unfolding the unnamed lover. This audiobook will be particularly interesting to those familiar with Proust’s work, as it offers a fascinating glimpse of Proust’s experimentation as a young writer. Vance proves to be a masterful narrator of these newly published works. D.M.W. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

JULY 2021 - AudioFile