In Search of Lost Time: Swann's Way: A Graphic Novel

This is an amazing adaptation, in graphic novel form, of Swann's Way, the first volume of In Search of Lost Time. From the first: “Longtemps, je me suis couché de bonne heure” (For a long time, I went to bed early) to the closing " the memory of a certain image is but regret for a certain moment; and houses, roads, avenues are as fleeting, alas, as the years,” this edition captures the spirit of the masterpiece. This is wonderful both for those who have read the novel several times (as I have - it's one of my favorites) to initiates. The introduction itself sets the stage very well, and leads into the story, guiding the reader and enabling an understanding of what Proust is trying to show. Please buy this.

Indulging in this fascinating version of the novel right now before reading Proust’s original.

This is an amazing distilling of the book and illustrated superbly. I listened to the audiobook as I took long walks. This graphic novel was a great way to summarize or review often long, detail-laden passages of narration. Interestingly, the pictures may have highlighted the story in a slightly different manner than my "take" of the story, which was influenced not only by the printed words themselves, but also the voice acting by the narrator. Glad I got it! I have 2nd volume but have not yet started it.

Bottom Line: Not the same as reading the original, but the art work alone makes this a valuable addition to your library. I have a much better Idea of what I am missing by not reading the full text. This is recommended as better than a Readers Digest but not a full on replacement. Many years ago, and only because it was required reading I attempted the first volume of Marcel Proust’ In Search of Lost Time/ Swan’s Way. The experience taught me that I was not up to every author I attempted. I was humbled and deterred from ever again attempting Marcel Proust. A few years back I read his short, pastiche The Lemoine Affair (The Art of the Novella) Proust in this book he manages to make fun of himself and to satirize a number of his contemporaries. I cannot claim to have understood everyone targeted but the man’s good humor and ability to tweak his targets made for a fun read. As soon as I saw this graphic novel version, what the publishers call ComicArt of Proust’s epic reinvention of the modern novel, I made the decision that this was a wayto get some idea of what had previous defeated me. No one reading the graphic novel should claim to have read the book, but with it I feel that I have achieved my goal of getting beyond the famous memory inspiring madeleine. This book serves as a rich sample of what the actual read will be with the constant reward of highly crafted, richly embellished comic art. As to the quality of Arthor Goldhammer’s translation I can make on general statements. I was never conscious of the kinds of translator short cuts as terms with little or no meaning to an English reader may or may not get switched out for either a bald term or one that would have carried no meaning with the original author. The text does contain a number of the Proust’s signature sentences structure, lexical arabesques and complexities. There are any number of a conceits and lessor metaphors that I had to take on faith. Several pages of the young narrator’s feverish hopes of a tour of the European mainland left me more confused than inspired. Elsewhere there is a lyrical description of a ride to Martinville –le-Sec. A trick of the road causes the town church steeples of Matinville and neighboring Vieuxvicq to appear to “change places.” The text conveys the child’s wonderment and the art work eloquently duplicates the intended effect of the text. And the art work. The drawings of Stephane Heuet make this book. Finely detailed drawing insure our attentions to the details that Proust would us to especially note. Faces, food, architecture, the infinity of the details of fin de siècle France among the upper middle class. Lessor characters and lessor locations get a more classically simple finished comic rendition. The issue of class. Much of this book chronicles the life of their neighbor Swan. The road from home to town can be by passage in front of Swan’s estates, Swan’s Way. We are advised of his ‘inappropriate marriage”. We see every moment of his spiral out of his ready access to the higher society where he had been welcome. We watch his troublesome love affair that keeps him with a lady of the demimonde. She will use him for entre into upper middle class or a social climbers or at a least socially pretentious clique. Watching Swan became an exercise like unto the grind house movie where you want to shout at the teen ager to no go alone into the dark Only Swan is a boulevardier, a sophisticate and knows better while not acting better than a besotted man. I was not prepared for the implied sex in the text. Here punctuated by the occasionally indiscreet drawing. Perhaps I was less aware of what complexities Proust was hiding in his complex sentences. Nothing here that is scandalous, but a few cartoons that some parents and the much more easily offend may wish to be wary.

Well done synopsis and beautiful illustrations. I am currently working my way through Remembrance Of Times Past, aka In Search Of Lost Time, and it requires my full attention every step of the way. Reading this affirms I'm at least catching some of the more salient incidents.

