Goodreads | In Search of Lost Time, Volume I: Swann's Way (Modern Library Classics)

Jess rated it:

(review of isbn 0142437964)

01/31/08

Read in January, 2008

I wouldn't even know where to begin writing about (much less reviewing, gasp) the first volume of Proust's masterpiece. So I'm copying and pasting an article about it from salon.com that I found entertaining and witty. It's long (though I had to cut over 3,000 words to make it fit), but if you're a member of a site called Goodreads, maybe you won't mind.

Reading "In Search of Lost Time"
By Jane Smiley

Aug 28, 2005 | After I finished "In Search of Lost Time," I called...more

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David rated it:

02/20/08

recommends it for: you (maybe)

While recently in Paris, I schlepped myself on over to an inconspicuous bank branch on Boulevard Haussman on the upper floor of which was Proust's boudoir, now restored to its original cork-lined glory and able to be visited by the general public on mercredis only. Or so I had been led to believe by that notorious gossipmonger and coquette known as the Internet. (That bitch.)

My French is admittedly deficient. I am able to ask with reasonable proficiency when the train will arrive and, more ...more

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Ryan rated it:

(review of isbn 067003245X)

04/21/08

bookshelves: currently-reading

holy good god, nevermind the whole "one of the greatest works of modern literature" spiel, or mind it, because it's probably true, but more practically: this has got to be one of the most pleasurable reading experiences out there. it's been a while since i've read the Montcrief translation, and i remember laughing a lot more with that one, probably because Montcrief's overwrought translation actually amplifies the feeling of exhaustive detail in Proust's descriptions. it feels so com...more holy good god, nevermind the whole "one of the greatest works of modern literature" spiel, or mind it, because it's probably true, but more practically: this has got to be one of the most pleasurable reading experiences out there. it's been a while since i've read the Montcrief translation, and i remember laughing a lot more with that one, probably because Montcrief's overwrought translation actually amplifies the feeling of exhaustive detail in Proust's descriptions. it feels so comedianny: like each passage starts with the "did you ever notice..." seinfeldy schtick, and then with each successive and more specific detail there's a turn of the screw in the hillarity brought on by recognition and alienation at the same time: "that's EXACTLY what that's like, but i've never really stopped to think about it before...!"

it's so amazing to read an entire book written in a confiding tone. every book has to give you setting and characters, but Proust relates them to you like he's trying to get you to understand in yourself exactly what he means, like when you go on a nostalgia bender with a friend, reveling at the memories you both have so clearly of hannah barbera cartoons or kickball or drinking fountains at recess. it's like with each prolonged description Proust is going, "ya feel me?! am i right? am i right?"
like a good comedian, too, he gives incredibly personal and embarassing details. instead of the whole i'm such a nerd/my penis is very, very small/i'm so fat self-deprication shtick, Proust goes with the if-my-mom-didn't-kiss-me-goodnight-i-would-burn-with-desire-for-her-until-dawn angle. that's right, he went there. because he's edgy.

not to overemphasize the comedian comparison; the book is mostly just beautiful. it also makes me feel somewhat like i did reading the never-ending story: a book about reading. Proust's writing is about, among other things, writing, or the transmutation of memory into art, so as i'm reading i don't just appreciate the story, but i also just sit back and enjoy the fact that i'm reading. that's always present with any book, of course, but Proust makes me feel aware of the process because of the theme of the work, and how the pace and style of the writing supports that theme.

it's funny that's it's always grouped with Ulysses as the two groundbreaking works of 20th century western literature, because Ulysses really is a pain in the ass to read (a rewarding one and one that gets easier, so i'm told), but Proust isn't inscrutable at all, and Lydia Davis' translation further emphasizes that plain language feeling....less

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Jillian rated it:

(review of isbn 0142437964)

03/09/08

bookshelves: grad-school

Read in March, 2008

recommended to Jillian by: Prof. Tilghman (on syllabus)

