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53-428: L'Avalée des avalés  [ fr ] ( Swallowed ), Ducharme's first novel, was short-listed for the 1966 Prix Goncourt , even though the author was only 24 years old and unknown. That same year, the book won the 1966 Governor General's Award for Poetry or Drama (Poésie et théâtre) . L'Avalée des avalés later won the 2005 French version of Canada Reads , where it was defended by actress Sophie Cadieux . In

106-744: A pulmonary abscess in 1922. He was buried in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. Proust is known to have been homosexual ; his sexuality and relationships with men are often discussed by his biographers. Although his housekeeper, Céleste Albaret , denies this aspect of Proust's sexuality in her memoirs, her denial runs contrary to the statements of many of Proust's friends and contemporaries, including his fellow writer André Gide as well as his valet Ernest A. Forssgren. Proust never openly disclosed his homosexuality, though his family and close friends either knew or suspected it. In 1897, he fought

159-455: A book its size. That year Proust also began working on a novel, which was eventually published in 1952 and titled Jean Santeuil by his posthumous editors. Many of the themes later developed in In Search of Lost Time find their first articulation in this unfinished work, including the enigma of memory and the necessity of reflection; several sections of In Search of Lost Time can be read in

212-424: A champagne bucket. In turn, the names are taken out and each member of the jury votes aloud in favour of, or in opposition to, the writer. An absolute majority—more than half the votes cast—is required until the tenth round, then a simple majority is sufficient to designate a winner. If, after fourteen rounds, there is no winner, the president's vote counts as double to determine a majority vote. At 12:45   p.m.,

265-399: A duel with writer Jean Lorrain , who publicly questioned the nature of Proust's relationship with his Proust's lover Lucien Daudet ; both duellists survived. Despite Proust's public denials, his romantic relationship with composer Reynaldo Hahn and his infatuation with his chauffeur and secretary, Alfred Agostinelli, are well documented. On the night of 11 January 1918, Proust was one of

318-470: A greater threat to society than the Church. He was equally critical of the right, lambasting "the insanity of the conservatives," whom he deemed "as dumb and ungrateful as under Charles X ," and referring to Pope Pius X 's obstinacy as foolish. Proust always rejected the bigoted and illiberal views harbored by many priests at the time, but believed that the most enlightened clerics could be just as progressive as

371-616: A novel about the First World War . The prize was supposed to be awarded to promising young authors, whereas Proust was not considered "young" at 48 – however Proust was a beginning author which is the only eligibility requirement, age being unimportant. In 1921, Rene Maran won the Goncourt with Batouala, veritable roman negre , the first French novel to openly criticize European colonialism in Africa. The novel caused "violent reactions" and

424-432: A novel on which he worked continually during this period. The rough outline of the work centred on a first-person narrator , unable to sleep, who during the night remembers waiting as a child for his mother to come to him in the morning. The novel was to have ended with a critical examination of Sainte-Beuve and a refutation of his theory that biography was the most important tool for understanding an artist's work. Present in

477-454: A regular society column in the journal Le Mensuel . In 1892, he was involved in founding a literary review called Le Banquet (also the French title of Plato 's Symposium ), and throughout the next several years Proust published small pieces regularly in this journal and in the prestigious La Revue Blanche . In 1896 Les plaisirs et les jours , a compendium of many of these early pieces,

530-549: A second-place prize. Within months of the first prize in 1903, it spawned a "hostile counter-prize" in the form of the Prix Femina to counter the all-male Jury of the Goncourt with an all-female jury on the Femina. Some choices have been controversial, a famous example was Marcel Proust in 1919; it was met with indignation by the public since many believed that the prize should have gone to Roland Dorgelès for Les Croix de bois ,

583-482: A vote of 7 to 3, to include Les enfants de Cadillac by François Noudelmann on its 2021 list of finalists. Noudelmann is the partner of Camille Laurens , who is a member of the prize's jury. Laurens voted in favor of her partner's book. In October 2021, the Académie Goncourt ultimately decided that it will no longer allow lovers and family members of the jury to be entered for consideration. The Prix Goncourt

