In Search of Lost Time: Reading Proust in a Pandemic

[@kayjones2533]

This was wonderful. I wish I had been fortunate enough to have a teacher like you. You must be such an inspiration to your pupils x

[@bigalbooksforever]

Thank you for saying that-- I can only hope! Although my students would definitely RIOT if I assigned any Proust haha

[@axeldominic3084]

I realize it's pretty randomly asking but do anyone know of a good place to watch newly released series online ?

[@timothyyosef3769]

@Axel Dominic Try flixzone. You can find it by googling =)

[@levianson1422]

@Timothy Yosef Yea, been watching on FlixZone for years myself :D

[@axeldominic3084]

@Timothy Yosef Thank you, signed up and it seems like a nice service :D Appreciate it !

[@Bobcool0007]

I read Swann's Way in French last summer and, like you, I was mesmerized by Proust's way of capturing random manifestations of beauty. Your video really makes you want to read the series and delve into his world.

[@KajiCarson]

What a sweet video! Good to know young people still read Proust. Glad this video exists, your outlook was fascinating to listen to.

[@quinnsine1650]

YES! I am so excited to watch this! I swear when I first read this book it was out of sheer morbid curiosity. I was like “the longest piece of literature ever made? Why not!”. So I very uncaringly picked it up, opened the first volume and *boom*! Best book I have ever read, sparing the long dinner party scenes, which themselves feel quite worthwhile by time regained. I’m going to watch your video now.

[@bigalbooksforever]

Haha morbid curiosity is the best motive for picking something up! And yes the dinner party scenes were the only ones to really test my patience! 🙈

[@marie-joseedrolet9655]

I am from Quebec and my mother tongue is French, you can guess the multitude of occasions, in my schooling for example, or in bookstores or even on Radio-Canada during literary programs, where I heard such praised of Proust’s work and where I was encouraged to read In Search of Lost Time. But this is the first time someone has convinced me to read it. This is the first time that someone has succeeded in making this work attractive and talked about it with such enthusiasm. Great video, thank you so much !!! 😊

[@bigalbooksforever]

Aww thanks for sharing that! You are so lucky you get to experience the language in the original! I am inspired to brush up on my French to get to reread Proust! :)

[@quoileternite]

Je suis d'accord, quel bel enthousiasme, ça me donne envie de le relire une troisième fois. Bonne lecture.

[@Northcountry1926]

Bravo 🎉🎉🎉

[@larrymarshall9454]

Great discussion of Proust. I found that vol 1, Swann's Way, didn't expose many of the attributes of Proust that you've discussed. It wasn't until I got into subsequent volumes that I realized the extraordinary depth, life lessons, and life-changing thoughts emerged. Like you, reading Proust is an extraordinary experience, well beyond typical story-telling.

[@estebanmejia3473]

Yeeeees, I wanted so bad to hear your thoughts in the whole series. Thank you so much for your amazing content :)

[@bigalbooksforever]

Thanks for checking out the video! Words seem so insufficient to express how I feel about this book, but I gave it a try! 🙃

[@andreajackson1670]

Proust is a constant discovery. During our pandemic I read a few pages at night to find that place of calm with so much richness and depth he finds in the moment. Thank you.

[@travisbplank]

I wish I could be as excited about anything as you seem to be about talking about Proust. A very compelling watch.

[@keithmarlow7269]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts in your interesting review. It does seem to take time to digest Proust. He seeps into your mind, stealthily restructuring how you think. The narrators voice seems to be very close the ear, intimate, so suits a time of solitary confinement. I would add that he can be very funny - though the humour sometimes doesn't come out fully until a second reading. He also manages to keep a strand of humour going in the darkest moments - the description of the death of the grandmother for example is harrowing, yet he includes amusing observations in the mix; as in much of life humour and bitterness intermingle. I first read Proust when I was turning thirty, I am now nearly sixty and have read the work in full perhaps seven times, and revisit one or other of the volumes monthly. He wrote about life - pretty much every aspect of it - except the experience of being a parent, an experience Proust never had himself. I would stress that although the setting of the book might appear remote from our "modern times" the characters are as real, comprehensible, love-able, ghastly and astonishing as any characters one might know in ones own life today - their motivations, flaws and beauty are credible because the reader can identify them from his own life. So often one finds a character behaving in a way, to a certain situation, that one can't help letting out a "yeah - I know how that feels". This is one of the great works of art - never mind the greatest novel.

