“Author pays” publishing model

Editor—When he first published A la recherche du temps perdu, Marcel Proust had to pay because André Gide, who reviewed his manuscript, did not understand how good it was. Except for a few other notable exceptions like this one, in literature, the authors who are charged are not considered to be the most gifted ones.

Isn't this system a good one, even if imperfect?¹ Shouldn't biomedical publishing try to imitate this system? If yes, it is the peer review process that should probably change. In particular, reviewers should be paid and should not remain anonymous.