In Search of Lost Time: Swann's Way: A Graphic Novel Hardcover – July 13, 2015

I first encountered Marcel Proust in a college classroom. I have since read the entire series of In Search of Lost Time on two occasions. I have read Swann's Way the first book in the set three times. It is a difficult book to read in translation due to Proust's very long sentences, incredible detail and intricate knowledge of all things French, artistic, philosophical and poetic! The tubercular Marcel Proust (1871-1922) is a literary genius and his work is one of literature's essentials.
Alas and Alack! Most Americans do not read Proust. This graphic novel by Stephane Heuet serves a great resource to engender a love of the Proustian world for students and those unfamiliar with his work. As an old Proust fan I enjoyed the 200+ page book due to its reacquainting me with the story of the sensitive narrator from Combray and his infatuation with life and love. The book is divided into three parts in the graphic novel and in the original French book by Proust:
Part I-A brilliant evocative portrait of the French village of Combray where the narrator grew to adulthood. He tells us of the sights and sounds of provincial France and introduces us to his wealthy family's eccentric friends and relatives.
Part II-Swann in Love tells the story of the aristocratic Charles Swann and Odette the fallen women with whom he loves.
Part III-Names deals with the narrator's growing love for the daughter of Swann.
This book is an excellent work which would make a great gift to anyone who loves art or literature.

This is an amazing adaptation, in graphic novel form, of Swann's Way, the first volume of In Search of Lost Time. From the first: “Longtemps, je me suis couché de bonne heure” (For a long time, I went to bed early) to the closing " the memory of a certain image is but regret for a certain moment; and houses, roads, avenues are as fleeting, alas, as the years,” this edition captures the spirit of the masterpiece.

This is wonderful both for those who have read the novel several times (as I have - it's one of my favorites) to initiates. The introduction itself sets the stage very well, and leads into the story, guiding the reader and enabling an understanding of what Proust is trying to show.

Please buy this.

I first learned of this book from the New York Times Book review. The author worked over years to prepare a graphic representation and an edited version of Swan's Way. The book is controversial, especially among Proust purists. But, I would not have discovered the beauty of Proust without this volume. Now I am moving to the orginal.work, just as this author intended. The detail in the drawings is marvelous.
This is a hard bound, large format book which ain't made for bed reading. Enjoy it in your favorite chair..

Bottom Line:
Not the same as reading the original, but the art work alone makes this a valuable addition to your library. I have a much better Idea of what I am missing by not reading the full text. This is recommended as better than a Readers Digest but not a full on replacement.

Many years ago, and only because it was required reading I attempted the first volume of Marcel Proust’ In Search of Lost Time/ Swan’s Way. The experience taught me that I was not up to every author I attempted. I was humbled and deterred from ever again attempting Marcel Proust. A few years back I read his short, pastiche The Lemoine Affair (The Art of the Novella)Proust in this book he manages to make fun of himself and to satirize a number of his contemporaries. I cannot claim to have understood everyone targeted but the man’s good humor and ability to tweak his targets made for a fun read.

As soon as I saw this graphic novel version, what the publishers call ComicArt of Proust’s epic reinvention of the modern novel, I made the decision that this was a wayto get some idea of what had previous defeated me. No one reading the graphic novel should claim to have read the book, but with it I feel that I have achieved my goal of getting beyond the famous memory inspiring madeleine. This book serves as a rich sample of what the actual read will be with the constant reward of highly crafted, richly embellished comic art.

As to the quality of Arthor Goldhammer’s translation I can make on general statements. I was never conscious of the kinds of translator short cuts as terms with little or no meaning to an English reader may or may not get switched out for either a bald term or one that would have carried no meaning with the original author. The text does contain a number of the Proust’s signature sentences structure, lexical arabesques and complexities. There are any number of a conceits and lessor metaphors that I had to take on faith. Several pages of the young narrator’s feverish hopes of a tour of the European mainland left me more confused than inspired.

Elsewhere there is a lyrical description of a ride to Martinville –le-Sec. A trick of the road causes the town church steeples of Matinville and neighboring Vieuxvicq to appear to “change places.” The text conveys the child’s wonderment and the art work eloquently duplicates the intended effect of the text.

And the art work. The drawings of Stephane Heuet make this book. Finely detailed drawing insure our attentions to the details that Proust would us to especially note. Faces, food, architecture, the infinity of the details of fin de siècle France among the upper middle class. Lessor characters and lessor locations get a more classically simple finished comic rendition.

The issue of class. Much of this book chronicles the life of their neighbor Swan. The road from home to town can be by passage in front of Swan’s estates, Swan’s Way. We are advised of his ‘inappropriate marriage”. We see every moment of his spiral out of his ready access to the higher society where he had been welcome. We watch his troublesome love affair that keeps him with a lady of the demimonde. She will use him for entre into upper middle class or a social climbers or at a least socially pretentious clique. Watching Swan became an exercise like unto the grind house movie where you want to shout at the teen ager to no go alone into the dark Only Swan is a boulevardier, a sophisticate and knows better while not acting better than a besotted man.

I was not prepared for the implied sex in the text. Here punctuated by the occasionally indiscreet drawing. Perhaps I was less aware of what complexities Proust was hiding in his complex sentences. Nothing here that is scandalous, but a few cartoons that some parents and the much more easily offend may wish to be wary.

Just about all reviewers had previously read some or all of Proust. I had read Combray, in French, in the standard French Lit survey in college, and was charmed but not so entranced as to continue---in the original or in translation. Now, I will, primarily on the grounds of the third part of this presentation, in which the narrator evokes the metaphysics of time, place, and association, though also through the mature (for its time) treatment of the Swann/Obette relationship. Heuet's illustrations are meticulous, revealing, and engrossing. Yes, and he renders Odette and Gilberte as real beauties. I was amazed at sustained reading of a graphic novel. Sadly, the Bois de Boulogne is not the same, but I'm on my way to Iliers-Combray!

This is a wonderful and beautiful book. It may strike some as an odd combination--Proust and comics. But what we consider comics are much more highly regarded in France. Indeed, given how important the visual arts were for Proust, it makes sense. This book works both as an introduction and as a way to re-visit Proust. The artwork is fantastic--clearly a labor of love. The map and family trees are a great addition.