A Night at the Majestic

by Richard Davenport-Hines and Richard Davenport-Hine

Book Overview

A vivid portrait of the early impact of In Search of Lost Time --and of the last months of Proust in a city where he had become an unlikely star. On a May evening in 1922, the English arts lovers... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0571220088
• ISBN13: 9780571220083
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: Faber & Faber
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Extending Proust

The first part of the book is a fascinating examination of the guest list at a famous party given by Sydney and Violet Schiff at the Majestic Hotel in Paris near the end of Proust's life. Proust was one of the guests; so was James Joyce, although they apparently had little of substance to discuss. The party section is a bit tedious, if only because my expectation was to learn more about Proust from the outset. Once I finished the book, however, I felt that it was one of the best on Proust that I have read, probing his relationships with others as he finished his great work. I liked Ronald Hayman's biography of Proust for its examination of his creative process and the use of involuntary memory. This book is a good companion to Hayman's.