The Penguin Podcast is back! Listen Now
In Search Of Lost Time Vol 1

In Search Of Lost Time Vol 1

Swann's Way

Summary

The definitive translation of one of the greatest French novels of the twentieth century

In the opening volume of Proust's great novel, the narrator travels backwards in time in order to tell the story of a love affair that had taken place before his own birth. Swann's jealous love for Odette provides a prophetic model of the narrator's own relationships. All Proust's great themes - time and memory, love and loss, art and the artistic vocation - are here in kernel form.

'Surely the greatest novelist of the 20th century' Telegraph

Reviews

  • My advice is to plunge straight into Volume 1, Swann's Way there are many who swear the experience has permanently enriched their lives
    Daily Mail

About the author

Marcel Proust

Proust was born in Auteuil, France in 1871. He began writing his masterpiece, À la recherche du temps perdu, in 1909, and worked on it until his death in 1922, following several years of poor health during which he had been confined to his bedroom.
Learn More

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more