The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 9 December 2005
edited by André Aciman
Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time (or, in other editions, Remembrance of Things Past) is widely recognized as a landmark novel in world literature. Its massive and dense volumes are a daunting read, but are immensely rewarding to the thoughtful reader. There are people who make that book their lives, those who have read it all multiple times, and those who read a little and return to beloved chapters. This book is a kind of anthology of beloved passages from Proust's work. Here, André Aciman collects several pieces from Proust and gathers thoughts on the pieces from several contemporary authors (such as Louis Auchincloss, Shirley Hazzard, Susan Minot, Colm Tóibín, Edmund White, and Aciman himself). Twenty-eight commentaries run from short essays summarizing the original passages, which are reproduced here in occasional fresh translation, to bits of memoir and reflections. Proust's work, itself, has a grand arc from beautiful opening to a broad plateau middle to a gently significant ending. This book serves as an excellent encapsulation of the themes of Proust's book, but don't avoid reading the original in its entirety. The contemporary pieces are less even. Some are poignant and sensitive, while others are mechanical. Each piece, however, does have something to say about Proust, his words, his overarching themes, and the dominance of romance, jealousy and especially Time in his life, and, by extension, our own lives. The whole book casts a fresh light on Proust. It can serve as an outstanding introduction to the Search..., and it can provoke some insights in those who have read some or all of the latter. Recommended.
Also by Aciman: [False Papers]
See Also:
[Swann's Way and
Within a Budding Grove by Marcel Proust]
[Proust by Samuel Beckett]