One is bound to find parallels between Proust as creator and others who have discoursed on artistic creation. This passage seems in dialogue with John Ashbery's "Self Portrait":
#proust #johnashbery #literature #creativity
"No doubt one can easily imagine, by an illusion similar to that which makes everything on the horizon appear equidistant, all that the revolutions which have hitherto occurred in painting or in music did at least shew respect for certain rules... "
So I go and find this interview question of Ashbery. I guess I did not imagine the self-portrait rolling around in a sea of Proustian mnemosyne. He is quite unequivocal:
"Who is your favorite novelist of all time?"
-Proust.
And from the same interview:
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/10/books/review/john-ashbery-by-the-book.html?ref=books
"If you had to name one book that made you who you are today, what would it be?"
-Again, Proust’s “À la Recherche du Temps Perdu,” for better or worse. You finish it feeling sadder and wiser, so if you’re O.K. with the sadder part, you should take it on.
grechaw