Proust on Deathbed

Take a gander at: http://surrealdocuments.blogspot.com/2007/07/man-ray-marcel-proust-on-his-deathbed.html

Proust shows a striking resemblance to the head chef in Ratatouille. The charicatures in that movie were wonderful, esp. the female chef and the head chef. Linguini was good but stupid, however, I said that already.

We had a different seaside (way different) experience than Balbec yesterday. A whale watch out of Plymouth on Cap'n John's boat. Totally middle America in all that's good and bad. Beaucoup whales, up close and personal. Whale's spouting, flipping, diving, eating, and showing off their baleen. Close in to Plymouth on the return trip, an orphan calf trying to eat. We all hoped the mother was just lolling about somewhere not too far off. Lots of pleasure and fishing boats patrolling the whaling area, along with the whale watch vessels and research boats. Altogether too many boats for my liking, but it didn't seem to bother the whales.

Our society today is so different than Proust's. Could almost be on another planet. And yet, and yet, his portrait of Combray reminds me of Significant Other's home town and his father and aunts in their petit bourgeois pursuits. But that time is also passed, and all those old relatives are gone. When a generation leaves this earth, they take a whole culture with it, and nowadays, when each generations seems to have its own quite distinct culture, this disapparance is accellerated.

Imagination fails at what the world will be like in 50 years. I do believe that Proust will be remembered.

Odette