In Search of Lost Time (Everyman's Library Classics)

published	June 29th 2001 by Everyman's Library
first published	2002
binding	Hardcover
isbn	1841598976 (isbn13: 9781841598970)
pages	900
date added	12-25-06 edit book

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Abi rated it:

(review of isbn 2070754928)

05/19/08

bookshelves: 20th-century, french

Read in May, 2008

recommended to Abi by: Timothy Baycroft
recommends it for: The dedicated and patient literature fan with a good deal of spare time.

I read this because of Timothy Baycroft. I took his module on the Third Republic in France, HST234, in the first semester of my second year. I asked his advice on what novel to read to gain a better understanding of the period. À La Recherche Du Temps Perdu was his recommendation. And so it began. I later asked him how long it had taken him to read it, and it turns out he never has. I felt slightly conned, but this is now outweighed by ...more I read this because of Timothy Baycroft. I took his module on the Third Republic in France, HST234, in the first semester of my second year. I asked his advice on what novel to read to gain a better understanding of the period. À La Recherche Du Temps Perdu was his recommendation. And so it began. I later asked him how long it had taken him to read it, and it turns out he never has. I felt slightly conned, but this is now outweighed by gratitude because I never would have read Proust without his suggestion, and few other books have been so rewarding. So thankyou, Timothy Baycroft.
À La Recherche Du Temps Perdu is truly staggering, and not only because it is very possibly the longest novel in print. I read it in English, the C. K. Scott Moncrieff version (with Stephen Hudson for Time Regained - poor Scotty died before he could finish). I read it somewhat sporadically. It was never the only novel I had on the go. Basically, it entails one man's musings and philsophising on... well, pretty much everything, but especially jealous & unrequited love (Proust is BIG on this), homosexuality, The Dreyfus Affair, the value of literature and art, subjectivity and time. It is also a vicious satire of high society in fin de siècle France. It is incredibly funny (whether you're laughing at the narrator or with him), the characters are intricately and intimately drawn, the prose is a complex work of beauty and, contrary to popular belief, the plot's not bad either. I'm maybe alone here, but I think that The Guermantes Way was my favourite, maybe joint with Cities of the Plain, just because I loved the in depth focus on Proust's society and the Dreyfus Affair references. Ah, but in retrospect I loved all the volumes. Even though it was often tough going at the time, it's looking back on Proust that makes you realise how wonderful it is. Which is quite a Proustian way of thinking about it, I suppose. The amazing thing is that the novel actually replicates the feeling of time passing. When you are reintroduced to characters from previous volumes it requires an act of memory to place them. When the narrator reminisces, you reminisce with him because it genuinely has been a long time. It's a most curious sensation, and not one I've got from any other novel.
I won't lie, and there's no getting away from it. Reading Proust occasionally felt like a chore rather than a pleasure. There were times when he'd muse for pages on topics that bored me. There were times when the narrator was entirely repellent. There were times when I wanted to shout, "Just split up! Obviously it's never going to work with you guys!" But there were frequent and redeeming bursts of beauty and inspiration that swept away the frustration and drudgery and quite literally filled me with wonder.
It was like climbing a very steep mountain; the view was breath-taking but I was often distracted by the difficulty of the journey. What I had forgotten, of course, was how utterly amazing it feels to stand on top of a mountain. When you reach the final volume, and Proust brings together all the subtle strands that he's been developing for two and a half thousand pages, the cumulative effect is of overwhelming, dazzling genius. Sitting in a coffee shop, six months after starting, I was moved to tears by the sheer intellectual force of Time Regained, and a novel that can do that is something special. And you know it's all been worth it, even though the final victory came far too late to be of any help in HST234.
Plus, on a more egotistical note, to be able to say you've read À La Recherche Du Temps Perdu in its entirity makes you feel very clever. Impress your friends and family: pick up Proust today....less

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In Search of Lost Time (Everyman's Library Classics)

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