- Paperback: 496 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; New edition edition (27 May 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0141183233
- ISBN-13: 978-0141183237
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.7 x 2.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 297,274 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
“If you’ve never got round to reading this famous philosophical Frenchman, Simon Callow’s lively narration is an excellent introduction to Proust.”
Daily Mail 31/1/97
Product Description
This text is the translation of the first part of the first volume of "Remembrance of Things Past". It paints a portrait of French society at the close of the 19th century, and reveals a vision of obsessive love.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Proust is one of the very few authors who meets the test of time. After one has absorbed the religious eccentricities of Tolstoy and Dostoevski, they lose some of their appeal. But in Proust there is nothing of the sort. Nothing in him is childish (unless, of course, he is actually describing a child) and nothing in him is pretentious. In fact, I really cherish this novel because it is simply the longest set of true statements which I have ever read. From beginning to end. Proust was obsessed with putting down the truth as he saw it, and in language which has moved many other major authors to tears of admiration and envy.
Watch out! The first two volumes (!) really function as an overture, and in volume 3 everything changes, as the novel becomes almost Dickensian. I don't think you will ever be able to forget the Baron de Charlus, or Mme de Guermantes, or Gilberte, or Albertine, or Saint-Loup, or any of the rest of the magnificent cast of characters.
Not for everyone, but, then again, TV is for everyone, and who wants that?
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
For the longest time, I was too intimidated to read Proust. Then, one day, I dived into this first volume like jumping into the deep end of a swimming pool. My only regret is not having jumped in sooner.
This book is the beginning of one of the greatest novels ever written. The prose and imageries are breathtaking--not at all difficult to read if you take the time to savor each sentence. Proust, like all great writers, makes you read on his terms. But once you've surrendered to the style, what a treasure you find yourself floating in. The themes and characters are universal. It makes me wish I knew French to enjoy Proust untranslated. Swann's Way can be read as its own novel. But once you start, you would surely want to continue on.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
...and i have not even finished even the first volume of this dauntingly sprawling work known as a la recherche du temps perdu, but i know what i like and i have just fallen in love with swann's way. yes, it would be silly to deny that proust does like to go on and on quite prodigiously but what a sumptuous journey! i feel almost wicked indulging in proust - and what is his writing if not supremely self-indulgent - but i find myself continually redeemed by his carefully and extensively detailed insights which unfold and arise so naturally, almost indiscernibly, from the complex interplay of memory, sensation and emotion. as i read, often i find myself either smiling with joy or on the verge of tears, moved by the beauty with which proust reveals simple, almost mundane, truths, which are all the more profound by virtue of their mundanity. in any case, i don't think it's fair to banish so bitterly all those for whom this book is a thing of joy and pleasure to the realm of the pretentious. besides, i prefer to think of myself as voluptuous, not pretentious (sniff, sniff) here's a tip: forget profundity if you must and just revel in the gorgeous details of his recollections, his attempts to recapture the past through memory. this is not a book to rush, you must let it's luxuriant and gauzy veil envelop you.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Hard work but worth it
A triple story of unrequited love, told with incredible emotional detail and brilliant evocation of each scene and moment. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Brownbear101
Proust is far from pretentious, but not one for anyone without...
I haven't read the version of this particular publisher, but if it is the Moncrieff and Kilmartin translation then I find it rather ponderous what some of the poor reviews are... Read more
Published on 9 July 2008 by Jpa Mokuolu
This Internal Dialogue of Stalled Thinking Is Irresistible
All of us have self-talk, which is quite different from the way we converse with each other or write. Read more
Published on 27 May 2004 by Donald Mitchell
A book of two halves
This book was recommended to me at a time that I was exploring alot of French literature. Previously I had been put off by both the length of the book and the lack of subject... Read more
Published on 10 May 2004 by Ian Thumwood
What more is there to say about this epic novel....
What more can be said about this epic novel that consists of more then 3000 words.This is only the first book,it will bring you into the world of Proust. Read more
Published on 3 Mar 2002 by "queenfilo"
A String of Pearls fit for a Select Few
It is a travesty that anyone could claim to find this masterpiece "boring." Proust's novel belongs in that select pantheon of books that truly deserved to be called... Read more
Published on 20 Aug 1999
One of the Great Novels of the Century
I'm glad that this book has generated so much controversy, even if most of it has been the asinine comments of one or two people who are clearly incapable of expressing original... Read more
Published on 17 Aug 1999
This book miseducates the reader's soul
How can any work be so dreary and unpoetic and at once so imprecise and unanalytical? The answer: Read Proust! Read more
Published on 5 Aug 1999
An attempt at greatness, but falls short.
More trouble than it's worth. Try Joyce instead.
Published on 22 July 1999
Almost unbearable
I consider myself to be a lover of literature and a well read person. What is the deal with Swann's Way?
Published on 17 July 1999
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