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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
Talk about "In Search of Lost Time!" I'm still searching for the HOURS of lost time I spent reading this drivel! I was tricked into reading this book by a friend of mine who wanted to read and discuss it. She never got around to reading it. I read the whole dreary thing. I know Proust is supposed to be the greatest writer of Western Lit EVER. I know it's a badge of honor in some circles to read Remembrance of Things Past and all other things Proustian. But I think Proust wrote all this crap so that someday, the literati would waste their time reading it, and then justifying the hours wasted by fawning over Proust. He goes on and on describing apple blossoms or chestnut trees or some such thing (I repressed the subject matter) for twenty gazillion pages. He is tortured and pained with conscience about minor choices he makes for another twenty gazillion pages. I just wanted to shriek--"get ON with it! Tell me a story!"
No rating-- this book just wasn't for me and any rating I could give it wouldn't be fair. This detailed style, I can't connect with it.
It starts great. And all of it is beautifully, insightfully written. But the story of Swann failed to move me. And it wasn't always easy to see the connection/parallel between Swann and Marcel. Honestly, I just wanted Marcel to talk about himself.
The biggest problem for me is the social setting: well-to-do 19th century types being nosy and boring in and out of gatherings. The social criticism isn't enough for me. And the cultural disconnect isn't helping matters. Think I'm done with this type of fiction.
The biggest problem for me is the social setting: well-to-do 19th century types being nosy and boring in and out of gatherings. The social criticism isn't enough for me. And the cultural disconnect isn't helping matters. Think I'm done with this type of fiction.
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Swann’s Way (Volume 1 of Proust’s In Search of Lost Time or Remembrance of Things Past) is not a novel in today’s traditional sense of the word. Instead, it’s a collection of vignettes and observations of one young man’s life. This first volume includes three works: Combray, Swann in Love and Place-Names: The Name.
In Combray, Proust’s protagonist rambles on detailed descriptions of his family structure, the social hierarchy of turn-of-the-century France and a number of pastoral settings. It may be trite, but it can easily be said that modern authors simply “don’t write like that anymore.” In Combray, Proust takes a number of pages to describe one garden and several paragraphs to detail the illumination of one leaf. The beauty of the language and the level of detail ensures the readers can develop a complete image of the setting.
Swann in Love is a detailed account of Charles Swann’s courting of his beloved Odette. The personal pain he experiences during his love affair will be familiar to many. Swann is hopelessly in love with Odette who manipulates him and generally treats him poorly. The social constructs of the time play a great deal of importance in his ability to win and keep her. Ultimately, social pressures force Odette to detach herself from Swann- even though it is our understanding that Swann is of a superior social class to Odette and her friends.
Places-names allows our narrator to tell of his first love, which ironically parallels Swann’s. We learn that his playmate, Gilberte, is actually Swann’s daughter. Her mother is briefly identified as Odette which tells us that the relationship that ended must have been later renewed.
My initial impression of Proust is that he isn’t an author you read for plot but for the shear enjoyment of his use of language and the development of his characters. I’m looking forward to starting the second volume, In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower.
In Combray, Proust’s protagonist rambles on detailed descriptions of his family structure, the social hierarchy of turn-of-the-century France and a number of pastoral settings. It may be trite, but it can easily be said that modern authors simply “don’t write like that anymore.” In Combray, Proust takes a number of pages to describe one garden and several paragraphs to detail the illumination of one leaf. The beauty of the language and the level of detail ensures the readers can develop a complete image of the setting.
Swann in Love is a detailed account of Charles Swann’s courting of his beloved Odette. The personal pain he experiences during his love affair will be familiar to many. Swann is hopelessly in love with Odette who manipulates him and generally treats him poorly. The social constructs of the time play a great deal of importance in his ability to win and keep her. Ultimately, social pressures force Odette to detach herself from Swann- even though it is our understanding that Swann is of a superior social class to Odette and her friends.
Places-names allows our narrator to tell of his first love, which ironically parallels Swann’s. We learn that his playmate, Gilberte, is actually Swann’s daughter. Her mother is briefly identified as Odette which tells us that the relationship that ended must have been later renewed.
My initial impression of Proust is that he isn’t an author you read for plot but for the shear enjoyment of his use of language and the development of his characters. I’m looking forward to starting the second volume, In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower.
challenging
slow-paced
Does the idea of reading a 600+ page book with absolutely zero plot appeal to you? If so.... this is for you.
I read this as a way to sort of, bond with my dad? The writing is absolutely gorgeous. And there are some humorous moments... but... it's very hard to stay engaged with this. Maybe I just don't have the attention span? I don't know. But I do know that I missed A LOT of it, because my mind would just start wandering. Many would say that I shouldn't even count this as "READ", but idgaf. I got through it.
I'm giving it 4 stars because I can recognize that it is brilliant writing, but if I were rating it just on my level of enjoyment while reading- it would be 1.5 stars.
I read this as a way to sort of, bond with my dad? The writing is absolutely gorgeous. And there are some humorous moments... but... it's very hard to stay engaged with this. Maybe I just don't have the attention span? I don't know. But I do know that I missed A LOT of it, because my mind would just start wandering. Many would say that I shouldn't even count this as "READ", but idgaf. I got through it.
I'm giving it 4 stars because I can recognize that it is brilliant writing, but if I were rating it just on my level of enjoyment while reading- it would be 1.5 stars.