New-York tribune., 1922-06-04
Paris News Letter

raperirurn az railroad man, ieN,he
..arssr. farm hand. coal miner or Ia
horcl ,n o-ofhtr apartment 81 INDUS
try. the whole forming n rrandiose
scheme for nc presentation q modern
economic life IN thr cuiso OF hcton.
One ~ his most succrssful novels Is
les Chercheurs dor" treating ~ tne
spectators and profitcers Trading IN
af'cr-var Vienna. His "Lc tantilie
dos Canfioueg." published iart mouin
iv the Nouvcilc Revue Francaise. is
novel in two volumes dealing with the
perfume industry.
The scene Of tho first volume is
Grasse. town known 20 all who have
visited thc French Riviera. Here pc
have the peasants. calling themsalvos
now producers" and cndenvoring to
impose terms upon the manufacturers.
the wnrkmcn who. since 'roir f'-
mards are made In Tho r7mn n i
ticc are looked upon as rcvolutionaries,
and the chemists. hunting t.' fn-
theses that will replace flowers. These
last are portrayed o. uninicrcstcd IN
lucre, tho workmen as legiflmaioly 80
interested. tho manufacturer less -.
and the peasants. moved by pure Gu
p.diiy. In the second volume wc arc
brought % Paris. 70 The shops of the
dealers whose chief art u the inron-
tion ~ names FOR ;heir wares; and tho
name % n.mcs. FOR ono Of these. is
"ihe SONG Of Song Such n summary
o. have made ends more orcaGic
unity ~ ;fe noycl than in rfa.ifv -
possesses. ! see however that i' also
makes uninicresting an original and
absorbing book hy the richly endowed
author of "Raii" ard "Nt,icrs Blessts."
-. lie Faurc has Just published
ire fourth volume ~ h.s Historic dc
lArt.' After having displayed in "L'A-t
Nfdleva.' trc collective rhytnms out
o. phi-f sHrgcd spontaneously the
NL'aft Ncrl'ssrnf' % trc great
fCGrcI - the g.N'nenih century. ]
g. iorr'ani trRt this excellent ard
mrto available 20 English readers m
an unusually eapab.- translation by
N. Walter Pach.
ESR MARCEL pROuST published
W .ss' week three more volumes in
his inicrmirhble series entitled "A Ia
rccfcrch. du temps perfu.' AcFimon-
ious readers have remarked tina. Mr.
prourts Joss = 80 much time rs
hari s. reason why tho rest o. Us
should do the same In reading his
books. These three volumes constitute
f-e final portion o. B,ok y o. novel
ultimately % be competed 10 eight
bcohr. Dickens. Thnckerav, Roland,
Scl5er.-Mr prous. heats al their
records. When hc writes "Th, pro
portions 81 this work do 70. permit
NE - explain here. following certain
incidents in ;he youth Of ". do Wagon
bert etc. Nc are moved %
give him credit for certain amusing
irony. Habitua.ly, he Is more serious
than this.
Before iho publication Of these vol
umes J rercad those portions Of the
eight already published which ! had
marked when frs, reading them. |
have said much against tho endless
droninc ~ Mr. Proust's style, and !
confess that ] an still irritatei when
find good critics proclaiming hrs
work p masterpiece without qualilc,-
ton Nevertheless. ! Acknowledge thar.
with an his faults his repetition AMI
h. accumulation ~ interim lrab.c dN-
tails. hc waa'wriitcn some - q" most
capiivatirg wages I know. Pr1ix hut
varicd. often witty and h-''liaet. nc-
casionaliy profound. he always com
municatcd n sensation of ln'. ln
these instaiimcrts which ] have not
yot finished nis str'e Is cenrer ni'i
more rlcrt thsn t,fors. Though 1o'
always. Hero IS specimen o. ms
cniangled manner;
"Mais s ~ ego. On fsisani rsre'ir a COT
fard Simon chez ies N-rturin. on N eiaf'
par "a suEEes'Ion cue Iss minutes aheirnnr'
eAarrenf sur nous qusnf nous nous rftou-
rons dsnr gn mi'ieu arcoutnne f'ti' Fue'
1,ts reu +. n.efrs fu rrutr. darH 20 c.ien-
safa dams son service a. nnpi'aI y a. slrn,lf
40 medicine. das dHnogf 10 ffniirlf. ~ ee
f.I~ a. crstIff grf sarrsnfu1. rfn-
fnr, quill fehifalf dfvarf So f.etef com
rfaisanfs sea 81 lem htlrt af-f ,i.lse w.
frrlfahie roupur@ "nfrr r. 'nt'Atl
fanrlsn iss mrmrs fefsrfF seNasgsfa4fnf
su rnnfraIra chez SlTietf~. au flr -
nesur. quill cheTchal' a sen ccrrisel
Observe that the sentence IS correct
and that 20 understand y is necessary
onlv the discovery that the -. IN Vie
Of tho beginning governs the await
crous6r Of the tenth or eleventh line,
end that the "revS'ir A Cottard' has Tor
dafive the "dehors Dc froidcur.' from
which 10 Is separated hy a jungle Of m.
cidents. H. is simple. once the thread
is found. other sentences are frankly
lame and defy syntax. Il is possible
that Mr. Proust condemns the Freneh
language which, he says, is formed oy
the defective pronunciation OF several
others.
This section Of the Recherche" is