Swann's Way (Barnes & Noble Classics)

By Marcel Proust

Book Overview

Swann's Way , by Marcel Proust , is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics New introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars Biographies of the authors Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events Footnotes and endnotes Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work Comments by other famous authors Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations Bibliographies for further reading Indices & Glossaries, when appropriate All editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes & Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influencesbiographical, historical, and literaryto enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works. Swann s Way is the first novel of Marcel Proust s seven-volume magnum opus A la recherchee du temps perdu , or Remembrance of Things Past . Following Charles Swann s opening ruminations about the nature of sleep is one of twentieth-century literature s most famous and influential scenes: the eating of the madeleine soaked in a decoction of lime-flowers, the associative act from which the remainder of the narrative unfurls. After elaborate reminiscences about Swann s childhood in Paris and rural Combray, Proust describes his protagonist s exploits in nineteenth-century privileged Parisian society and his obsessive love for young socialite Odette de Crecy. Filled with searing, insightful, and humorous criticisms of French society, this novel showcases Proust s innovative prose style, characterized by lengthy, intricate sentences that elongate, stop, and reverse time. With narration that alternates between first and third person, Swann s Way unconventionally introduces Proust s recurring themes of memory, love, art, and the human experienceand for nearly a century readers have deliciously savored each moment. Elizabeth Dalton is Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Barnard College. She has published fiction and criticism in the New Yorker , Partisan Review , Commentary , and the New York Times Book Review . "

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1593083777
• ISBN13: 9781593083779
• Release Date: October 2005
• Publisher: Barnes & Noble Classics
• Length: 512 Pages
• Weight: 1.53 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.4" x 1.6" x 5.8"

Customer Reviews

At last! A readable copy.

This is not a literary review (We all know what Swann's Way is about), but my way of expressing relief that at last I have a readable copy of it. Out goes my old Folio paperback with its miniscule print -- Hooray!

Proust the Yenta

When I first read this novel 35 years ago, I found a button in a head shop that read, "PROUST IS A YENTA." It's true. Proust is, underneath all the vivid and evocative prose, a fellow who loves to dish the dirt, and the more sordid the better. Poor Swann! In love with a two-timing hussy who takes him for all he's worth and alienates all his haute-bourgeois friends in the process. Amazing the lengths Proust goes to to tell this simple tale! No metaphorical stone goes unturned (as it were), no perfervid phrase unused, no nuance of ratiocinated feeling unnoticed. If you are a Proust neophyte, understand that single sentences sometimes go on for more than a page and that paragraphs often take multiple pages to unfold -- that every diamond has infinite facets and all are examined. Only late Henry James rivals Proust in the complexity of his sentence sructures which seek to eke out the essence of the quintessence of feelings. The effete narrator (for truly he defines the word "effete") spends the first 150 pages of the novel dissecting nostalgia for his childhood. Only after these rarified ramblings does he deign to tell us poor Swann's story! Well, no one reads Proust for the tales. Either you'll think he's the greatest stylist of any language ever, or you'll stop reading after the first page. You may need a large dose of Elmore Leonard after reading Proust just to cleanse the palate! Still, there's nothing quite like it.