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38 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absolute Perfection, 12 Jun 2003
Proust's great novel is by far the greatest work of literature I have ever read, including Shakespeare, Goethe, Joyce, Woolf, Dostoyesvsky, Austen, Nabokov, Hemingway and Tolstoy. 'Lost Time' is a story spanning forty years in the life of a man named only once in the narrative, and follows his reminiscences of love, society, and becoming a writer. Proust has the deepest insight into human behaviour and the human mind: it is humanity itself that he essentially aims to dissect within the flesh of his novel. But 'Lost Time' is also a novel very much about art, sexuality, and of course, his famous themes of Memory and Habit. The plot itself is very, very slow (it took me five weeks of absolute solid non-stop reading to devour all six volumes, but by week two my wife had only got as far as page fifty, and then gave up), so if you want a pacey story, a quick and satisfying read, then this will not be for you - having said this, I actually found parts quite exciting, and, despite the banality of some of the events, Proust's writing makes the story so enjoyable that it is quite unputdownable; it can be hard work, but it can also be sublimely easy to read: it is as if, after a hundred pages or so, one becomes 'fluent' in Proust, and reading him becomes as natural as taking another breath.
Proust manages, in my opinion, to achieve perfection in every literary sense: vol. 1 is a poetic and moving reminiscence of childhood, and contains some breathtakingly beautiful passages (especially of Combray), and includes the delightful novella 'Swann in Love' (these Swann bits and childhood bits are important to the later volumes too); vol. 1 is perfectly acceptable to be read on its own, without the others, if you so desire (and don't have the time); vol. 2 is the 'Bildungsroman', as it were, and sets up all the important characters, including the wonderful Saint-Loup and the alluring Albertine; vol. 3 is very much a 'society' novel, although don't expect 'Vanity Fair' ... what struck me in this part, and more so in vol. 4 was how utterly hilarious a writer Proust is - his humour is at once cruel and delightful; then vol. 4 is very much the 'gay' novel, and probably the funniest too - I laughed aloud all the way through ... the characterisation of the Baron is formidable in this volume - probably one of the best drawn characters in all of literature; but vol. 5, the Captive, I found to be very slow, and very intense, but although it has the most frustratingly slow passages, it has the most sublimely beautiful ones too - ones that rival the entire poetical canon; and vol. 5, the Fugitive, is sort of a summing up, a tying up of loose ends before the finale; finally, vol. 6 is indeed the very finale, and it is quite spectacular, one can see clearly the terrifying influence of the Great War on Proust in this part.
Vols. 1 and 6 were written first as a small (700p) novel, which Proust then added, and added, and added to, as the years went by. I could really feel his development (to perfection), as a writer, through the volumes, but it still all holds in the same wonderful voice throughout. Incidentally, the new Penguin translations read quite poorly in comparison to this one, and lose a lot of the humour. Always stick with the D.J. Enright revised translation - it is the best English version.
This is a must read for everyone who has the time to do so. Reading this was not only the most phenomenal literary experience of my life, but also one of the most amazing experiences of my life full stop. This novel finds the perfect balance between the most poetic prose of all time, engrossing characters (and their stories), intellectual and investigative essayistic passages, artistic and pyschoanalytical investigation, both satirical and delightful humour, and the most perspicacious observations of humanity ever written.
Proust's great novel is sheer perfection. If you read it, be prepared to not enjoy any other novels afterward - because you probably won't: nothing better can be written. Genius.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Easy - why didn't someone tell me?, 29 Jun 2007
For thirty years, I thought Proust was too 'difficult' for the ordinary reader. I gained that impression, I suppose, from hearing 'clever' people talk about him.
Rubbish. This is great stuff, and very approachable. And it's well worth the effort: the narrative style and the examination of the writer's inner life are unlike anything else. I wish I'd read it years ago.
One proviso: this is NOT fast-moving...! It's best read, in my view, when you have a long stretch of time to devote to it: I couldn't pick it up and put it down as a bedside book. So it makes a great holiday read - perhaps for that rainy week in Deauville?!
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34 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A classic, but be prepared!, 18 Jan 2000
As someone unused to reading 'heavy' literature I approached the first volume of In Search of Lost Time with a certain amount of trepidation. The first half is indeed hard going, and I could see why Proust himself once referred to his work as a 'piece of indigestible nougat'. The sentences are long, with innumerable subordinate clauses, and I often found myself having to re-read them in order to grasp what was going on. In addition, Proust spends tens of pages describing topics such as the village church at Combray which, frankly, however original his description, was pretty boring. But persevere to part two, the description of Swann and Odette's love affair, and not only does the material become infinitely more interesting but, with the increase in the amount of direct speech, becomes easier to read.If you're still feeling daunted, I'd recommend reading Alain de Botton's book 'How Proust can Change Your Life' first - a funny, sublime look at Proust and In Search of Lost Time. He gives you an idea what to expect in terms of Proust's style and points out things of interest to look out for along the way. The ultimate test of how much you enjoy this book will be whether you want to carry on with the next 5 volumes. I'm already half-way through volume 2...
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by Marcel Proust