Simply incredible, and even more so on the second read-through that I began today (I read the novel in 4 days to meet a class deadline, so I can't wait to go back and take a deeper and more leisurely journey through it). I've only read this first volume of the Recherche monster and I'm already impressed by the way Proust weaves together potentially disparate aspects of the narrative, leaving the reader to trace the associative connections among his memories, the seemingly offhand observat...more Simply incredible, and even more so on the second read-through that I began today (I read the novel in 4 days to meet a class deadline, so I can't wait to go back and take a deeper and more leisurely journey through it). I've only read this first volume of the Recherche monster and I'm already impressed by the way Proust weaves together potentially disparate aspects of the narrative, leaving the reader to trace the associative connections among his memories, the seemingly offhand observations that only gain significance a hundred pages later. And of course the language is so frequently exquisite...though admittedly I've always been a fan of controlled but convoluted sentences that could easily irritate other readers, and which at times (at least in trans.) do push too far. I could probably find a favorite quote on every few pages, so I'll just offer up a few humorous and/or insightful ones:

If my grandfather needed to attract the two sisters’ attention at such times, he had to resort to those bodily signals used by alienists with certain lunatics suffering from distraction: striking a glass repeatedly with the blade of a knife while speaking to them sharply and looking them suddenly in the eye, violent methods which these psychiatrists often bring with them into their ordinary relations with healthy people, either from professional habit or because they believe everyone is a little crazy. (22)

My mother was obliged to stop, but she derived from this very constraint one more delicate thought, like good poets forced by the tyranny of rhyme to find their most beautiful lines. (24)

But even with respect to the most insignificant things in life, none of us constitutes a material whole, identical for everyone, which a person has only to go look up as though we were a book of specifications or a last testament; our social personality is a creation of the minds of others. (19)

-"You know Balbec so well - do you have friends in the area?"
-"I have friends wherever there are companies of trees, wounded but not vanquished, which huddle together with touching obstinacy to implore an inclement and pitiless sky."
-"That is not what I meant,' interupted my father, as obstinate as the trees and as pitiless as the sky." (134)

"The places we have known do not belong solely to the world of space in which we situate them for our greater convenience. They were only a thin slice among contiguous impressions which formed our life at that time; the memory of a certain image is but regret for a certain moment; and houses, roads, avenues are as fleeting, alas, as the years. (444)

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Brendan rated it:

(review of isbn 0142437964)

06/16/08

Let me state first that to each volume, and the novel as a whole I give emphatic FIVE STARS, but within the novel there were certain volumes that I found more stirring (and I believe this to be an intentional effect of the novel; volumes 3 & 4 deal more with Marcel's experience in society, an experience that quells his artistic drive, and this suppression is manifested in the text, those volumes being relatively superficial, not so full of that artistic reverie, less often reaching those sam...more Let me state first that to each volume, and the novel as a whole I give emphatic FIVE STARS, but within the novel there were certain volumes that I found more stirring (and I believe this to be an intentional effect of the novel; volumes 3 & 4 deal more with Marcel's experience in society, an experience that quells his artistic drive, and this suppression is manifested in the text, those volumes being relatively superficial, not so full of that artistic reverie, less often reaching those same heights of tenderness and melancholy), so the four-star ratings for the middle volumes are simply to represent those subtle shifts. That being said...

I was nervous about reading "In Search of Lost Time; intimidated by its reputation as a notoriously difficult book. I am glad that I did dive into it; my only fear now, with one volume left to read, is that it will soon be over (even having read each volume twice, I don't think I will be able to wait too long for round three)! I knew not what Proust held in store, I have found nothing but pleasant and profound surprises. Personally, I find the book's infamous difficulty ill-deserved. Proust's sentence structure can be rather drawn-out, meandering even; but, first of all, the attentive reader should not find this too much trouble; and second, it is absolutely necessary to the novel, a novel which is in large part concerned with the frenetic functioning of the mind, the mind's natural free-associations and wanderings. The book also seems to be ridiculed for its slow pace; well if one simply follows the the movement of the characters, this is a valid claim; however, if one follows the pace at the artistic level, at the level of the words themselves, the images

In Search has everything: rich, vivid, original descriptions (take, in Swann's Way, M.'s hawthorns; his treatment of the Vinteul sonata; the paths leading to Meseglise & the Guermantes; and so much more); sublime and sometimes painfully acute insights into, and expression of the human experience of joy, sorrow and everything in between; some of the most enjoyable and dimensional characters I have encountered; technical novelty (Proust's complex comparisons, his hybrid metaphor/similes are first rate)... it is not possible to capture it all here; it must simply be experienced....less

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Antiabecedarian rated it:

