In Search of Lost Time

Who here has read it? Did you like it, is it worth it? I'm planning on reading it, but I'm torn between reading it in English or Finnish.

If you haven't read it (99% of Veeky Forums), you can still come in and meme about it

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i'm hoovering around it since about a year... i could download it for free in french but my french isn't THAT good. i have played with the idea of using it to polish up my french in one go. but i don't know if my brain can process learning french and reading proust at the same time

I only read the 1st book (that was great) and the last one (just because I had to - but it makes no sense imho since I didnt know about all the other books inbetween). It's absolutely stunning, smarter than many philosophy books, and yet the purest literature. I wonder if it would be a good thing to read it in any language that's not your native one, because it may take some effort that would take away the pleasure. Not sure about that, but hell, some sentences are almost one page long, I wouldn't be able to read it in english.

if you have to keep hoovering around it, why not just put it on a table?

i just know that french books often lose a lot when translated. seems a shame, especially when reading proust.

what makes it so wonderful? how can it not be boring af?

i like to complicate my life
>hon hon

It's hard to say, and I read it quite long ago, and for sure some people may find it boring. I'd say it's the kind of book in which you can find your inner self. In which you can find people, feelings, ideas and events you already know about, but better phrased, unveiled, with a more acute view on everything. Yeah honestly it felt like reality world unveiled to me.

I might read the first book in Finnish, and continue in English if the translation is not good enough.

Is it any good translated?

Some of the translations seem a bit odd, but I cannot compare it to the English version at the moment so I don't know for sure. In general the text is pretty good, but I haven't read a lot of it yet.

but english is just a translation too...

sounds very interesting. i think i'm going to pick up the first book and see how i like it. or a french dictionaire...

I read the first book and it's great.

Oh yeah, as a disclaimer;

When I am talking about the "translation", I am talking about the Finnish one. I have heard that the english one is great and translates the French original smoothly.

I have it only because I found it on sale for four dollars at Goodwill. I read 30 pages but I have no real plan to read it yet

>French original

Does anyone own this edition and if so how's the quality do you like it?

I read 1/3rd of Swann's Way a few months ago; have been on pause with it ever since. I don't believe there was any particular reason for the hiatus but I do plan on picking it up again eventually. What I read of it was VERY comfy. There's no pressing story that you have to follow, but each paragraph introduces some new uncanny experience which I've been able to relate to. I think the appeal of Swann's Way is due to Proust's ability to articulate his perception of experiences and situations.

Maybe Veeky Forums should start a Proust group reading?

Sounds great! Here's to hoping that lit has a good attention span, though..

I could try to organize it if people would be interested, but that would mean that I'd read it in English and ditch the Finnish one. Don't know if there is enough interest in it at the moment, since the greeks started a few days ago

which english translation is the best? i heard about several different ones.

i don't think thats such a good idea at the moment. they just started two reading groups. you could wait for those to end and then start yours. the participation would probably increase that way

True. And it shouldn't be rushed, such a long reading group is always hard to manage.

The French do pseudo-intellectual psychobabble very well, otherwise known as 'hot air'. They invented the hot air balloon, most appopriate, and very little else of value to the world.

>There's no pressing story that you have to follow,

This is something that plebs who only read the first book will never understand. There is a story and it develops over all 7 volumes. Characters grow over time and change, including the narrator and his perceptions, and many of the themes introduced are developed and given a conclusion in the end. It only seems plotless because you're just reading the overture and having everything introduced for you.

I said there is no pressing plot; keyword being 'pressing'. Of course we're introduced to characters and are also presented with events that consequently lead to development. My point in the previous post was the implication that Proust is not read for the plot per se.

wow, so it is like spending all day looking out a window and watching people live their lives. No wonder why all the lifeless NEETs here love it.

Complete waste of time. It's like reading On the Road past age 12.

Go back to your sci-fi, pleb

Did all publishers come together decide to never print a good english version of this?

Me. Yes and yes. Actually, I'm going to read it all again a second time, and probably a third time as well. I read it in English.

Just start reading it, see how you like it.

searching for lost time is just another low brow sci-fi trope

Shouldn't it be In Search of the Lost Time?

No you fag

No point of reading this when Dune saga exists.

Dune is boring

Proust is pretty much the complete reverse of the Marxist psychobabblers of the 60s-70s. His prose is crystal clear.

My copy is translated as "Remembrance of Things Past"

You're either bating or retarded.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_French_inventions_and_discoveries