From the Bookshelf of The Year of Reading Proust…

Swann’s Way (In Search of Lost Time, #1)

Marcel Proust

Start date: January 1, 2013

Finish date: February 24, 2013

Discussion: Swann's Way, vol. 1

Why we're reading this: Alternate translation.
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Swann's Way, vol. 1

Through Sunday, 6 Jan.: Swann's Way
By Kris · 373 posts · 819 views

last updated Mar 29, 2025 09:41AM

Through Sunday, 24 Feb.: Swann's Way
By Kris · 142 posts · 381 views

last updated Feb 27, 2015 10:45AM

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What Members Thought

Dec 27, 2012 Rakhi Dalal rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

“But it was also by the force of inertia; there was in his soul that want of adaptability which can be seen in the bodies of certain people who, when the moment comes to avoid a collision, to snatch their clothes out of reach of a flame, or to perform any other such necessary movement, take their time (as the saying is), begin by remaining for a moment in their original position, as though seeking to find in it a starting-point, a source of strength and motion.”

The unflinching pursuance of mind, “But it was also by the force of inertia; there was in his soul that want of adaptability which can be seen in the bodies of certain people who, when the moment comes to avoid a collision, to snatch their clothes out of reach of a flame, or to perform any other such necessary movement, take their time (as the saying is), begin by remaining for a moment in their original position, as though seeking to find in it a starting-point, a source of strength and motion.”

The unflinching pursuance of mind, en route the labyrinthine alleys of memory, arouse an ardor to regain that which is far and lost. Thence seeketh the eyes, those moments which necessitate one to remain in one’s original position. Those moments, which engender vigor to let clear the aisle for the memories to ascend, ensnare and leave you mesmerized. How fortunate it is to find those moments in the most exquisite and enticing prose to have ever been written! A delicacy, for the famished soul to behold and savor!

Those exigent moments, hence brought forth by the reading of this work, seized the present and rendered those lovely ones, hidden in the recesses of heart. A stroll with the narrator turned the steeple into an old building, madeline into a sweet dish entwining the warmth of the lovely soul by whom it was prepared and 'that corner at the street' into a long lost point in past which still possesses me as a child. Lovely moments, all of them, more so because they are gone and are never to return except in memories.

“Somewhere in one of the tall trees, making a stage in its height, an invisible bird, desperately attempting to make the day seem shorter, was exploring with a long, continuous note the solitude that pressed it on every side, but it received at once so unanimous an answer, so powerful a repercussion of silence and of immobility that, one would have said, it had arrested for all eternity the moment which it had been trying to make pass more quickly.”

These beautiful lines inspire a motive to seek solitude and hence, plunge deep into thoughts, explore and contemplate on what is imperative to existence. Living everyday or letting life happen? Somewhere a midst the chaos, the madness of everyday life, the moments which mean the most to us, are unconsciously ignored and forgotten. It is these moments which we keep looking for and searching for long after they are gone. And then in a desperate attempt to evade the remorse, we sadly end up in the state of more acute awareness of the loss.

Proust, is not only aware of such moments, but he lets them linger on…in life…..in memories.…in writing…so that seekers like us can look upon them in amazement and in return be rewarded with the pleasure of going through the ones we have long lost…

The dearth of words on my part purport the extent, to which my heart is exhilarated and wishes to remain still some time longer in those moments. Let me linger on some more……
...more

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Mar 09, 2023 Kaila added it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, 2023, france

I'm so proud, I finally made it all the way through.

Of course, I still have 3,500 more pages to go to really make it all the way through.

I don't think I've ever declined to give a star rating but in this case, I am going to leave it blank. I think I need to read the whole book before I feel comfortable knowing what I actually thought of this. I'm not sure I liked it, but I'm not sure I didn't like it either. It's a hard one to pin down.

If you're not familiar with Proust, well, hardly anyone actu ...more

7 likes · Like · see review

Dec 29, 2012 Lauren rated it it was amazing

It has taken me the whole day to decide on my rating of this amazing work of fiction. It has too many facets to easily categorize, making the decision quite difficult. There were moments in which this was the best thing I have ever read, undoubtably because the prose is the most beautiful ever written. I found myself utterly engrossed and unwilling to put it down but as soon as I did I had no desire to pick it back up.

How can one describe Proust to those who have not read Proust? They cannot, i ...more

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Jun 01, 2014 Taube rated it it was amazing

“Even in the most insignificant details of our daily life, none of us can be said to constitute a material whole, which is identical for everyone, and need only be turned up like a page in an account-book or the record of a will; our social personality is created by the thoughts of other people.”
― Marcel Proust, Swann's Way

And thus Miss Taube progresses onward to the Christopher Prendergast/James Grieve version of Monsieur Proust's "In The Shadow of Young Girls in Flower." (À l'ombre des jeunes ...more

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Feb 04, 2013 Leslie rated it it was amazing

Incredible life changing book.

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Apr 28, 2014 Arwa F. Al-M rated it it was amazing

Shelves: autofiction

Love, love, love this book. I cannot wait to read the rest of the collection. Stream-of-consciousness at its best! No wonder Proust's writing was admired by many Modernist writers. ...more

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