Remembrance of Things Past, Part 2 - Within a Budding Grove, Vol. 2 [Hardcover]

Marcel Proust (Author), Stanislas Brezet (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-This unusual pairing of literary forms offers the ornate and reflective prose of Proust retold within a graphic-novel format. In adapting a portion of the writer's massive, pathologically contemplative roman-fleuve, Heuet strips the story down to its essential plot, peppering the visuals with significant dialogue and key excerpts. The artwork bears a strong resemblance to that of Herg‚ and his famous "Tintin." The visuals are creamy, flat, and lush, and the text boxes are tinted a particularly satisfying shade of gold. The story centers on the sensitive, analytical teen narrator as he spends a summer in the resort town of Balbec. With poetic clarity, it recounts the familiar and timeless affairs of adolescents: cruising the beach in summertime, passing love notes, arranging "accidental" meetings, stealing glances. Less familiar is the fragile, rigid world of high propriety, with its unyielding class system and stringent rules regarding everything from adjectives to automobile attire. This, along with its slow pace, relentless nostalgic musings, and positively torturous sentence structure will prevent the work from having broad appeal. However, some readers may see in the nostalgic ruminations a sense of beauty, awe, melancholy, and perhaps even a reflection of their own lives. This is an interesting and curious acquisition for those looking for a gentler introduction to a challenging literary classic or attempting to expand the scope of their graphic-novel collections.
Douglas P. Davey, Guelph Public Library, Ontario, Canada
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: NBM Publishing (January 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1561633429
• ISBN-13: 978-1561633425
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 8.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,078,677 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simplistic yet evocative full-color art, March 8, 2003

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Remembrance of Things Past, Part 2 - Within a Budding Grove, Vol. 2 (Hardcover)

Remembrance Of Things Past Part Two: Within A Budding Grove is the second novel of an English-language, graphic novel adaptation and illustrated by Stephane Heuet of Marcel Proust's classic work of European literature. The simplistic yet evocative full-color art and the delicate lettering bring the formal style of the nineteenth-century era to life in this enchanting and attention engaging presentation. Highly Recommended!