Product Description

The second volume in this remarkable and highly accessible adaptation of Proust's classic book, which made controversial headlines in France when originally published. Proust, now a teenager, describes his first separation from his mother, his vacation taken in a high class beach resort in Normandy. Besides the fleeting visions of young girls, he also keenly observes, with detached amusement rather than acidity, the petty sophistry of the French upper class in its genteel environs, safely removed from the lower ones. Illustrated throughout.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #556196 in Books
• Published on: 2003-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 48 pages

Customer Reviews

Masterpiece of masterpieces
I had been intrigued by Proust since early age, for one of my favourite books is Gold and Fizdale's "Misia" and his name crops up all the time. I bought the Scott Moncrieff's English version in Paris over ten years ago and I know that many supposedly more authoritative versions have come out ever since. Yet, a few years ago I read the version in French as organised by Jean-Yves Tadié, the best known pundit on Proust's work to date and I have to say Moncrieff's translation doesn't stray that far from the original. "A la recherche" is to me the most important book in the history of literature. Compellingly philosophical, psychological, soul-searching and esthetic, no details of life go amiss. I am alternately moved, stirred and surprised at Proust's dexterity in describing the wide range of human emotions and the complexity of human interactions. He discusses art, love, jealousy, nostalgy, ambition, social climbing, politics and you cannot fail to empathise with his prose or finding new moot questions with each new reading of his work. His work is as relevant today as it was at the time when it got published.

Just the best novel ever written, ever
I LOVE Proust. Really worth persevering with, and it's even better in French.