[@bigalbooksforever]

Thanks for sharing your perspective! That is so incredible you've been drawn to return to this work so many times throughout your life and it's inspiring to hear that it still holds up! Also I totally agree with you about the humour-- he had me cracking up many times :)

[@phillipbissell]

Thank you so much for a brilliant review/talk. I finally got into Proust through the Naxos audiobooks many years ago. There was an abridged version first but now they have the complete version... Both on Audible... Incredibly helpful to get you going... Perfect to listen to while I'm painting! And once you've been hooked, Proust will never let you go... Thank you once again!

[@bigalbooksforever]

I should check those out sometime! I bet his sentences really sing when spoken aloud!

[@phillipbissell]

Thank you for your reply... Yes, please do! Neville Jason is a pure joy to listen to!!!!

[@Tamarind525]

Thanks for sharing your experience! I’m looking forward to spending time lost in Proust.

[@strauss77b89]

Great video, I’ve been reading Proust for the past 6 months, onto book 6 now. No one I know have read it, so fun to hear your experience of reading it

[@vbabu290]

Thank You. Thank You. Your joy of reading Proust and your enthusiasm infected me. I started to read the first volume. I accepted Proust's invitation. It is delicious. Every observation you made is true. I have seven months of Proust ahead . Delighted. You have the gift of the Reading Muse. Wish you the gift of the Writing Muse too. Most grateful.

[@LeonardSibelius]

Thank you so much, this was very inspiring! :) I loved your point about "dying" and getting "reborn" again and again. That really grasped the impression I got but couldn't find words for, thanks!

[@vicdelta31415]

I have just started my journey with Proust, hence so late on the comments. I think it's really important to read and listen to various voices and ideas in order to create your own view on life, whether you agree or disagree you tend to grow and that's what's most important. It's like the saying, "Nothing can make you an atheist more than reading the scriptures."

[@tumblyhomecarolinep7121]

Thank you for this. I am just starting Swanns Way. I absolutely love it so far. I am reading four pages or so, then re reading them before moving on. This is working really well for me and I am finding I fall into the writing more the second read. Great video.

[@melissahouse1296]

This was the most incredibly sincere insightful & unpretentious review im honestly quite moved listening to it. Im just over half way through Swanns Way & only just starting to really warm to it.. there were times i really disliked it & then moments where it just pierced my consciousness in a totally unexpected way. Youve inspired me to slow down & just enjoy & perhaps to eventually read all the volumes. To echo the sentiments by another commenter i think you must be a wonderful teacher! : )

[@bigalbooksforever]

Thank you for the kind words!! I had a similar experience with Swann's Way--- the long going to bed chapter at the beginning definitely had me worried about the long winded writing, but I was won over by the end :)

[@melissahouse1296]

@@bigalbooksforever hah yeah me too. Ive actually ordered the modern library box set same that you have but have wondered.. would / was the Lydia D translation better for you? I dont think the rest of that penguin series is LD anyways... : )

[@bigalbooksforever]

@@melissahouse1296 yes sadly Lydia Davis only translated the first volume. I really thought she was able to make the prose sparkle, but I didn't mind switching translations all that much. I've heard the Penguin editions use more of an American style, but I had no complaints with the modern library translations! I thought they were quite smooth and enjoyable to read!

[@melissahouse1296]

@@bigalbooksforever Thats great to know makes me feel better about my out of control book buying lmao! Im an incredibly slow reader.. & an incredibly fast purchaser (?).. tbr overblown / overload lol!

[@Amysdustybookshelf]

Thanks for sharing your experience with Proust. I finished the final volume in early Feburary of this year before the pandemic hit, but like you I'm still processing, and the book takes on new meanings in the context of this year. I dipped into the book once or twice again during the past months.

[@bigalbooksforever]

I imagine it must be really tempting to return back! Even pulling these books out again to film this video made me want to revisit so many passages!

[@nessalvez3281]

Thank you for this video, I was thinking about reading this "series", but now I am absolutely convinced!

[@quoileternite]

J'adore Proust. Waow, beautiful enthusiasm and passionate way of talking about Proust, I could listen to you for hours. To me, "In search of lost time" is mainly about how the narrator became a writer, how the narrator became the writer of the book your are reading, about how writing finally became for him the only possible solution to capture time, to regain the past.

