|
Translated from the French by Louise Varese
This was Proust’s first published work, appearing
when he was only twenty-five, and it consists of stories,
sketches and thematic writings on a variety of subjects. The
attitudes reflect many of the characteristics of the fin
de siècle, yet Proust illumined them with the unique
shafts of observation and gift of analysis that he was later
to perfect in The Remembrance of Things Past. This
book is a period piece of intricate delights and subtle flavours
that will be relished by the author’s many admirers
‘How do you get the flavour, first-hand, of the only
writer who could compete, in the twentieth century, with the
intimidating geniuses of Joyce and Beckett? I would suggest
this little volume’ — Nicholas Lezard, Guardian
‘Peter Owen is to be congratulated for bringing
this fascinating volume back into circulation . . . in an
elegant paperback edition’ — Times Literary Supplement
‘Time and time again, even in this apprentice work, one
is made aware of Proust’s uncanny ability to extract
emotional significane from the natural world, an ability in
which he excels even Hardym Turgenev and Lampedusa’ —
Scotsman
MARCEL PROUST was born in Paris in 1871, the son of
a Catholic doctor and his Jewish wife. His activities circumscribed
by severe asthma and extreme sensitivity, he spent much of
his time cloistered at home, pampered by his adoring mother,
and her death in 1905 marked the beginning of his total withdrawal
from society. He was nevertheless a brilliant student and
critic, gaining entry to many of Paris’s salons. In 1896
Les Plaisirs et les jours (Pleasures and Regrets)
was published, but the first part of his masterpiece of fiction,
A la Recherche du temps perdu (The Remembrance of
Things Past), was not to appear until 1913. He was awarded
the prestigious Prix Goncourt in 1919 for the second section.
He died in isolation in 1922, the final three sections being
issued posthumously. |