10/20/07

bookshelves: pretty

Read in December, 2007

recommends it for: fools

I have this book on my shelf because it was passed down from a long lost friend to another friend of mine, who left it in his house with all the rest of his possessions after Katrina. This friend let me have the first scavange, and I picked up Swann's Way, among other treasures. I remember these two gentlemen discussing philosophy and films every morning over coffee and their first cigarettes. One was too erudite and the other not a fool, but the erudite one took the upper hand, making the no...more I have this book on my shelf because it was passed down from a long lost friend to another friend of mine, who left it in his house with all the rest of his possessions after Katrina. This friend let me have the first scavange, and I picked up Swann's Way, among other treasures. I remember these two gentlemen discussing philosophy and films every morning over coffee and their first cigarettes. One was too erudite and the other not a fool, but the erudite one took the upper hand, making the not-a-fool dance in his declarations and delineations of ideas. So the erudite one got the not-a-fool into reading Proust... I learned a lot about the higher realms of useful dreamworlds from these two, and now Swann's Way represents a point in the past that cannot exist again. Not that any point in the past could exist again, but I enjoyed their coming together, and my luck in crossing their paths. What I think of Proust and his Madeleines and mother's kiss and those cheesy photos on the covers of this particular 6 volume issue.... I read a story- a short story- by Borges about a man who fell off a horse and became bedridden on account of his memories. He spent the rest of his life remembering every single molecular detail of everything he had ever encountered, most vividly. From Latin to the print on the paper in latin, the cracks in the binding of the books, the cracks in the walls, the hairs and hair follicles, the fractious and complete whole of his life repeated and recalled ad infinitum (literally) until he was able to breath his LAST BREATH- except that the narrator witnessed this to tell. Memory and repetition fascinate me.... so now that I've read a Jane Austen book and have primed myself for proper literature, Swann's Way looks pretty good for a start. And as for Madeleines, the only thing that sends me into automatic reverie is the smell of the sweet olive trees in bloom-- I remember how it was when I first moved to New Orleans, and wake up a little from the stinky tedium and all the wanderings of the last 8.9 years rush into my head. Maybe. I am writing babble about BOOKS instead of working. Reverie is not an excuse. If I ever lose my sight or am bedridden then the only thing is to put up in a place where there are a lot of sweet olive trees by the window, and sleep most of the year.
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Isaac rated it:

(review of isbn 0142437964)

06/11/08

How can one not love a book structured around an obsessive, cookie-eating sissy?

By all accounts Proust was a sickly rich boy who, halfway through his first day of work ever, caught the vapors and promptly gave notice and returned home. Not that there's anything wrong with that. On the same note, Marcel, the semi-autobiographical meta-narrator of Swann's Way is no less the worried little boy: critical of his housekeeper's backward French, raving when he ODs on caffeine pills, and possessed w...more

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Matt rated it:

04/15/07

Read in March, 2007

recommends it for: prose fanatics

I can pretty much honestly tell you this book has the most beautiful, ornate language I have ever read outside of Shakespeare. I recommend the Scott Moncrieff translation, if you care about such things. While this book is part of a seven part series, this is the only one I've read. I won't lie: it took me several months to read this book (mostly because I was only reading it during lunch breaks at work). It's a very challenging read, not for the light of heart. Proust isn't so much concerne...more

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Pa rated it:

(review of isbn 0142437964)

02/25/08

Proust's "In Search of Lost Time" is a tour de force and in the language of metaphor an epic poem in prose about memories, or more specifically the cherished place memories hold in our heart of hearts, for it is here, memories turn life into a dream, experience into art, love into great love, and serve as the indelible proof of our past. I am sorry I'm running out of words and wits here to describe what this novel has meant to me ever since PH gave me this book as a gift on Valentine'...more

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Tedb0t rated it:

11/19/07

bookshelves: literature

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in November, 2007

So I was on the Brooklyn-bound L train going to Morgan Ave., reading this edition of Swann's Way, when a girl comes up to me, squinting at the cover, then raspberrys* in the direction of the book and gives it a thumbs down. Somehow it is clear she is decrying the translation, and I kind of politely smile. Then she comes back a second time to explain that there's a better translation. I forget how much she explains, but later, she also gets off at Morgan and we talk more in depth about it. Sh...more

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David rated it:

(review of isbn 0679600051)

06/04/07

Read in January, 2001

recommends it for: anyone

most important is that you read the translation by c.k. scott moncrieff. the new translation by lydia davis is apparently much more true to proust's writing. it turns out that there was a gain in translation. so much so, that someone who read the french version and moncrieff's translation said that it should be translated back into french, and read that way, rather than in the original.

