The Captive - Post V

I don't know if you ever get one of those weeks at work when you barely get time to think, your heart is pumping double-time and you feel jet-lagged all the time? That's been my problem this week and as a result it has been hard to stay away on the train home and read. So that's my excuse for struggling to get through a 422 page book this week.

Bullet points from pages 284 - 332

* Charlus is distracted while the Verdurin's plant the poison into Morel and they are successful in convincing him that Charlus has been mocking him for his humble roots and he tells his besoted friend to never come near him again

* Marcel expects fireworks but instead Charlus is in shock and then following the rupture with Morel and and the Verdurins is seriously ill

* Against this background this is the first time in this book that Marcel has ventured out alone and he starts to realise that Albertine is a "ball and chain" that is keeping him stuck to Paris

There are around 90 pages left to go over thw weekend and you sense that potentiallly both Charlus and Marcel will be free of captivity at the end of it. We will have to wait and see...