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<ref name="n1"> | <ref name="n1">This letter is dated [Thursday, December 11, 1919]: reference to the morning papers about Descaves. [PK]</ref> | ||
<ref name="n2"> Note 2 </ref> | <ref name="n2"> Note 2 </ref> | ||
Revision as of 09:36, 23 June 2021
Louis de Robert to Marcel Proust [Thursday 11 December 1919]
(Click on the link above to see this letter and its notes in the Corr-Proust digital edition, including all relevant hyperlinks.)
Bravo, dear Marcel.
I did not believe in your success because I was relying on the state of mind that had so far influenced the votes. But this state of mind represented mainly by Mirbeau and Descaves could not prevail against you since Mirbeau is no more and - as I read in this morning's newspapers - Descaves is ignoring the Goncourt Academy [2].
The surprise increases my joy. You are now famous. But you were almost already famous. And I did not know it. I live such a solitary existence that I did not know that everyone had read Swann's Way at the time I wrote in the Roman d'une Comédienne "this little-known book"(!)[3] You must have smiled to find me so ill-informed.
You triumphed over a detestable tradition that made the Goncourt Prize a bonus for poverty. Poverty is respectable, I know something about it. But finally, when it comes to judging a work of art, do these questions count? Whether the author is poor or rich, what does it matter?
Yours sincerely,
Louis de Robert
PS – I no longer have your address. Give it to me[4].