all of this is illustrated by the change in title: moncrieff translated the french not literally, but...more

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Paul rated it:

(review of isbn 0142437964)

01/28/08

A tough book - quite a lot to chew on, but at the heart of it is the story of Swann falling for Odette, and the pain and suffering that it causes him. I found this to be pretty interesting, and sharing a few quotes is necessary. Commenting on love, the narrator remarks, "We come to its aid, we falsify it by memory and by suggestion. Recongnising one of is symptoms, we remember and re-create the rest." The scary part is that I believe that this is, in many cases, true. Swann didn't ever...more

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Tia rated it:

(review of isbn 0142437964)

03/31/07

bookshelves: amongthebestiveread

Read in December, 2004

recommends it for: Lovers of Tarkovsky films (and, truly, lovers of words.)

Proust found ways to perfectly describe things such as the millisecond of searching the memory before realizing why this person in front of you is familiar, or the flutter of fear that passes over your heart when you think you're seeing a loved one favor another...I could go on and on. I had no idea it was possible to find words for the tiny moments that Proust managed to capture. I am currently working on the fourth volume of the whole work (In Search of Lost Time; I'm on Sodom and Gomorrah) an...more

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Mary added it (review of isbn 0142437964)

08/21/07

bookshelves: abandonedfornow

Read in February, 2008

As a first-time reader of Proust, I must say he's been rather intimidating (but this is what most people say, no?). His writing style is, while not entirely unique, certainly different, and it takes some getting used to...particularly, his incredibly lenghty sentences and phrasings. Too, this is not the sort of book you can pick up at leisure, read a few pages from, and move on. Each "session" takes relearning of his ways and a dedication of a fair bit of time.

Despite these hu...more

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Kate rated it:

11/15/07

bookshelves: favorites

Read in October, 2007

Every semester I find a good long novel that I read for a couple of months on end, simply to keep me sane amid the sea of required reading and writing. That said, I also tend to like any lengthy novel I read, whether it fits my usual criteria or not - by the time i finish, I feel I'm losing a close friend who has simply shown me his flaws. One thing Proust doesn't excel in is readability - but length makes up for this, since after a hundred or two pages the complexity of his sentences began to ...more

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Kate rated it:

10/09/07

bookshelves: classics-by-other-foreigners

Read in January, 2003

recommends it for: insomniacs

Talk about "In Search of Lost Time!" I'm still searching for the HOURS of lost time I spent reading this drivel! I was tricked into reading this book by a friend of mine who wanted to read and discuss it. She never got around to reading it. I read the whole dreary thing. I know Proust is supposed to be the greatest writer of Western Lit EVER. I know it's a badge of honor in some circles to read Remembrance of Things Past and all other things Proustian. But I think Proust wrote a...more

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Shawn rated it:

(review of isbn 0142437964)

08/06/07

OK, so at least I read one of them, though at times it felt like i was sticking with it merely so I could say I had. I'll probably wait a little while before I take on Vol. 2. There are amazing passages of nuanced insight into memory and desire, and while things go awfully slack at times, there is a cumulative power to the psychological developments of the narrator, and especially M. Swann in the little novella-inside-the-novel, Swann in Love. This doesn't proceed in anything like a straightforw...more

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Eric rated it:

(review of isbn 0142437964)

01/02/08

Read in January, 2008

recommends it for: modernists

Proust is definitely incredible and his descriptions can be unbelievable, as well as some of the psychological insights. That being said, his predilection for long sentences with weird structures leads to some of the most constipated writing I've read since Foucault. Also, this book is so bourgeois that it disgusts me and the ending argument that the progress of civilization is bad because it isn't "elegant" is laughable.
A lot of peeps be saying that Proust and not Joyce is the best ...more

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Jessica rated it:

(review of isbn 0142437964)

08/15/07

bookshelves: currently-reading

last summer i lovingly and accidentally filled this library copy with waves and sand from lake michigan, reading on the shore for hours at a time, i am beginning it again this summer with michael, who is reading aloud to me (my favorite), "I liked to look at the carafes which the boys put in the Vivonne to catch little fish, and which were filled by the river that in turn enclosed them, so that they became at once a 'container' with transparent sides like hardened water and a 'content' imme...more

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In Search of Lost Time, Volume I: Swann's Way (Modern Library Classics)

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