An Introductory Comparison

Initially I had decided to read the Moncrieff/Killmartin/Enright Modern Library edition of Proust but since I was able to get the new translation as a bargain book I am now waffling. If I were to choose solely on the introductions, I would choose Lydia Davis's translation hands down. Her introduction is informative, insightful, and goes against the nature of all introductions to classics I have ever read by also being useful. Plus, it doesn't give anything away. But I am getting the impression there really isn't anything to give away in Proust. Davis suggests the way to read Proust is

in the full, slow reading and rereading of every word, in complete submission to Proust's subtle psychological analyses, his precise portraits, his compassionate humor, his richly colored and lyrical landscapes, his extended digressions, his architectonic sentences, his symphonic structures, his perfect formal design.

That makes me want to dive right it. If you don't have the Davis translation, I recommend you borrow it from the library or take a few minutes to read it when next you are at the book store.

The Modern Library introduction was written by Richard Howard who has a Pulitzer to his name. It is an unfortunate introduction in that Howard attempts to set a light and breezy tone to make first time readers comfortable and confident. His is a letter of introduction to both the first time reader and to Proust introducing the modern American reader to him (as if Proust cares). Far from making this reader feel excited and confident in the book I am about to read, Howard succeeds in making me feel like a six year old whose hand needs to be held while crossing a busy intersection. He tells Proust that modern American readers are intimidated by his reputation for being difficult and his long sentences. He asserts that we are not likely to understand Proust's interest in time and the past because Americans "have a kind of allergy to the past." By the end Howard is fervently wishing that through his charitable introductions of new readers to Proust and Proust to his new readers, that we will get along and "proceed some way together."

Whereas Davis's introduction is everything I could want in an introduction, Howard's is nearly useless. If you manage to dig past the tripe there are a few bits of information that can be cleaned up for use. What I like best about Davis's introduction is that she writes with the assumption that I am an intelligent reader. She acknowledges Proust's difficult reputation and explains the reasons for it, explains what Proust was up to with the long sentences and the minimal use of punctuation as well as a few other points.

I have not yet placed my bookmark into either translation. I have not yet chosen my bookmark (an important thing to consider--something fru-fru? Serious? Artsy? It contributes to the whole enterprise at hand). My plan is to read a few pages of each edition and then decide which I like best. I know I shouldn't allow the introductions to influence me, but I must admit I am slightly inclined to Davis.