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The complexity of Marcel Proust as man and as artist has challenged biographers and critics alike in attempts to interpret his life and works. Dr. Miller accepts this challenge. He states that it is his intention to apply to Proust the theories of Thomas M. French on the integration of behavior as well as to attempt a 'closer understanding of the nature of the intuitive processes as they are related to art, to psychoanalytic method, and to instinctual expression'.
No study of Proust can be more than a foray into intricacy and perplexity, and even a minor penetration is a valuable accomplishment. In reviewing this book one must assess what it adds to an understanding of Proust's works, and specifically how the author uses the tools of psychoanalysis. The book may be divided into three parts: 1, the exegesis of Proust's major work, Remembrance of Things Past; 2, a general discussion of various psychoanalytic topics and their application to Proust and his work; 3, the application of French's theories to Proust. The author's aims are difficult to pin-point but they are implicit throughout the book.
In the first of the three parts Dr. Miller is most successful. He guides us through the expanses of Proust's novel and the path is intelligible, illuminative, and plausible, and there are psychoanalytic interpretations. Whether or not one agrees with the presentation and interpretation, this study stimulates the reader to return to Proust's novel and to find in it new meaning. The second part of the book is devoted to general topics of psychoanalytic interest and the attempt to apply them to Proust and his work. These include chapters on symbolism, a comparative study of Proust and Freud, and an examination of Proust's homosexuality and his asthma. In his discussion of symbolism the author does not distinguish clearly between the unconscious symbol and the preconscious or conscious indirect representation, a distinction made many years ago by Ernest Jones. Dr. Mille