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636-547: A year (1889–90) in the French army, stationed at Coligny Barracks in Orléans , an experience that provided a lengthy episode in The Guermantes' Way , part three of his novel. As a young man, Proust was a dilettante and a social climber whose aspirations as a writer were hampered by his lack of self-discipline. His reputation from this period, as a snob and an amateur, contributed to his later troubles with getting Swann's Way ,

689-542: Is a prize in French literature , given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year". The prize carries a symbolic reward of only 10 euros, but results in considerable recognition and book sales for the winning author. Four other prizes are also awarded: prix Goncourt du Premier Roman (first novel), prix Goncourt de la Nouvelle (short story), prix Goncourt de la Poésie (poetry) and prix Goncourt de la Biographie (biography). Of

742-554: Is a topic of debate. However, In Search of Lost Time discusses homosexuality at length and features several principal characters, both men and women, who are either homosexual or bisexual : the Baron de Charlus, Robert de Saint-Loup, Odette de Crécy, and Albertine Simonet. Homosexuality also appears as a theme in Les plaisirs et les jours and his unfinished novel, Jean Santeuil . Proust inherited much of his mother's political outlook, which

795-602: Is available. Notes References Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust ( / p r uː s t / PROOST ; French: [maʁsɛl pʁust] ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist , literary critic , and essayist who wrote the monumental novel À la recherche du temps perdu (in French – translated in English as Remembrance of Things Past and more recently as In Search of Lost Time ) which

848-413: Is divided into three selection stages. The first selection is typically composed of fifteen finalists. The second selection is typically composed of eight finalists, narrowed down from the previous fifteen. A third and final selection leaves four finalists. In the voting rounds, a maximum of fourteen rounds can be carried out. To begin the deliberation process, the names of the four finalists are placed in

901-669: Is through Mme Arman de Caillavet, he made the acquaintance of Anatole France , her lover. Proust had a close relationship with his mother. To appease his father, who insisted that he pursue a career, Proust obtained a volunteer position at Bibliothèque Mazarine in the summer of 1896. After exerting considerable effort, he obtained a sick leave that extended for several years until he was considered to have resigned. He never worked at his job, and he did not move from his parents' apartment until after both were dead. His life and family circle changed markedly between 1900 and 1905. In February 1903, Proust's brother, Robert Proust , married and left

954-657: The Académie Goncourt . In honour of his brother and collaborator, Jules Alfred Huot de Goncourt (1830–1870), the académie has awarded the Prix Goncourt every December since 1903. The jury that determines the winner meets at the Drouant restaurant in November to make its decision. Notable winners of the prize include Marcel Proust ( In Search of Lost Time ), Simone de Beauvoir ( The Mandarins ), André Malraux ( Man's Fate ) and Marguerite Duras ( The Lover ). The award

1007-623: The "big six" French literary awards, the Prix Goncourt is the best known and most prestigious. The other major literary prizes include the Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française , the Prix Femina , the Prix Renaudot , the Prix Interallié and the Prix Médicis . Edmond de Goncourt , a successful author, critic, and publisher, bequeathed his estate for the foundation and maintenance of

1060-562: The 1992 movie Léolo , the main character spends much of his time reading and thinking about L'Avalée des avalés . In 2017, Ducharme died of natural causes at age 76 in Montreal. In summer 2021, the city's Sud-Ouest borough renamed its library the Bibliothèque Réjean-Ducharme in his honour. Prix Goncourt The Prix Goncourt ( French : Le prix Goncourt , IPA: [lə pʁi ɡɔ̃kuʁ] , The Goncourt Prize )

1113-514: The Goncourt in 2020, exceeded a million copies in less than a year after its publication. In 1987, the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens was established, as a collaboration between the académie Goncourt , the French Ministry of Education, and Fnac , a book, music, and movie retailer. The Prix Renaudot is announced at the same ceremony as the Prix Goncourt. It has become known as something of

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1166-616: The Secretary General, currently Philippe Claudel , appears in front of the crowd of journalists and announces the winner. The winner typically waits in a cafe near the Drouant so that they can arrive in time. The winner is interviewed by the media and is offered a symbolic check for ten euros. In addition to the Prix Goncourt for a novel, the Academy awards four other awards, for first novel, short story, biography and poetry. As of March 2009,

