Has anyone read all of Proust?

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

Can you summarize it for me? 

Seriously, I have always been curious about À la recherche du temps perdu, and I have the first volume (Swann's Way) in a gorgeous Modern Library hardcover edition from the 50s. I bought it in that most civilized of all North American cities--Berkeley, California--several years ago. It has been sitting on my shelf beckoning me for years. But I know it will be a long slog and I will miss many of the many miniscule references, subtleties, jokes, etc. I have so much else to read--it's almost depressing. Do the novels stand on their own? Are they page turners? What did you get out if it (if you don't mind a crass question)?

Maybe I should just stick to Dostoyevsky (have had Brothers Karamazov on my shelf mocking me for many years as well).

[Parsifal]

As I recall, the first volume, Swann's way, is concerned with a reminiscence the central character has after eating a certain kind of French Cookie. It is a very introspective work, and I usually find myself pausing a decade or so before moving on to the next volume. Not at the end yet. Not sure the modern library binding is sufficient compensation for being limited to the Montcrief translation, which these days is usually considered less adequate than the more modern alternatives.

[Daverz]

Years ago I remember reading a portion titled "Swann in Love" when the Schlöndorff film came out.

[asin]B00020VZUW[/asin]

Might as well have been science fiction to a Southern California teenager.  Perhaps that was the appeal!

[SimonNZ]

As I recall, the first volume, Swann's way, is concerned with a reminiscence the central character has after eating a certain kind of French Cookie. It is a very introspective work, and I usually find myself pausing a decade or so before moving on to the next volume. Not at the end yet. Not sure the modern library binding is sufficient compensation for being limited to the Montcrief translation, which these days is usually considered less adequate than the more modern alternatives.

The Montcrief was and is considered a miracle of translation and only required re-editing by first Terence Kilmartin and then in turn that re-edited by D.J.Enright until the recent attempt at re-translation with, bizarrely, a different translator for each book. This new edition pleased not very many and the Montcrief in one of its various forms remains the preferred version.

And I've found nothing in the translators introductions to the new editions or in comparing favorite sections to make me want to give up my Kilmartin revision.

Do the novels stand on their own? Are they page turners? What did you get out if it (if you don't mind a crass question)?

A couple of sections maybe: Swann In Love from the first book and the Balbec section of the second book, but there's a recurring theme of reassessing his earlier experiences in light of his later experiences which would become more confusing in later books if you hadn't read the previous.

[Parsifal]

The Montcrief was and is considered a miracle of translation and only required re-editing by first Terence Kilmartin and then in turn that re-edited by D.J.Enright until the recent attempt at re-translation with, bizarrely, a different translator for each book. This new edition pleased not very many and the Montcrief in one of its various forms remains the preferred version.

I have Enright. Montcrief has the advantage of being public domain and free on kindle and other ebook formats.

[Drasko]

Do the novels stand on their own? Are they page turners? What did you get out if it (if you don't mind a crass question)?

I'd agree with Simon above, Swann In Love section from the first book is the closest thing to stand-alone piece, the rest really isn't. The first book on the whole is good indicative will you like it or not. My advice is read that first book and if your fancy hasn't been caught by the end of it give up. Proust isn't easy to summarize but the style and manner of writing are evident in that first one (it's not a page turner even if you really like it) and if you don't happen to like it there is no reason to slog through 3000 pages more.

[North Star]

Proust isn't easy to summarize

https://www.youtube.com/v/uwAOc4g3K-g
That is all... I've only read a couple of beautiful and brief extracts from that behemoth.

[Drasko]

Exactly! 

[Spineur]

Actually there is one anglo-saxon who wrote something significant about Proust



Not as meaningful as the original, but its a lot shorter.

Volker Schlondorff is the only attempt to adapt Proust to the cinema.  As expected, Eine grosse katastrophe

[Mister Sharpe]

Even among my French professors I knew of only ONE who had read the WHOLE THING.  He was looked upon with nothing short of awe by his colleagues (you too can be looked upon with awe by all of us at GMG!  ).  I have read the first two books and selections from others, in French.  Also a good portion of Proust's poetry.  I do believe it to be a worthwhile enterprise, in French or English. 

[Sergeant Rock]

https://www.youtube.com/v/uwAOc4g3K-g
That is all... I've only read a couple of beautiful and brief extracts from that behemoth.

"What are your hobbies outside summarizing?"
"Strangling animals, golf and masturbating."

[Drasko]

Volker Schlondorff is the only attempt to adapt Proust to the cinema.

Not quite. There is Raoul Ruiz' Le temps retrouvé which I thought was quite bad, at the same time boringly literal and incomprehensible for anyone who hadn't read the novel. Schlondorff you mentioned I thought was quite pretty but mostly just skimming the surface and Chantal Akerman's La captive which though the loosest adaptation of the three is the best by long shot, especially in capturing the dynamics between characters very accurately I thought.

