Marilyn M. Sachs's Books

Marcel Proust in the Light of William James

In Search of a Lost Source

By: Marilyn M. Sachs

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Marcel Proust in the Light of William James

In Search of a Lost Source

By: Marilyn M. Sachs

For a century now, scholars have searched for the “source” of Marcel Proust’s startlingly innovative novel À la recherche du temps perdu. Some have pointed to Henri Bergson, Sigmund Freud, or Paul Sollier. Others have referenced the novels of Henry James. But no one has focused on the more significant influence of the writings of Henry’s older brother, the psychologist and Harvard professor William James. A close comparison reveals the degree to which Proust’s novel stems from James’s psychological and philosophical theories. William James was a prominent member of the scientific, medical and philosophical communities in Proust’s Paris and was close friends with two men well known to Proust. His works were translated into French and reviewed in French journals and newspapers. This book discloses how Proust likely became familiar with William James and illustrates how James’s writings were key to Proust’s ability to craft the book he had been trying to write, extending even to his use of similar language and imagery and a narrative schema that arguably mimics James’s descriptions of consciousness, perception, and memory. Proust’s hero assiduously explores the vague, uncertain, relational aspects of experience, the trials and comforts of habit, the salvational potential of memory, the “moral” aspects of personal history teeming with impression and desire—these are the truths of human psychology and behavior theorized by William James and made fictional flesh in Proust’s rendition of lived experience.

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Page Count

329

Publisher

Lexington Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

0739181637

ISBN 13

9780739181638

Fragments

Poems, Intimate Notes, Letters

By: Marilyn Monroe

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Fragments

Poems, Intimate Notes, Letters

By: Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe's image is so universal that we can't help but believe that we know all there is to know of her. Every word and gesture made headlines and garnered controversy. Her serious gifts as an actor were sometimes eclipsed by her notoriety -- and the way the camera fell helplessly in love with her. But what of the other Marilyn? Beyond the headlines -- and the too-familiar stories of heartbreak and desolation -- was a woman far more curious, searching and hopeful than the one the world got to know. Even as Hollywood studios tried to mold and suppress her, Marilyn never lost her insight, her passion, and her humour. To confront the mounting difficulties of her life, she wrote. Now, for the first time, we can meet this private Marilyn and get to know her in a way we never have before. Fragments is an unprecedented collection of written artifacts -- notes to herself, letters, even poems -- in Marilyn's own handwriting, never before published, along with rarely seen intimate photos. These bits of text--jotted in notebooks, typed on paper or written on hotel letterhead -- reveal a woman who loved deeply and strove to perfect her craft. They show a Marilyn Monroe unsparing in her analysis of her own life, but also playful, funny and impossibly charming. The easy grace and deceptive lightness that made her performances so memorable emerge on the page, as does the simmering tragedy that made her last appearances so heartbreaking. Fragments is an event -- an unforgettable book that will redefine one of the greatest stars of the twentieth century and which, nearly fifty years after her death, will definitively reveal Marilyn Monroe's humanity.

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