Remembrance of Things Past - Marcel Proust

“Mee-ee-ee-ee and, Mrs Jones, Mrs Jones, Mrs Jones, Mrs Jones. We gotta thiii-iii-ii-iing goin on. . .” The song haunts me still. I see you reading the words and I picture you thinking: “Oh, I remember that. Wasn’t it a great song, who sung it again? . . ” Or perhaps “There’s not that many e’s in the Me at the start, If he can’t even bother to get the number of e’s right I’m not reading any more.” If you are in the latter then goodbye. If you are in the former I’m afraid I can’t help with the singer. Don’t worry though, the song isn’t really ...  Read the complete review

Before I begin, I had better make an apology to all those who are a little short-sighted. This opinion has got absolutely NOTHING to do with a Formula One autobiography. The name is Proust, not Prost, okay? I'm sorry. I can't help it if you get a little confused, can I? Marcel Proust was born in Paris in 1871, and he died there in 1922. In fact, he hardly ever left the city during his whole life. Proust's most famous work was 'A la recherche du temps perdu', which is best known in English as 'Remembrance of Things Past'. Proust started this in 1913, and did not complete it until 1927. The novel is not autobiographical, even ...  Read the complete review

This is one of the two books of the twentieth century that everyone says you should read, the other being Ulysees. Both are quite enormous, and very offputting to many. And this review is a warning from someone who has studied Proust that many of you will hate it. The book is actually something like seven volumes, and it is monstrous. Proust, the bastard, wrote the first and last bits, then carried on adding bits in the middle even on his deathbed. We can only be thankful he died when he did, otherwise we could have been looking at far more. And it's very hard to describe what it's all about because to be honest a lot of it washes over you. The ...  Read the complete review