Time Regained in 2017: Our Year of Reading Proust

Mar 28, 2014 Renato rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: proust, read-more-than-once, the-novel-100, reviewed, 2014, all-stars, absolute-favorites, a-la-recherche-du-temps-perdu, 100-best-books-world-library, 1001

Longtemps I asked myself if, instead of reading Marcel Proust on my Kindle, I shouldn’t have bought physical books to read in my bed to perhaps be an inch closer to his conditions while he was writing his masterpiece, as having a cork-lined bedroom proved to be impossible this year. Each time I started and finished a volume, I would again ask myself if I should get a paperback edition instead. However, as I had already all seven volumes digitally, and I knew such a big commitment of reading week Longtemps I asked myself if, instead of reading Marcel Proust on my Kindle, I shouldn’t have bought physical books to read in my bed to perhaps be an inch closer to his conditions while he was writing his masterpiece, as having a cork-lined bedroom proved to be impossible this year. Each time I started and finished a volume, I would again ask myself if I should get a paperback edition instead. However, as I had already all seven volumes digitally, and I knew such a big commitment of reading weekly sections for the entire year would eventually clash with other obligations, I never got to switch and kept on reading on my Kindle for it was easier and more convenient than carrying tree books from one place to another and it also allowed me to read in the dark.

While I was reading tonight - just moments ago, actually - and I looked down at my Kindle screen (something that I do constantly and also happens to be a reason for this desire to stop reading digitally, as I feel it rushes my reading when I know that I’m near the end of a chapter or to finishing the book, and I keep calculating if the estimation is right or if it'll take me more or less time instead), I noticed the “Time remaining” information telling me that Time Regained would be over in 28 minutes.

Like quick flashes of lightning, memories of all the previous six moments of when I was this close to finishing each volume - along with the place I was reading them, the season of the year, the weather, my mood - jumped in front of me (perhaps it would be more accurate to say “out of me"), initially blurring my vision, and then completely blinding me, as if they were trying to stop me, because finishing this last volume would also end my first read of À la recherche du temps perdu, in which they were included and, because of that, still alive, but fearing their afterlife was bound to be over in mere 28 minutes. Wouldn’t you do all that you could to stop Time - or just to extend it a bit somehow - if you knew you’d be gone in a matter of minutes?

As quickly as these memories surrounded me - it’s amazing how many things can happen so fast in a second inside of our heads - I figured that they weren't trying to stop me from finishing the seventh volume, they were actually standing over my shoulder to watch the birth of their little sibling, the new special moment I would hold dear forever in myself, to welcome it and, of course, to watch over me as I finished reading the novel that would be forever considered my favorite and the best thing I have ever read in my life. Had I switched to physical books, these sensations wouldn’t have been triggered this way, or perhaps different ones would have appeared. Who knows? I’m just glad it all happened the way it did.

I know this isn’t a proper review as it only accounts for my reading experience instead of actually addressing the book. I made the conscious decision of not reviewing any of the volumes as I felt unprepared - for I believe I still have so much to extract from these beloved pages - and I want to wait until I do at least one more read - how could I stop now? Even so, I decided to acknowledge what just happened, for I think this was an experience that I couldn't let go without writing at least a few - as silly as they might be - words, specially after taking such a fondness for involuntary memories because of Proust.

Do yourself a favor: pick up Swann's Way and meet him, in case you haven’t yet.
You’re most welcome. ...more

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Jun 21, 2021 Paula rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

And so it ends…not for the first time, and certainly not for the last time, this magnum opus of Proust’s magnum opus. I would give more than than 5 stars, indeed, as many stars as may exist…for this volume, and for the volumes that came before it.

None who have read this unforgettable work can summon the words which we feel after reading the last sentence…as we turn the last page of the final volume. We feel somehow bereft…only to remember that the magic can and will begin as we once more read t ...more

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Jan 22, 2023 Mark rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A fantastic final book in the great series, chiefly composed Marcels philosophy of time regained and the implications of time for the world of the belle époque social scene. It’s both devastating and uplifting at the same time

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