[Spineur]

I had actually seen the Raoul Ruiz and it is totally gone out of my memory, which tells how significant it was.  I did not see the Chantal Ackerman movie.

[ritter]

..
[asin]B002GT2PCY[/asin]

I had actually seen the Raoul Ruiz and it is totally gone out of my memory, which tells how significant it was.  I did not see the Chantal Ackerman movie.

I did enjoy the Raoul Ruiz film quite a bit, and thought it visually beautiful and succesfully recreating the whole world of À la recherche... But yes, you must have read the books, or it would be utterly incomprehensible I think.

But this applies to the whole sequence of novels. The only "stand-alone" bit IMHO could be Un amour de Swann, and tackling any of the later volumes (especially Le temps retrouvé) without having read what comes before is almost a waste of time, I'd say. In essence, À la rechreche... is one single novel, not a "sequence" (despite me just having used that term above). Even the tangential story that is dealt with in La Prisonière and Albertine disparue (that whole "treatise of jealousy", to simplfy it a lot--the least attarctive part of the whole for me) makes little sense in isolation.

My recommendation is to read the different parts in order, leaving ample time between them (with ample, I mean really ample--years if you so wish). The characters grow on you, and after a couple of volumes you get to know them quite intimately, and the whole situations come back to life even if the previous volume you had read a long time before.

As my signature in this forum suggests, I am an avid proustian, and reading À la recherche... has been one of the greatest aesthetic experiences of my life. I come back to the book (and to all things around it and its author) often and with great pleasure. And there is one short paragraph at the end of part I of À l'ombre des jeunes filles en fleur--the one that mentions "the average span of life, the relative longevity of our memories"--which is possibly the most touching bit of prose I have ever encountered (but one that only makes real sense when you've read eveyrthing that precedes it--and even most of what follows).

Regards,

[ritter]

And I forgot, there's also a TV adaptation by Nina Companeez (the director's family name may ring a bell to opera buffs, as her sister Irène sang the character of La Cieca in Maria Callas's second recording of La Gioconda):

[asin]B004XBPCHI[/asin]
Nothing special, I'd say (but not a wasted 3 1/2 hours either)...

[BasilValentine]

As my signature in this forum suggests, I am an avoid proustian, and reading À la recherche... has been one of the greatest aesthetic experiences of my life. I come back to the book (and to all things around it and its author) often and with great pleasure. And there is one short paragraph at the end of part I of À l'ombre des jeunes filles en fleur--the one that mentions "the average span of life, the relative longevity of our memories"--which is possibly the most touching bit of prose I have ever encountered (but one that only makes real sense when you've read eveyrthing that precedes it--and even most of what follows).

Regards,

I too am in the avoid Proust club, although it is possible your apparent membership might be the result of a typo, given that I've never seen you at a meeting.

Actually, I read the first two in English translation.

[ritter]

I too am in the avoid Proust club, although it is possible your apparent membership might be the result of a typo, given that I've never seen you at a meeting.

Actually, I read the first two in English translation.

One day we should have a joint meeting of both clubs, the "avids" and the "avoids" ... might be interesting...

[Parsifal]

Actually, I read the first two in English translation.

I've also read the first two. Given the rate at which I consume volumes, and my life expectancy in view of the Trump administration, I am unlikely go get through entire series.

[SimonNZ]

Even among my French professors I knew of only ONE who had read the WHOLE THING.  He was looked upon with nothing short of awe by his colleagues (you too can be looked upon with awe by all of us at GMG!  ).  I have read the first two books and selections from others, in French.  Also a good portion of Proust's poetry.  I do believe it to be a worthwhile enterprise, in French or English.

I've been right trough it twice: once in my twenties and once in my thirties, as well as dipping in at random or select places fairly regularly. But there's nothing impressive about that because anyone can push their eyes over three thousand pages and its not the kind of work where you reach the end feeling its all under your belt, you're done and dusted and have the full measure of it. Your lifelong journey with Proust has only just begun.

For those who really feel it might not be for them I'd recommend Neville Jason's unanimously praised audiobook readings. His original abridged series of sets totaling 35cds I thought was excellent when I played it all about ten years ago through December evenings when I had to put in a lot of overtime leading up to that Christmas. This was so celebrated that he returned to the project and and as recently finished an unabridged series of 122cds. I've heard a few discs of this, but am sad to say I believe I can on these hear the tiredness and routine setting in.

[SimonNZ]

https://www.youtube.com/v/uwAOc4g3K-g

There actually was a genuine competition to summarize the book in as few words as possible.

The winner did it in four words: Marcel becomes a writer.