1219-497: The académie changed the award name by dropping "bourses" ("scholarship") from the title. The prefix "prix" can be included or not, such as "Prix Goncourt de la Poésie" (Goncourt prize for Poetry) or "Goncourt de la Poésie" (Goncourt of Poetry). For example: "Claude Vigée was awarded a Goncourt de la Poésie in 2008". Or, "Claude Vigée won the 2008 prix Goncourt de la Poésie". The award titles are: The winners are listed below. Goncourt Prize for biography. Awarded in partnership with

1272-470: The age of eleven, Proust became a pupil at the Lycée Condorcet ; however, his education was disrupted by his illness. Despite this, he excelled in literature, receiving an award in his final year. Thanks to his classmates, he was able to gain access to some of the salons of the upper bourgeoisie , providing him with copious material for In Search of Lost Time . In spite of his poor health, Proust served

1325-409: The bequest of Adrien Bertrand (Prix Goncourt in 1914). The award is for the poet's entire career work. The prize was officially renamed in 2012 the Prix Goncourt de la Poésie Robert Sabatier , after the poet. Goncrout Prize for children's literature. Awarded in partnership with the municipality of Fontvieille . Discontinued after 2007. For a more comprehensive overview a list of literary awards

1378-515: The city of Nancy . The prize was renamed officially in 2017 the Prix Goncourt de la Biographie Edmonde Charles-Roux , after a former president of the Goncourt Academy. Goncourt Prize for short stories. Begun in 1974 in the form of scholarships. Awarded in partnership with the city of Strasbourg since 2001. Goncourt Prize for debut novel . Awarded in partnership with the municipality of Paris. Goncourt Prize for poetry. Established through

1431-570: The family home. His father died in November of the same year. Finally, and most crushingly, Proust's beloved mother died in September 1905. She left him a considerable inheritance. His health throughout this period continued to deteriorate. Proust spent the last three years of his life mostly confined to his bedroom of his apartment 44 rue Hamelin (in Chaillot ), sleeping during the day and working at night to complete his novel. He died of pneumonia and

1484-672: The first draft in Jean Santeuil . The portrait of the parents in Jean Santeuil is quite harsh, in marked contrast to the adoration with which the parents are painted in Proust's masterpiece. Following the poor reception of Les Plaisirs et les Jours , and internal troubles with resolving the plot, Proust gradually abandoned Jean Santeuil in 1897 and stopped work on it entirely by 1899. Beginning in 1895 Proust spent several years reading Thomas Carlyle , Ralph Waldo Emerson , and John Ruskin . Through this reading, he refined his theories of art and

1537-399: The first part of his large-scale novel, published in 1913. At this time, he attended the salons of Mme Straus , widow of Georges Bizet and mother of Proust's childhood friend Jacques Bizet, of Madeleine Lemaire and of Mme Arman de Caillavet , one of the models for Madame Verdurin, and mother of his friend Gaston Arman de Caillavet , with whose fiancée (Jeanne Pouquet) he was in love. It

1590-466: The highest, and unquestionably the most original expression of French genius”. 1908 was an important year for Proust's development as a writer. During the first part of the year he published in various journals pastiches of other writers. These exercises in imitation may have allowed Proust to solidify his own style. In addition, in the spring and summer of the year Proust began work on several different fragments of writing that would later coalesce under

1643-416: The last. This last volume was rendered by other translators at different times. When Scott Moncrieff's translation was later revised (first by Terence Kilmartin , then by D. J. Enright ) the title of the novel was changed to the more literal In Search of Lost Time . In 1995, Penguin undertook a fresh translation of the book by editor Christopher Prendergast and seven translators in three countries, based on

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1696-404: The men identified by police in a raid on a male brothel run by Albert Le Cuziat. Proust's friend Paul Morand openly teased Proust about his visits to male prostitutes . In his journal, Morand refers to Proust, as well as Gide, as "constantly hunting, never satiated by their adventures ... eternal prowlers, tireless sexual adventurers." The exact influence of Proust's sexuality on his writing

