Proust Moment, September 27, 2002

Dreams of Sleep

Marcel remembers how he used to go to bed early. He would read a little, then put his book away and douse his candle, and would soon be asleep and dreaming ... of putting his book away, dousing the candle, and of what he had just been reading, and of becoming the character in the book. Then, "it would begin to seem unintelligible, as the thoughts of a former spirit must be to a reincarnate spirit; the subject of my book would seperate itself from me, leaving me free to choose whether I would form part of it or no; and at the same time my sight would return and I would be astonished to find myself in a state of darkness, pleasant and restful enough for the eyes, and even more, perhaps, for my mind, to which it appeared incomprehensible, without a cause, a matter dark indeed."

--"Overture," Swann's Way