Longer (May)

Re-reading Proust. But how? The concept of the longueur became a given of nineteenth-century fiction. Some passages, obviously, were going to take longer to linger through than others. But what to do with a novel that turned into novels, the stylistic foundations of which are longer and longer diversions, each linked or overlapping in some way the narrative, if we may call it a narrative? Within each long aside, or essay, are unexpected details subtly introduced, that lend to our longer understanding extra depth, light, significance, character. Should this be poetry like Scott Moncrieff? Rigour, like Kilmartin? Bluntness, like Grieve?