1749-468: The most enlightened secularists, and that both could serve the cause of "the advanced liberal Republic". He approved of the more moderate stance taken in 1906 by Aristide Briand , whom he described as "admirable". Proust was among the earliest Dreyfusards , even attending Émile Zola 's trial and proudly claiming to have been the one who asked Anatole France to sign the petition in support of Alfred Dreyfus 's innocence. In 1919, when representatives of

1802-446: The novel the "greatest fiction to date". André Gide was initially not so taken with his work. The first volume was refused by the publisher Gallimard on Gide's advice. He later wrote to Proust apologizing for his part in the refusal and calling it one of the most serious mistakes of his life. Finally, the book was published at the author's expense by Grasset and Proust paid critics to speak favorably about it. Proust died before he

1855-419: The pseudonym Émile Ajar in 1975 for La vie devant soi . The Académie Goncourt awarded the prize to Ajar without knowing his real identity. A period of literary intrigue followed. Gary's cousin's son Paul Pavlowitch posed as the author for a time. Gary later revealed the truth in his posthumous book Vie et mort d'Émile Ajar . In September 2021, the Goncourt attracted controversy after the jury decided, by

1908-608: The right-wing Action Française published a manifesto upholding French colonialism and the Catholic Church as the embodiment of civilised values, Proust rejected their nationalistic and chauvinistic views in favor of a liberal pluralist vision which acknowledged Christianity 's cultural legacy in France . Julien Benda commended Proust in La Trahison des clercs as a writer who distinguished himself from his generation by avoiding

1961-686: The role of the artist in society. Also, in Time Regained Proust's universal protagonist recalls having translated Ruskin's Sesame and Lilies . The artist's responsibility is to confront the appearance of nature, deduce its essence and retell or explain that essence in the work of art. Ruskin's view of artistic production was central to this conception, and Ruskin's work was so important to Proust that he claimed to know "by heart" several of Ruskin's books, including The Seven Lamps of Architecture , The Bible of Amiens , and Praeterita . Proust set out to translate two of Ruskin's works into French, but

2014-523: The twin traps of nationalism and class sectarianism. Proust was considered a hypochondriac by his doctors. His correspondence provides some clues on his symptoms. According to Yellowlees Douglas, Proust suffered from the vascular subtype of Ehlers–Danlos Syndrome . Proust was involved in writing and publishing from an early age. In addition to the literary magazines with which he was associated, and in which he published while at school ( La Revue verte and La Revue lilas ), from 1890 to 1891 he published

2067-531: The unfinished manuscript notebooks are many elements that correspond to parts of the Recherche , in particular, to the "Combray" and "Swann in Love" sections of Volume 1, and to the final section of Volume 7. Trouble with finding a publisher, as well as a gradually changing conception of his novel, led Proust to shift work to a substantially different project that still contained many of the same themes and elements. By 1910 he

2120-604: The very beginning of the French Third Republic , during the violence that surrounded the suppression of the Paris Commune , and his childhood corresponded with the consolidation of the Republic. Much of In Search of Lost Time concerns the vast changes, most particularly the decline of the aristocracy and the rise of the middle classes, that occurred in France during the fin de siècle . Proust's father, Adrien Proust ,

2173-408: The working title of Contre Sainte-Beuve . Proust described his efforts in a letter to a friend: "I have in progress: a study on the nobility, a Parisian novel, an essay on Sainte-Beuve and Flaubert , an essay on women, an essay on pederasty (not easy to publish), a study on stained-glass windows, a study on tombstones, a study on the novel". From these disparate fragments Proust began to shape

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2226-511: Was a prominent French pathologist and epidemiologist , studying cholera in Europe and Asia. He wrote numerous articles and books on medicine and hygiene. Proust's mother, Jeanne Clémence (maiden name: Weil), was the daughter of a wealthy German–Jewish family from Alsace . Literate and well-read, she demonstrated a well-developed sense of humour in her letters, and her command of the English language

2279-408: Was able to complete his revision of the drafts and proofs of the final volumes, the last three of which were published posthumously and edited by his brother Robert . The book was translated into English by C. K. Scott Moncrieff , appearing under the title Remembrance of Things Past between 1922 and 1931. Scott Moncrieff translated volumes one through six of the seven volumes, dying before completing

