A Masterclass in Dealing with Noisy Neighbours by Marcel Proust
I was given this slim volume of Marcel Proust’s Letters to the Lady Upstairs for Christmas, and have been keeping it for a rainy day. With the heatwave we’ve been experiencing I can hardly that I was prompted to read it by the weather. In truth, my choice was more to do with its size as I’ve fallen behind on my #20BooksofSummer reading challenge (hosted by Cathy at 746 Books ).
The book contains correspondence from Proust to his upstairs neighbour, Mrs Marie Williams. Proust lived at 102 Boulevard Haussmann between 1907 and 1919, and it was during this period and in this location that he wrote most of In Search of Lost Time.
The volume also contains an informative foreword by editor, Jean-Yves Tadié and afterword by translator Lydia Davis, and detailed background notes referencing people and incidents from the letters themselves. The collection of letters is slight but gives a real insight into Proust’s charm. His appeals for quiet due to his ill health and fragile disposition are delivered with such courtesy and artistic flourish that only the very stoniest of hearts could resist.
Madame, I hope that you will not find me too indiscreet. I have had a great deal of noise these past few days and as I am not well, I am more sensitive to it. I have learned that the Doctor is leaving Paris the day after tomorrow and can imagine all that this implies for tomorrow concerning the ‘nailing’ of crates. Would it be possible either to nail the crates this evening, or else not to nail them tomorrow until starting at 4 or 5 o’clock in the afternoon (if my attack ends earlier I would hasten to let you know)… I confess that it bothers me very much to speak to you of such things and I am more embarrassed by it than I can say…. Please accept Madame my very respectful greetings.
MARCEL PROUST
Don’t tire yourself out answering me!
The appeal of the collection might appear to be a little narrow, but it does shine a light onto Proust’s personality, and I found it to be a thoroughly amusing and heart-warming read.
Lucy
Sarah
How sweet! I’d love to know what her response was!
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Me too! Unfortunately the volume only contains Proust’s letters and not the replies so you have to read between the lines, as it were.
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What a little gem!
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Isn’t it? Short, but sweet.
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What a charming letter. I wonder if such an appeal would work today, written with such grace. Whenever my neighbours get noisy or stink up my house with their (daily) BBQs I must confess grace isn’t what I resort to first, but to more “colourful” language…
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Oh you poor thing! I got so stressed by noisy neighbours when I lived in Brighton that I’m sure that’s why I’ve ended up in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by sheep!
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Yep, husband and I have been talking a lot about a dream house in the middle of nowhere… I always end up asking though, “does Amazon Prime deliver to these places?” 😀
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Haha, I can totally relate to that. Before we moved to Wales I needed to locate a deli nearby – gotta have good olives within a ten mile radius!
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I love letters and diaries, I’ll have to get this. The best bit for me is ‘if my attack ends earlier I would hasten to let you know’ !! Imagine that?! Are we sure he was French?! Recovering enough to let someone know they can make noise is barely even at the English level of fearful politeness, let alone French!
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It’s made me love him even more, if it were possible. I might suggest that copies get given out free by Pembrokeshire County Council as an advisory handbook for neighbour disputes. I’m sure it’d be as warmly received by local residents as it is by us! 😉
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Ha, I’ve had my fill of noisy neighbours the past two places we’ve lived. You can hear everything through the walls of a terrace or the floor of a flat, and because I work from home I bear the brunt of the annoyance. My husband and I are always threatening to up and move to the middle of nowhere…but we’d probably find something to complain about there too!
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Noisy neighbours are such a curse. The reason we ended up living surrounded by sheep in Wales is down to our years living with a toddler in a tiny Brighton flat, sandwiched between a trance DJ in the basement who liked to practice on his decks all day long, and the harrowing sound of arguments and worse from upstairs. Never again!
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Yikes, that does sound bad! We’ve had to call the police on our last two sets of neighbours for noisy altercations at 1 a.m. 😦
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