In Search of Lost Time, Vol. I: Swann's Way
by Marcel Proust
Swann’s Way (Du côté de chez Swann in French) is volume one of Marcel Proust’s monumental autobiographical novel, À la recherche du temps perdu.
Recommendations from our site
“It’s a book in multiple parts. The first section focuses mostly on a particular episode from the narrator’s childhood, when he was around seven, going to bed and hoping that his mother would come up and kiss him good night. He’s a rather anxious child, and continues to be anxious into adulthood. Then there’s the famous madeleine scene that ends the first part. Then a fairly long section: a description of life in a small country town, where this character spent his summers. In this section there’s an incredible little scene involving three steeples seen from a moving carriage, which is surprisingly important. Overall, what you get in the first volume is a sense of this character gradually coming into focus.” Read more...
Joshua Landy, Literary Scholar
“It’s very much about love. It starts out with this beautiful evocation of his mother. It’s talking about parents who die and the weight that has. His whole life is very much in the context of a family. You see the character almost only in context of that significant family. It’s also a wonderful translation by Lydia Davis, who is a terrific writer and a great translator.” Read more...
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Mona Simpson, Literary Scholar
