The Guermantes Way - post II

Far be it for me to have a dig at the great Marcel Proust but somebody should have taken him in hand when it comes to his love life because he verges on stalking women and then putting them up on pedestals that they don’t even know are in existence. First he did it with Gilberte, then the girl from Balbec and now his sights are set on Madame de Guermantes.

Bullet points between pages 61 – 120

* His tactics of making sure that Madame de Guermantes sees him on her journeys too and from her home are frowned upon and even though Francoise makes it clear the tactics are backfiring he ignores the warnings

* However he sees sense at some point and although changing his plan of attack by focusing on her nephew Saint-Loup as a route to her, at least he gets away from the carriage stalking routine

* Down at the barracks where Saint-Loup is stationed there is an insight into how fragile Marcel is with a fear of an unknown hotel room and then high states of nervousness fuelled by nothing other than his imagination

* After a few weeks he finally plucks up the courage to ask Saint-Loup to sing his praises to his aunt but oversteps the mark when he asks to borrow her photograph but manages to get the friendship back on track by showing a great interest in the art of war

Bearing in mind the first world ear was not too far away for Saint-Loup and his friends there are hints of what might be coming with a mention of the Schifflen plan and a brutal assessment of some future battle tactics to take the offensive at any costs