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A review by tumblyhome_caroline
Swann's Way by Marcel Proust
5.0
Based on the Moncrieff, Kilmartin translation. This book is an absolute masterpiece. It is so unlike other books and is not a fast read, nor should it be. I read it slowly and reread as I went along. Some of the sentences are very long and do need rereading and thinking about. This sounds as if reading it is a chore, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
These days there are so many books published, so many books to get to. For me it was getting to the stage of rushing through a big pile of books to make my goodReads quota for the year and to read all the books everyone was talking about. Also themes in books seem to be at the whim of fashion, and just lately so many books seem to need to have ticked the ‘must have’ topic boxes. I am not saying those themes are not important but it feels as if, by ticking those boxes it means the book is therefore great..and too many just are not great in my opinion…(which is just my opinion and it doesn’t mean it is correct…but it is how it is for me)
I began to realise that I wasn’t taking a lot of these books in and just needed to slow down. I reread one of my last books three times (The Employees by Olga Ravn) and over the Covid lockdowns went back to many old favourites to reread and found that a really good book needs…more than anything, time. If a story is digestible in one sitting/reading it is a snack, not a full course meal.
Swanns Way is a full course meal, and it is only the first part of a much longer work of art. If a book stands the test of time to become a classic it must have something more to it and this one certainly has.
The book comprises of Combray (part 1) and Swanns Way (pat 2). I think I preferred Combray because it was so utterly beautiful and almost hypnotic in places. Swanns Way is supposed to be a story of all consuming love, but I found it to be more about obsession. As I said before, some of the ideas and sentences take rereading and thinking about but just when you feel almost overwhelmed, the next section is witty, easy to read and fun. The whole book is a roller coaster in this respect. Proust can paint with words and write characters with a very fine nib.
I read the Moncrieff, Kilmartin and Enright translation but also had the translation by Lydia Davis. I preferred the former really but the Davis translation was easier to read in the bath. What a shame that reading Proust seems to carry some burden of reading snobbery…it is not like that at all. At one stage I read one of the funnier lines in a coffee shop and choked with irrepressible giggles..it is wonderful.
I read this along with the Hardcore Literature book club on iTunes, YouTube and Patreon. An excellent way to read and talk about books!
I have not finished this book, I will reread it again immediately and probably again and again over the years, I loved it very much. I will also go on to read the full novel ‘In Search of Lost Time’ which is many thousands of pages.
These days there are so many books published, so many books to get to. For me it was getting to the stage of rushing through a big pile of books to make my goodReads quota for the year and to read all the books everyone was talking about. Also themes in books seem to be at the whim of fashion, and just lately so many books seem to need to have ticked the ‘must have’ topic boxes. I am not saying those themes are not important but it feels as if, by ticking those boxes it means the book is therefore great..and too many just are not great in my opinion…(which is just my opinion and it doesn’t mean it is correct…but it is how it is for me)
I began to realise that I wasn’t taking a lot of these books in and just needed to slow down. I reread one of my last books three times (The Employees by Olga Ravn) and over the Covid lockdowns went back to many old favourites to reread and found that a really good book needs…more than anything, time. If a story is digestible in one sitting/reading it is a snack, not a full course meal.
Swanns Way is a full course meal, and it is only the first part of a much longer work of art. If a book stands the test of time to become a classic it must have something more to it and this one certainly has.
The book comprises of Combray (part 1) and Swanns Way (pat 2). I think I preferred Combray because it was so utterly beautiful and almost hypnotic in places. Swanns Way is supposed to be a story of all consuming love, but I found it to be more about obsession. As I said before, some of the ideas and sentences take rereading and thinking about but just when you feel almost overwhelmed, the next section is witty, easy to read and fun. The whole book is a roller coaster in this respect. Proust can paint with words and write characters with a very fine nib.
I read the Moncrieff, Kilmartin and Enright translation but also had the translation by Lydia Davis. I preferred the former really but the Davis translation was easier to read in the bath. What a shame that reading Proust seems to carry some burden of reading snobbery…it is not like that at all. At one stage I read one of the funnier lines in a coffee shop and choked with irrepressible giggles..it is wonderful.
I read this along with the Hardcore Literature book club on iTunes, YouTube and Patreon. An excellent way to read and talk about books!
I have not finished this book, I will reread it again immediately and probably again and again over the years, I loved it very much. I will also go on to read the full novel ‘In Search of Lost Time’ which is many thousands of pages.