Table of Contents
Is reading Proust hard?
I always tell anyone who might be intimidated by the many pages to be read that, although In Search of Lost Time is rich and complex and demands an attentive reader, the novel is never difficult. In spite of its length and complexity, most readers find it readily accessible.
Who translated Proust into English?
Scott Moncrieff’s
Scott Moncrieff’s English translation of Proust’s A la recherche du temps perdu is widely hailed as a masterpiece in its own right. His rendering of the title as Remembrance of Things Past is not, however, considered a high point.
Why is reading Proust important?
If you have ever been in love, you must read Proust. It’s the heart. Whether requited or otherwise, In Search of Lost Time is a novel dedicated thoroughly and deeply to love. In a sense, it serves as a compendium of the different ways we can love, do love, and should love.
How long did it take to translate Marcel Proust?
In 2002 Penguin published the first totally new translation of Proust since Scott Moncrieff’s. The new translation took seven translators seven years to complete. And they had the versions of earlier translators to lean on.
Should you read Proust’s in search of Lost Time?
You, yes, you, must read Proust’s In Search of Lost Time. It’s the book of life and the book of a lifetime. What is it about Proust’s masterwork that people find so daunting? So few actually read it or even take a stab at it compared to other modernist classics.
Should you read Proust in the Trumpian era?
The motivations for this kind of discrimination, and its social acceptance are all the more frightening while reading Proust in this Trumpian era. If you have ever been in love, you must read Proust. Each section of Ulysses corresponds to a different organ, while the entirety of In Search of Lost Time corresponds to one organ.
Proust fits perfectly Gilles Deleuze’s definition of a great author: “A great author is one who laughs a lot.” My favorite quote by one famous writer about another is Virginia Woolf’s description of her reaction to Proust’s prose: Proust so titillates my own desire for expression that I can hardly set out the sentence.