charity_royall_331 's review for:

Swann's Way by Marcel Proust

5.0

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Not an easy read, by any means, but absolutely worth the effort for all that it tells us about language and the nature of memory. While I was reading it I thought of Anne Lamott's comment about keeping a one-inch picture frame on her desk to remind herself to describe just so much at once. M. Proust certainly does that here, and of every inch: his descriptions are exhaustive and searching, considered from every conceivable angle, giving deep meaning and resonance to objects, places, people. And yet because they are inextricably bound up with the narrator's emotional life, the descriptions are not mere set-dressing, but a vital element of the story itself. I am surprised and delighted by how much I enjoyed this and how fully it immersed me.