Proust's "Swann's Way"

Should you read Proust's "Swann's Way," the first book in his epic series, "In Search of Lost Time"? I think in order to answer that question I would need to know what it is you hope to gain from reading, as well as what kind of book you usually enjoy. If it is an easy, fun read, then this is definitely not for you. Proust is one of those authors who are known to be difficult, but how is he difficult? His language is definitely one of the reason; he constructs extensive sentences with limited variation of punctuation; he doesn't take care to arrange his sentences and paragraphs in ways that make the content of his writing more comprehensible; the structure of the novel is very lose--that is to say, he is not the most proficient at the craft of writing. That, however, doesn't mean he is a bad writer; there are reasons why some writers choose to create their works the difficult way. If I met anybody who says that Proust is not difficult I would probably think him or her a genius or a liar. Proust is difficult--that is a universally acknowledged truth--but some may find pleasure in the difficulty, or complexity, of the work.

I enjoyed the work to a certain degree, but mostly I was just bored. I got used to the language very quickly, but it still bored me to death. There is a great story here, but it is hidden under the sea of words. The translation that I read, which is by Lydia Davis, is very modern and meant to make the work more accessible to new generations of readers, but I found it removed from the time in which the novel takes place. Since the original is in French, it is unnecessary to translate it to the 19th century English, but doing so would probably capture the spirit of the period better.

It was with great difficulty that I finished the book, and not much of the time spent reading it was pleasant. Despite this I will probably continue to read the rest of the books in "In Search of Lost time," and hopefully as I get older and become a better reader I will enjoy it more. Proust is one of those authors you are glad to have read, even if you don't enjoy reading him. Next time, however, I will probably pick an older translation.