Description
Book SynopsisMarcel Proust (1871-1922) was arguably France's best-known literary writer. He wrote stories, essays, translations, and a 3,000-page novel, In Search of Lost Time (1913-27).This book is a brief guide to Proust's magnum opus in which Joshua Landy invites the reader to view the novel as a single quest-a quest for purpose, enchantment, identity, connection, and belonging- through the novel's fascinating treatments of memory, society, art, same-sex desire, knowledge, self-understanding, self-fashioning, and the unconscious mind.
Trade ReviewAccessible and amusing, this is a must-read for anyone who has considered reading Proust but was too afraid to try. * Publishers Weekly, Publishers Weekly Review *
This is an ingenious work by a scholar who employs lightness of touch to reveal the mystery and wonder of a byzantine, endlessly transformative literary text. Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers. * Choice *
Table of ContentsAbbreviations Preface Chapter 1: Art and Life Chapter 2: Plot and Character Chapter 3: Memories and Impressions Chapter 4: Love and Sex Chapter 5: Knowledge and Ignorance Chapter 6: Inclusion and Exclusion Chapter 7: Art and Artists Chapter 8: Intellect and Intuition Chapter 9: True Self and Total Self Chapter 10: Why a Novel? A Post-Script for Diehard Proust Fans: Does the Narrator write In Search of Lost Time? A Note on Sources Further Reading Acknowledgments Index
