A review by virtualmima
Swann's Way by Marcel Proust

reflective slow-paced

3.75

I like the metaphysical introspections and in-depth character analysis, especially his deconstruction of an obsessed individual blinded by his idealism of a false love, which really is the nature of the "love" myth in general. Although told from the male perspective it's truly an ungendered experience that all of the obsessive kind of "love" is about. I frequently encounter people who are obsessively in love with unremarkable individuals who are neither attractive nor interesting, who don't even respect them, and psychologically it's a lot like how it is for Swann.

As Swann says at the end of that chapter, these people waste years of their lives obsessing over someone they don't even like, who they aren't attracted to, and who isn't even their type.

I do think some parts were lacking, however, and the character analyses could have gone deeper, but in order to do that Proust would've had to have been familiar with philosophy that wasn't yet available in his time.