[@bigalbooksforever]

Yes, seeing him fully understand what it means to be a writer in the final volume made me really want to to start again from the beginning with that perspective in mind! :)

[@antidepressant11]

Love the passion. That's what is most important. Sharing the passion.

[@Faye_L]

I read In Search of Lost Time in 2018 and felt pretty much the way you did. Most immersive reading experience I've ever had.

[@tyagaraja]

very uplifting video, thank you! I've read Swann's way in polish but as I finished I learned the translation wasn't best so I'm giving it another try with more recent translation :) Hope to follow with next volumes

[@sidd1330]

Hi Al, I also finished reading In search of Lost Time in the pandemic. (Volume 7 in August) and one of the main reasons I was able to do so was because I got that last bit of motivation when you shared your views after finishing in May. Truly a special experience, one that I hope re-visit several times over in my life, and hopefully in its original French someday. Thank you for sharing 😊

[@bigalbooksforever]

That is so great to hear you had an amazing experience with this as well! I agree-- reading this in French would be gorgeous. I'm a much slower reader in French though so I don't even want to THINK about how much longer that would take haha :)

[@katel19]

I too decided to read the six volumes of Proust in the pandemic! Almost finished the 3rd now. He seems so good at beautiful description to me, more than anyone else.

[@bigalbooksforever]

I'm glad to hear you're enjoying the journey so far!! Vol 3 has such a brutal ending-- one of the standout moments of the series for me. I hope you continue to enjoy it! :)

[@levitybooks3952]

I've just started Swann's Way, glad we're getting Proust onto booktube!

[@LauraFreyReadinginBed]

This was so soothing to listen to. Still a bit intimidated, but you made it seem like something I can read and relate to you. One day.

[@laraelwing]

This was an amazing analysis :) I never considered reading Proust, I think it intimidated me, but it sounds like it could be a great reading experience such as I had with other big classics, like Les Misérables and War and Peace, and I will tackle it someday :) What you described as keeping a routine of reading tru lockdown was very much how I dealt with it, I read almost 5 times more books than I normally would in a month. I read different things, but mostly fantasy and sci fi, and they were great "escapes" which also made me see my reality in a better way. Reading is just great for our understanding of the world around us :) Thank you for this great video, and I'm glad you're back!

[@bigalbooksforever]

Yes totally! I found it much easier to read than Les Mis-- the plot is slower but there are way less footnotes and no French history info-dumps! And I'm so glad to hear you've been able to enjoy your reading. I've really been jonesing for some fantasy recently-- hopefully I can start some news series in 2021! :)

[@lijuleo1221]

Wow what an amazing review.

[@larrylyon6695]

I’m in envy regarding your pandemic accomplishment. Respect!

[@beetlebume]

this was absolutely wonderful!

[@jennisrandom42]

This was great. I’m trying decide if I’m tackling these next year or 2022. I have so many unread books on my shelf and I don’t know if I can commit. So many people have picked it up this year, I’m thinking it’s something I really should get to.

[@bigalbooksforever]

Fair enough! Reading this definitely slowed me down with other reading projects but it was all worth it in hindsight. But it's also something you really want to be in the right mood for, so squirreling it away for a special time is also a great idea! :)

[@seelawizemare415]

all my life I was wishing to read Proust. I did try to read it several times using pdf or something, but you know it is aggressively long and impossible to read it on screen. I searched everywhere to buy it in my country but it was nowhere to be found. I just wish if someone would send me the used book of Proust. in fact, my nation's policy doesn't allow shopping abroad like amazon,

[@rebeccabsomanybooks3558]

Thank you for sharing this review. I have the set on my nightstand. I pick it up and keep postponing. I need to begin the series. Thanks for motivation. Recently reading Jane Eyre was transforming to me. Her strength was inspiring.

[@vjvolition]

This was amazing! Thank you!