2332-488: Was at work on À la recherche du temps perdu . Begun in 1909, when Proust was 38 years old, À la recherche du temps perdu consists of seven volumes totaling around 3,200 pages (about 4,300 in The Modern Library's translation) and featuring more than 2,000 characters. Graham Greene called Proust the "greatest novelist of the twentieth century, just as Tolstoy was of the nineteenth" and W. Somerset Maugham called

2385-461: Was banned in all the French colonies. In 1932, the prize was controversial for passing up Louis-Ferdinand Céline 's Voyage au bout de la nuit for Guy Mazeline 's Les Loups . The voting process became the basis of the 1992 book Goncourt 32 by Eugène Saccomano . Although the award may only be given to an author once, Romain Gary won it twice, in 1956 for Les racines du ciel and again under

2438-465: Was considered a sickly child. Proust spent long holidays in the village of Illiers . This village, combined with recollections of his great-uncle's house in Auteuil, became the model for the fictional town of Combray, where some of the most important scenes of In Search of Lost Time take place. (Illiers was renamed Illiers-Combray in 1971 on the occasion of the Proust centenary celebrations.) In 1882, at

2491-489: Was hampered by an imperfect command of English. To compensate for this he made his translations a group affair: sketched out by his mother, the drafts were first revised by Proust, then by Marie Nordlinger, the English cousin of his friend and sometime lover Reynaldo Hahn , then finally polished by Proust. Questioned about his method by an editor, Proust responded, "I don't claim to know English; I claim to know Ruskin". The Bible of Amiens , with Proust's extended introduction,

2544-480: Was initially established to provide talented new authors with a monetary award that would allow them to write a second book. Today, the Goncourt has a token prize amount (around 10 euros), about the same amount given in 1903, and so the prestige of the prize has been explained not because of the cash-value of the prize, but "in terms of the tremendous book sales it effects: the Goncourt winner becomes an instant millionaire." Hervé Le Tellier 's The Anomaly , which won

2597-899: Was published in French in 1904. Both the translation and the introduction were well-reviewed; Henri Bergson called Proust's introduction "an important contribution to the psychology of Ruskin", and had similar praise for the translation. At the time of this publication, Proust was already translating Ruskin's Sesame and Lilies , which he completed in June 1905, just before his mother's death, and published in 1906. Literary historians and critics have ascertained that, apart from Ruskin, Proust's chief literary influences included Saint-Simon , Montaigne , Stendhal , Flaubert , George Eliot , Fyodor Dostoyevsky , and Leo Tolstoy . In Proust’s 1904 article "La mort des cathédrales" (The Death of Cathedrals) published in Le Figaro , Proust called Gothic cathedrals “probably

2650-600: Was published in seven volumes between 1913 and 1927. He is considered by critics and writers to be one of the most influential authors of the 20th century. Proust was born on 10 July 1871 at the home of his great-uncle in the Paris Borough of Auteuil (the south-western sector of the then-rustic 16th arrondissement ), two months after the Treaty of Frankfurt formally ended the Franco-Prussian War . His birth took place at

2703-409: Was published. The book included a foreword by Anatole France , drawings by Mme Lemaire in whose salon Proust was a frequent guest, and who inspired Proust's Mme Verdurin. She invited him and Reynaldo Hahn to her château de Réveillon (the model for Mme Verdurin's La Raspelière) in summer 1894, and for three weeks in 1895. This book was so sumptuously produced that it cost twice the normal price of

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2756-475: Was sufficient to help with her son's translations of John Ruskin . Proust was raised in his father's Catholic faith . He was baptized on 5 August 1871 at the Church of Saint-Louis-d'Antin and later confirmed as a Catholic, but he never formally practised that faith. He later became an atheist and was something of a mystic . By the age of nine, Proust had had his first serious asthma attack, and thereafter he

2809-516: Was supportive of the French Third Republic and near the liberal centre of French politics. In an 1892 article published in Le Banquet entitled "L'Irréligion d'État", Proust condemned extreme anti-clerical measures such as the expulsion of monks, observing that "one might just be surprised that the negation of religion should bring in its wake the same fanaticism , intolerance, and persecution as religion itself." He argued that socialism posed

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