In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower is Proust’s spectacular dissection of male and female adolescence, charged with the narrator’s memories of Paris and the Normandy seaside. At the heart of the story lie his relationships with his grandmother and with the Swann family. As a meditation on different forms of love, In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower has no equal. Here, Proust introduces some of his greatest comic inventions, from the magnificently dull M. de Norpois to the enchanting Robert de Saint-Loup. It is memorable as well for the first appearance of the two figures who for better or worse are to dominate the narrator’s life—the Baron de Charlus and the mysterious Albertine.
In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower
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Indispensable... the critical modernist work, overtop-ping the books of even such giants as Joyce and Mann. -- Peter Brooks, The New York Times Book Review
About the Author
Marcel Proust (1871–1922) was the greatest French novelist of the twentieth century.
James Grieve, former reader in French at the Australian National University, has published a translation of the first part of Proust’s work (Swann’s Way, 1982) and two novels for young adults.
Christopher Prendergast is professor of French at the University of Cambridge and a fellow of King’s College.
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33 of 35 people found the following review helpful
By R L B
Format:Paperback
I originally read the Moncrieff/Kilmartin/Enright (M/K/E) translation of "A la recherche ..." some years ago, and the new Penguin translations were an excuse to re-visit these books. I thought the Lydia Davis "Swann's Way" was serviceable, but lacked some of the poetry of the earlier version. However, when I was half way through "In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower" I realised that something fundamental was missing from this translation. I took out my M/K/E translation and a copy of the original in French and compared them at a few random passages. What became clear was that the new translation is not closer to the original, but is in many respects an inaccurate representation of Proust's prose. I also found at least one instance where the translator inserted an idea which was not in the original (eg there is a quite bizarre reference to "Jansenism" in a paragraph where Proust uses no such term!). Aside from this, the new translation does not, in my opinion, read smoothly. By contrast the M/K/E translation more accurately captured both the substance of Proust's writing as well as the literal meaning. Their version also reads more naturally and is far less stilted, in my opinion. I have therefore switched back to the earlier version for this volume and will have to make a similar assessment for the subsequent volumes in the series.
I am surprised by the general criticism aimed at the Moncrieff version, particularly given that the later revisions by Kilmartin and Enright remove Moncrieff's excesses and the result is one of the most successful translation projects in history. As well as the high general quality of the translations, they are also consistent across all of the volumes. By contrast, as Penguin use a different translator for each volume, the Penguin version presents an essentially different reading experience for each volume and, if the experience of the first two volumes is any guide, a very uneven one. If I were to choose only one version of Proust to read, I would undoubtedly choose the Moncrieff version, as revised by Kilmartin and Enright, such as the Modern Library issues.
I am surprised by the general criticism aimed at the Moncrieff version, particularly given that the later revisions by Kilmartin and Enright remove Moncrieff's excesses and the result is one of the most successful translation projects in history. As well as the high general quality of the translations, they are also consistent across all of the volumes. By contrast, as Penguin use a different translator for each volume, the Penguin version presents an essentially different reading experience for each volume and, if the experience of the first two volumes is any guide, a very uneven one. If I were to choose only one version of Proust to read, I would undoubtedly choose the Moncrieff version, as revised by Kilmartin and Enright, such as the Modern Library issues.
47 of 54 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A book of this stature hardly needs another review explaining how great it is, and, not being all that cultured, I can't provide a lot of literary context or comparisons with past translations. I can offer a recommendation, though, as a young modern lay reader who suffers the usual hesitations about approaching classic texts.
With regard to previous translations, all I know is that this volume apparently used to be called In a Budding Grove - which may be the worst literary title ever - and is now called In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower, which may be the best literary title ever. As far as I can tell the translation flows very smoothly, too, and even though Proust's style, as most people probably know, features sentences which go on for a very long time and have complex constructions buried in them (sort of like this one), I thought it was more readable than the likes of Joyce and Pynchon, because the power of the first-person voice often makes the meaning clear. There were a couple of points where I thought the translator used a word that seemed too modern and idiomatic - 'hubby' was one - but it's not that much of a distraction.
Proust's habit is to spend a lot of time discussing small, specific things, but that isn't to say he describes every single event of his childhood in excruciating detail - he often skips over major events, or describes something's prelude in more detail than the event itself, summarizing the things which had the deepest emotional impact on him at the time. The result is a narrative which is very engaging because all of the details in it, however small they might be, shed light on something deeper.
