Within a Budding Grove: Top Hat: 02/11/10

I'm now up to page 360 in Within a Budding Grove. The new section is still getting in gear leaving these thirty pages heavy in description and light in plot.

The protagonist has made his way to his grandmother's home. Having arrived he's struck by how different her home is from his cozy life in Paris. Her place is big and old. He finds its ornate details and echoing halls a distraction; he can't lose himself in his thoughts like he can at home.

This section coincides with a fantasy book I just finished, Singer of Souls by Adam Stemple (Jane Yolen's son). So why then do I have Fred Astaire from Top Hat as my image? Somewhere in my back and forth between the two books I was reminded of the ornate hotel set in Top Hat (1935) when the film moves to Venice.

Although they are in Venice, most of the plot stays inside the hotel. From a production standpoint it was easier and cheaper and safer to build a set on a sound stage instead of schlepping everyone to Venice in the middle of the Depression and the political unrest in Europe. The set though isn't just any run of the mill hotel; it's a post modern masterpiece with its own in door canal. It is as eye catching and awe inspiring as the grandmother's estate is to the young protagonist.

See you back next week for my thoughts on pages 361-390.

Swann's Way posts:

Lisa's First Word, Baby Mine, I Sing the Body Electric, The Lady in Pink, Bleeding Gums Murphy, Caturday, Cherry Blossoms, Marge Simpson, Liana Telfer, Bender in Love, Margaret Dumont, Hyacinth Bucket, Rose, Mildred Krebs, Pepé Le Pew, Jack Harness, Cordelia Chase, Saffron, Thomas O'Malley.

Within a Budding Grove posts:

Nanowrimo, Cheers, Robert Langdon, Kif and Amy, Dead Weight, Clark Kent, Lex Luthor, Paris is a Lonely Town, And Then There's Maude, A Cafe Terrace at Night, North by Northwest, Top Hat, Chez Deetz, Ah, My Goddess!, David, Auntie Mame, Brunhilde Esterhazy, Gusteau's, Shell Beach.

books | fiction | Marcel Proust | 1919

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