How long did it take you to read Proust?

How long did it take you to read Proust?

Did you read other books in between?

Literally read the Search three times. First: on my own. Second: for a seminar. Third: for my MA thesis

Just read him your whole life like he wrote them

About three months, and no, I was quite satisfied reading only Proust.

Murakami suggested that a year (or more) in jail is a good pretext to start reading la récherche. Not that I believe he read it (he made Aomame read part of it though), but have you ever considered making some kind of felony so that you could have more reading time?

What do you suggest, user?

I read it whilst doing my MA so I had to read other things whilst doing it, and I often read an easy book or two between parts but it was difficult because they didn't hold up well. It took me about six months like this.

As a hint, don't write your thesis whilst reading proust, you'll spend a lot of time reading proust and no time reading about semantic externalism.

Took me a semester, since I read it concurrently with a class I audited. I read some horror/sff in between -- don't think I could handle reading Proust and more serious lit at the same time.

>you'll spend a lot of time reading proust and no time reading about semantic externalism
this is for the best

t. disgruntled phil phd student

A year and a half. Yes.
It definitely damaged by ability to read as many other things as I wanted to during that time, and I'm still catching up, but it was nearly worth.

I decided to take a break and read some other books after the second volume. I'm still on that break currently. I would like to continue reading it but I keep telling myself that I will eventually learn enough French to read him in original. I have read L'Étranger and two short stories by Flaubert and Maupassant so far, they went pretty well with the Google Chrome highliting dictionary. Can I expect to read Proust this year?

>tfw third worlder so can’t relate to
this feel

Have been reading him for like 3-4 years now? Have just finished book 3.
I read other books during and between reading him, yes.
I only pick him up when I find an older copy in a secondhand bookstore. He's not that easy to get in my country.
It's quite comfy.

3 years, very long gap between books reading other stuff and i read the last book first

About five years the first time. I read several books between each volume.

Two years later I read all volumes in about ten weeks. Nothing compares. I plan on reading it again.

Read the thing if you want to. The narrative is discontinuos and divided in many books and parts, so yea you could make pauses in between. It's a challenging read, but it's rewarding too.

Hard mode: read la récherche and some other long-ass book in tandem (like the bible).

Twice. First time in a month(a June); second time racing my then gf. Favorite volumes: Guermantes and the concluding.

Maybe practice at those plastic walls they have in those sort of gym before trying to climb an actual mountain. But yea, if you can read french with the help of a dictionnary you're good to go if you're patient enough.

Murakami is extremely well read. It's only contrarian brainlets who are incapable of discerning symbolism and narrative meaning that make fun of him. See how two of the most common criticisms are 1. He is not 'Japanese' enough. and 2. His books are repetitive. Just goes to show they've missed the entire point and are incapable of anything other than a facile surface reading

I believe you, but I'm not very well read in general and I've only read three of his books, Kafka,1Q84, and After the Quake which I enjoyed immensely. Would you mind spoonfeeding me on his stuff?

Sorry, I don't have the time right now but I've written analyses of Murakami's work on this board before. I recommend you read his work chronologically and also don't skip his short stories, there's a very clear progression of phases that Murakami moves through and most don't understand why he chooses to use the repetition of symbols. As for his short stories he often experiments with new techniques and narrative tactics before using them in his novels, and many of his novels were first short stories before he expanded upon them.

this.
>commit felony
>get sent to a prison with max capacity of 200 inmates but actually crowded with 500
>bunch of bad-smelling niggers on the same cell
>can't even take a proper shit, much less read

Well read is not enough to make a good writer. I was referring to 1Q84 which is, despite some good parts, a poorly structured novel and probably not his best work.

i've been reading it for 2-3 years now, on book 4. 3 was the stuffiest thing i've ever read, 1 blew my mind a few times, 2 also genius. 4's good and gay so far

time's a-wasting OP!