With this specific volume (about the experience of youth), speaking as someone whose own adolesence isn't far behind him, I found it eerily insightful. Reading about people from a different century, I would suddenly come on an insight which might have been a direct comment on me or someone I knew, and what I think really makes Proust one-of-a-kind is that he never stoops to satire, charicature or didactics; it's just straight observation. The people he describes might be the comic relief or even buffoonish villains in the works of a lesser author, but something about the way he describes them so exactly produces sympathy, as if the reader were allied as much with them as with the narrator.
Of all the 'classic' books I've read, ISYGIF is one of my favorites, and I recommend it to anyone able to read it. Like I said, I don't think Proust's style is as hard to grasp as certain other modern authors; but if it does seem difficult, then it's certainly worth the effort of becoming accustomed to it, for the beauty which emerges from it and the uncanny human analysis.
With regard to previous translations, all I know is that this volume apparently used to be called In a Budding Grove - which may be the worst literary title ever - and is now called In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower, which may be the best literary title ever. As far as I can tell the translation flows very smoothly, too, and even though Proust's style, as most people probably know, features sentences which go on for a very long time and have complex constructions buried in them (sort of like this one), I thought it was more readable than the likes of Joyce and Pynchon, because the power of the first-person voice often makes the meaning clear. There were a couple of points where I thought the translator used a word that seemed too modern and idiomatic - 'hubby' was one - but it's not that much of a distraction.
Proust's habit is to spend a lot of time discussing small, specific things, but that isn't to say he describes every single event of his childhood in excruciating detail - he often skips over major events, or describes something's prelude in more detail than the event itself, summarizing the things which had the deepest emotional impact on him at the time. The result is a narrative which is very engaging because all of the details in it, however small they might be, shed light on something deeper.
With this specific volume (about the experience of youth), speaking as someone whose own adolesence isn't far behind him, I found it eerily insightful. Reading about people from a different century, I would suddenly come on an insight which might have been a direct comment on me or someone I knew, and what I think really makes Proust one-of-a-kind is that he never stoops to satire, charicature or didactics; it's just straight observation. The people he describes might be the comic relief or even buffoonish villains in the works of a lesser author, but something about the way he describes them so exactly produces sympathy, as if the reader were allied as much with them as with the narrator.
Of all the 'classic' books I've read, ISYGIF is one of my favorites, and I recommend it to anyone able to read it. Like I said, I don't think Proust's style is as hard to grasp as certain other modern authors; but if it does seem difficult, then it's certainly worth the effort of becoming accustomed to it, for the beauty which emerges from it and the uncanny human analysis.
27 of 30 people found the following review helpful
By Daniel Ford
Format:Paperback
Penguin's new translations of "In Search of Lost Time" were just the nudge I needed to read Proust's masterwork again. I was particularly impressed by the job the American writer Lydia Davis did with "Swann's Way". By contrast, I have a few complaints about James Grieves's rendering of "In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower". Where Scott Moncrieff translated "petite bande" (of girls) with the expected "little band," Grieves uses "little gang," which to an American ear sounds rather tough. He mangles one of my favorite quotations. And there's a typo on the bottom of page 95: "not" instead of "now"!
Overall, though, I like the liberties Grieves takes with the text, and we were certainly overdue for a freshened-up translation of one of the most important books of the 20th century. Unlike Proust's French, Scott Moncrieff's English has come to seem dusty and overblown. (For example, he rendered the title of this volume as "Within a Budding Grove", the literal translation being too racy for his 1920s audience of post-Victorians.)
-- Dan Ford at readingproust dot com
Overall, though, I like the liberties Grieves takes with the text, and we were certainly overdue for a freshened-up translation of one of the most important books of the 20th century. Unlike Proust's French, Scott Moncrieff's English has come to seem dusty and overblown. (For example, he rendered the title of this volume as "Within a Budding Grove", the literal translation being too racy for his 1920s audience of post-Victorians.)
-- Dan Ford at readingproust dot com
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower
The book, In The Shadow of Young in Flower was in excellent condition. Proust is exceptional in every way. I will buy again.
Published 4 months ago by William L. Boyd
4.0 out of 5 stars
In Search of Memories and Experiences
More than a commentary on Swann's jealousy or M. Charlus's homosexuality or the frivolity of the Guermantes' sorties, Marcel Proust's monumental work In Search of Lost Time paints... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Leonard Seet
5.0 out of 5 stars
Proust's elemental volume
Perhaps more so than the memory of the madeleines, more so than the study of jealousy and mysteries of love, the unforgettable characters of Charlus and Swann and the last bastion... Read more
Published on January 19, 2008 by Davis-Vautrin
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another fine translation...
Grieve's translation of "A l'ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs" is a fine follow-up to Lydia Davis's "Swann's Way. Read more
Published on May 14, 2007 by JR Pinto
