The madeleines of someone else’s childhood
Ooh-la-la, madeleines. Those little shell-shaped buttery cakes that go so well with tea. We found some at Tous les Jours, the Korean bakery, Php36 for a pack of three.
We bit into a madeleine and waited for overwhelming memories of our childhood to kick in. Then we remembered that we never had madeleines in our childhood. A bite of Choc-Nut, guava jelly made by Carmelite nuns, pan de coco or siopao from Ma Mon Luk might transport us back to those times, but not madeleines, which we didn’t taste until we knew how to pronounce the word.
The only childhood we remembered while eating madeleines was Proust’s. Funny how the novels we read become our memories.
Then he goes on about madeleines for the next 300 pages. We exaggerate. But only slightly.
Swann’s Way, the first book in Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, turns 100 this year. Penguin has a new translation by Lydia Davis. Available at National Bookstores, Php699.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
August 21st, 2013 at 09:50
First time i tried madeleines was at French Baker in GB. Don’t know if it still exists. When I was living in France I would always have them for breakfast. I esp love the chocolate coated ones.
I hope my french will be fluent enough for Du côté de chez Swann someday.
August 21st, 2013 at 12:32
Inspector Tarconi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FNQd2plVpw
:D
August 21st, 2013 at 23:38
Jessica, have you finished tackling Proust yet? I’ve been wondering about the percentage of books you actually get to finish because you seem to be reading a unique one every other day based on your posts. I wish I had the time to read the books that I already own, aside from the ones I plan on adding to my collection and not to mention the books one is SUPPOSED to read before one dies. And then, of course, there are all the movies and documentaries and TV shows….
August 22nd, 2013 at 18:51
Dr. Feelgood: We read several chapters of Swann’s Way years ago. We are starting on it again. It helps that we do not have a “regular” job. And we have a bookstore sponsorship so we get a lot of books and tend to read several of them at once. Some we finish immediately, some take months or years, some we abandon, some we abandon then take up again (like Proust). Current average: 50 percent.
August 23rd, 2013 at 05:55
Thanks. That’s a pretty good average considering everything. I remember you posting something about trying to read Proust once again not long ago. That’s why I wondered when I read this one that referenced him again.
August 23rd, 2013 at 11:44
Dr. Feelgood: Just remembered—started reading Proust after seeing La Captive by Chantal Akerman in 2000. (Haven’t seen the adaptations of Swann’s Way.) A good movie adaptation always helps.
August 24th, 2013 at 10:41
Thanks for the heads up. I’ll look that one up. Torrents are amazing! I’ve even discovered how to download books and then upload them to my Kindle and iPad after conversion to compatible file. LOL.