“ I quite understand that people can't always have nice things, but at least they needn't have things that are merely grotesque. ”
Marcel Proust, Swann's Way (1913). copy citation
| Author | Marcel Proust |
|---|---|
| Source | Swann's Way |
| Topic | understanding grotesque |
| Date | 1913 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translated by C. K. Scott Moncrieff |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/7178/7178-h/7178-h.htm |
Context
“Can you imagine it, all their furniture is 'Empire'!"
"But, my dear Princess, that's only natural; it belonged to their grandparents."
"I don't quite say it didn't, but that doesn't make it any less ugly. I quite understand that people can't always have nice things, but at least they needn't have things that are merely grotesque. What do you say? I can think of nothing more devastating, more utterly smug than that hideous style—cabinets covered all over with swans' heads, like bath-taps!"
"But I believe, all the same, that they've got some lovely things;”
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