[@quinnsine1650]

As you have both the Lydia Davis and Moncrieff, Kilmartin, Enright translation, I’m curious to know how you felt about them! I almost feel like we aren’t missing out on much when it comes to our translations of Proust, that we as English readers have such a clear view of his style, of his prose, that we generally do not lose sight of what is is that he actually is saying. Do you agree? I understand also that the modern library translation, using Moncrieff as its base, is far more flavourful than the penguin translations, though I haven’t personally read the penguin translations. Did you notice any particular difference between Lydia’s rendering of Proust and Modern Libraries late trio (or, quartet, if we count Andreas). I think I’ve asked you about translation before, but that time I was referring to poetry, where I felt that because word choice and syllable counts carry such importance, translation is a fruitless exercise. I feel, that while Proust would probably be a nightmare to translate in his own respects (cough cough page long sentences), the fact that he has so little actual concern for those more precise elements, that his text more so carries its weight via the actual points he is trying to get across, rather than the lyrical quality of his writing, allows for a translator to render his work into English while not destroying any idiosyncrasies that would arise in a more exacting or terse author. In other words, if you mistranslated one clause, no need to worry! You will get a chance to translate about 5 more clauses and sentences AND paragraphs with each the same meaning!

[@bigalbooksforever]

Yes I definitely think it is more forgiving to translate prose! French is the only other language I can read and I feel like I have to go with the original for poetry but I have no problem switching to English translations with novels. I think I'm a bit biased with Lydia Davis because I also love her as a writer, but I felt that the Swann's Way translation was a bit more sparkling! (Also she's releasing a collection of essays next year about translation and I'm excited to learn more about her process). But it wasn't a huge shift to switch over to the Modern Library translations-- those seemed really smooth and luxurious as well! :)

[@codyclaeys2008]

Just a quick q Originally there was 7 volumes did they fit it all in 6 volumes or do you have to buy the last volume?

[@Janu.7]

Olá, muito pouco entendo você falando sobre Prost, Amo a literatura de Prost, aqui no Brasil temos poucos estudos sobre Proust, gosto de Literatura e filosofia, em especial filosofia da diferença - Spinoza, Bergson, Nietzsche e Deleuze, acho que eles conversam muito com a literatura de Prost, e como estudo Artes visuais tem tudo a ver. Muito obrigado pelo conteúdo! ❤😊

[@durandaldevil]

I appreciate your insight and enthusiasm. I know this sounds a bit masochistic but I am reading it simultaneously in English AND French. Any suggestions? After a month I am only on page 70 because I can only read at night. Merci bien!

[@SKroeze]

Great video! Love you.

[@bigalbooksforever]

Thank you for checking it out! :)

[@SKroeze]

@@bigalbooksforever You're such an intelligent reader!

[@amritangshubaruah7368]

Which translation did you read?

[@SimonFogg]

Stumbled over you in the past couple of days as I was exploring for all things Proust after him featuring heavily in Robert Greene's Mastery book. You may enjoy that book. Love your passion and enthusiasm. You may have made me read his books. Google Books preview: tinyurl.com/y8xnj7jo

[@bigalbooksforever]

I'll need to look into that book! I hope you end up giving Proust a try :)

[@jasonandlynnechambers3420]

Me too!!!!

[@nayafitzgerald]

Hey, where do you get your copies of Proust?

[@bigalbooksforever]

I bought them through Indigo. I switched over from the Penguin Classics to the Modern Library editions because they were less expensive! (:

[@BlueberryBay01]

Where did you get your set of books?

[@bigalbooksforever]

I think it was through the Indigo website!

[@greenjoe4202]

Only hear bc of deacon on fallout 4, i'am way too curious.

[@polemikful]

It's amazing but she only starts talking about the book in the minute 10:30 more or less

[@quoileternite]

True, I noticed that too, her enthusiasm is so ... contagious.

[@MiataBRG]

Gave up on this video after 10 minutes of waffle.

[@bigalbooksforever]

Thanks for the feedback! I've added a ramble-disclaimer and timestamps to the description box for future viewers

[@muchacamara]

You are beautiful.

[@guillermozalles9303]

Marry me 😍

[@quoileternite]

❤

[@EveryoneWhoReadsitMustConverse]

This was fantastic! Folks fall completely in love with Proust. I have Swann's Way and have yet to crack it. Change is the name of the game...the impulse of the Artist...beauty and insight from the seemingly insignificant? I'm going to dig it. Thanks Al 😊

[@bigalbooksforever]

Yes I wasn't expecting to love Proust so much, but you're right that his writing seems to elicit strong reactions! I hope you enjoy Swann's Way whenever you feel the time is right! :)