A la Recherche d'une Livre Perdu - 18 November 2022

 My title today is only partially appropriate. I've actually just come across a tale I'd read in my youth (I know it was more than 50 years ago based on where I had read it) and realised why I was enjoying this collection of the stories of The Thinking Machine so thoroughly.

My maternal grandparents had a cottage on Rifle Lake in the southernmost part of what we'd call Up North here in Michigan. When the weather was less than encouraging of watery activities, I would take to the front room and read from the various books that lived there. Most were Reader's Digest condensed books, along with some actual Reader's Digest magazines, but Grandpa did have a remarkably thick book of great detective stories which was often my choice in these situations.

As I'm nearing the end of the aforementioned collection of Thinking Machine stories, I've come to "The Problem of Cell 13" - it's the one I remember as my first exposure to Professor Augustus S.F.X. Van Dusen, aka the Thinking Machine. What great fun.

Oh, and the reason for today's title? Today is the centenary of the passing of Marcel Proust, author of "À la recherche du temps perdu," among other light writings.