Arnon Grunberg (in the Culture Supplement of October 29) feels that "there is no longer a great deal of meaning" behind many of Marcel Proust's sentences. That may very well be so, but does language then consist solely of meaning? Is there no such thing as rhythm, resonance, musicality? Has Grunberg failed to notice that Proust refers often to music when trying to make clear what beauty is? If language were truly nothing but a matter of meaning, would we then have any need of novels and poems? Might not we then suffice with a synopsis in which all meaning is summarized in a highly meaningful fashion?

-Marek van der Jagt, Vienna