Just about all reviewers had previously read some or all of Proust. I had read Combray, in French, in the standard French Lit survey in college, and was charmed but not so entranced as to continue---in the original or in translation. Now, I will, primarily on the grounds of the third part of this presentation, in which the narrator evokes the metaphysics of time, place, and association, though also through the mature (for its time) treatment of the Swann/Obette relationship. Heuet's illustrations are meticulous, revealing, and engrossing. Yes, and he renders Odette and Gilberte as real beauties. I was amazed at sustained reading of a graphic novel. Sadly, the Bois de Boulogne is not the same, but I'm on my way to Iliers-Combray!

This is a wonderful and beautiful book. It may strike some as an odd combination--Proust and comics. But what we consider comics are much more highly regarded in France. Indeed, given how important the visual arts were for Proust, it makes sense. This book works both as an introduction and as a way to re-visit Proust. The artwork is fantastic--clearly a labor of love. The map and family trees are a great addition.

I first learned of this book from the New York Times Book review. The author worked over years to prepare a graphic representation and an edited version of Swan's Way. The book is controversial, especially among Proust purists. But, I would not have discovered the beauty of Proust without this volume. Now I am moving to the orginal.work, just as this author intended. The detail in the drawings is marvelous. This is a hard bound, large format book which ain't made for bed reading. Enjoy it in your favorite chair..

Like the Bolton Choral Society's attempt to summarise Proust's In Search of Lost Time as a five-part madrigal, you'd think Stephane Heuet's attempt to recast Proust's epic novel as a cartoon strip could only result, at best, in a heroic failure. In fact, in its own terms, I think it's a triumphant success. What's missing, of course, is the slow-burning, spellbinding seductiveness of Proust's meandering, meditative prose style - although Heuet's adaptatation does in places quote from the original at some length. What's completely new as a reading experience, equally obviously, is the visual impact of the very beautiful and ingenious illustrations, which will give even the seasoned Proustian hours of pleasure, and which bring the more visual elements of Proust's text vividly to life. Heuet is not afraid to play with the format of his layout, and some of the book's real triumphs are when he allows his illustrations to burst out of the standard grid and into 'widescreen' mode, as it were. More than once I quietly gasped with pleasure on turning the page to discover breathtakingly good and impactful pictures of (for example) Swann and Odette in Swann's library, Combray in spring from the banks of the Vivonne, or the magic lantern shows Marcel enjoyed in his early childhood. What's also a novelty is the sheer pace at which the reader can romp through the plotline, which is never really an option with Proust's original. Even though, by necessity, 95% of the detail is glossed over, Heuet's adaptation nevertheless succeeds rather well in conveying the full sweep of Swann's grand amour with Odette, for example, in under an hour of reading time - no mean achievement. So it's almost like having a microwave version of Proust: no substitute for the slow-cooked haute cuisine of the original, but still a very tasty ready-meal when you fancy a Proustian snack. And, best of all, it's a book that will almost certainly whet your appetite for a bite of the real thing. The book itself has been lovingly printed on durable, high-quality paper, and is a real objet de vertu that would make a lovely gift for the hardcore Proustian as well as the newly Proust-curious. Warmly recommended.

High print and paper quality!

What university Arts graduate has not purchased a copy of Proust's "A La Recherche du Temps Perdu"? What university Arts graduate has not left the monumental tome gathering dust, unread, until his wife makes him sell it to a used book store for some other poor grad student to acquire? Along with "Moby Dick", "War and Peace" and Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History of Time", Proust's masterwork is at the top of the list of bought-but-never-finished books. Until now! For now we have a "graphic novel" or "Classics Illustrated" version of "Swann's Way", the first part of "In Search of Lost Time". Was this a good idea? How could Proust's deep prose and ruminations on human memory be conveyed in comic-book form? And the answer is: this works. The illustrations are engaging and there is plenty of prose to go around and advance the main ideas and plot. It just might have persuaded me to head to the used book store and see if my three-volume set is still there.

Es un libro hermoso... el Empaque deja mucho que desear lo enviaron en una caja con latas de fórmula y el guardapolvos llegó hecho trizas!

I can't imagine the amount of hard work that has gone into this but the result is outstanding. Marcel Proust's novel in graphic form will make the great writer live and be loved for several new generations to come. Here's to our limited attention span!