This is must reading (or gazing) for any serious student of Proust's IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME. Photographer Paul Nadar was a photographer for whom at one time or another virtually every member of Proust's social set and family sat for at one point or another. The value of this volume for someone reading Proust is twofold: allowing one to see high quality photographic reproductions of many of the actual models for Proust's characters, and providing a vivid picture of the way these people dressed, how they wore their hair, some of their cultural preoccupations, and what their favored accessories were.

I am not a fan of any method of reading Proust that degenerates into a study of Proust's life, that is more concerned with figuring out who the "real" Odette or Albertine or Saint-Loup was. The "real" Odette was a fictional creation by a literary genius of the first rank, and she cannot be found in any of these photographs. Not even in gazing at a photography of Robert de Montesquiou do we see Baron de Charlus, despite our knowledge that he was Proust's most important model for Charlus. But looking at these photographs breaks down the distance between Proust's world and our own. Odette may be based on several real life models, but it is helpful to know what the women that Proust knew looked like in forming our own mental picture of Odette or Gilberte or Oriane or Saint-Loup. I also find it much easier to imagine visually Proust's world after seeing precisely how those members of his social set dressed.

The book also has a great deal to teach about portrait photography in late 19th and early 20th century Paris, at least in an upper class studio. The range of photographs is fascinating, not merely in the posed photos with the subjects dressed in their finest clothes, but in the ones where various individuals appeared "in costume." This includes not merely a series of marvelous photographs of Sarah Bernhardt dressed as various characters, but men and especially women appearing in amateur theatricals. One section features a many of the more celebrated individuals of the time whom Proust either met or loosely based some of his characters on, such as Bernhardt (La Berma), Anatole France (Bergotte), Faure (Vinteuil, though only musically), and Claude Monet (one of several models for Elstir).

Physically, the book resembles a well-produced art book, with a cloth binding, high quality paper, and the highest quality reproductions. It is easily the most attractive book on Proust I have in my rather large collection of Proust titles. Not just a great book on Proust, but a beautiful one as well.

This is a must for any fan of Proust--you get to see not only what the originals for his most memorable characters (the Ducehsse de Guermantes, Swann, Charlus, Mme. verdurin) looked like, but also the interior of one of the great fin-de-siecle chateaus where one couple (the Prince and Princess Radziwell) lived. The Nadar photographs are sharp, startling and magnificent. I've wanted a book like this for years.

Contre Sainte-Beuve is an accumulation of Proust's crtical writings prior to and during the time he was writing his novel.

It's so long since I read my own Gallimard version which I lost long ago in a move. I had hoped to find it in Amazon's list and am pleased to know that there is at least an English version.

I forget now whther Proust's intriguing "Pastiches et Mélanges" is included in "Contre Sainte-Beuve", obviously it doesn't make sense to read that in English - his pastiches of influential late 19th century writers formed an important part of his preparation for the novel.

There are so many great joys in the essays - I remember best the little piece on Classicism and Romanticism which lyrically encapsulates much critical ground covered later by many of the most important modernists.

His essays on Nerval are absorbing too as I recall ("Sylvie") but most of all the general theme of the book is so cogent, a relentless rebuttal of Sainte-Beuve's impoverished positivist critical ideology.

"Contre Sainte-Beuve" is astonishingly contemporary avant la lettre, a salutary tonic for contemporary followers of Comte and Gradgrind.

This is a beautifully photographed book and a great adjunct to anyone who has, or is presently reading Proust, or just interested in the Belle Epoque or reading Edith Wharton etc.

Took a while to get through this, in French, but well worth the effort. Ms. Blanche offers wonderful comparison and analysis. Would be great if translated as well!! Way to go Martine!

I feel obliged to preface any comments on Painter's biography with a cautionary word. Reading this book without having read Proust's masterpiece A la Recherche du Temps Perdu, is like reading a history of Jazz, without having heard any.

That said, and disregarding Painter's introductory thesis that "Proust's novel cannot be fully undersood without a knowledge of his life", the life and times of Proust is a fascinating subject in itself. His genius for conversation, and the legacy it created for him, gives his biographer plenty to work with and Painter's skill as a writer comes to the fore as he recreates the events that shaped Proust's life.

The biography is written sequentially, beginning with a brief overview of late 17th centuary Paris, and culminating in Proust's death while still revising his masterpiece, in November 1922.

Footnotes a plenty, Painter avoids mythologising Proust and instead, sticks to the facts with an academic's eye for detail. He occasionally offers incisive insights into Proust's work and writes in a curious style which draws on Proust's own language and favourite metaphors. In the end though, Painter's raison d'etre is to identify the people and places that shaped Proust's writing. To this end, we meet the Barons, Dukes and Duchesses who populated the upper stratosphere of Parisian society in the early nineteen hundreds, and visit the small gardens of Illiers and Auteuil, which would eventually become the Combray of his famous novel, and marvel at the chuch spires he visited while reading Ruskin.

Not inerested? Well this book is not for you. For those of you who are interested in knowing from where Proust's inspiration sprang, there is no better book.

One for the fans.

Proust is usually examined in terms of the themes of time and memory. He is, indeed, one of the few writers who has genuinely interesting philosphical insights into these phenomenon. Deleuze, however, prefers to concentrate on the circulation of signs within Proust's work. The apprenticeship of Marcel as a writer is conceived of as an exploration of different kinds of sign: the signs of love, the signs of bourgious life, the signs of art. Marcel is a decoder and producer of these different signs. He passes through the signs given in experience to arrive at the (superior) signs of art.
As someone interested in both Deleuze and Proust, I found this book consistently stimulating. What i think is especially refreshing (and philosophically valuable) in Deleuze is his ability to generate concepts from the literary text he is reading - rather then imposing prefashioned categories onto the work. His book on Kafka is particularly rewarding in this respect.

This short book was written by the great European photographer Brassai not long before his death in 1982. It has only now found its way into print in English, and what a gem it is. Beautifully translated by Richard Howard and featuring a gorgeous design, this is one of the best and most accessible books I've ever read about Proust. One can tell that Brassai had a great love for Proust's work--and he richly explores the writer's life in France in the early 20th century and his fascination with the new art of photography...and how the medium impacted Proust's work. Really, this is a special book and should appeal to anyone interested in photography, Proust, French culture in the first half of the twentieth century.

I bought this 3-disk set because, frankly, I couldn't imagine how anyone could pull off a reading of Proust's verbose and complex style. I was more than pleasantly surprised: Neville Jason does a fantastic job. His voice is polished and not overly dramatic; his phrasing shows a real understanding of both Proust's meaning and how best to convey orally his long sentences with all their long interpolations. The abridgment (which, according to the liner notes, was also done by Mr. Jason) is very sensitive to the original and retained far more of it than I thought was possible in a three-hour set. Period music is included, briefly and effectively, in the background. Since "Swann in Love" is more-or-less a self-contained novella within the great Recherche, this audio book would be an excellent way to get one's feet wet with Proust. My only caveat is that, Proust being, to say the least, a dense writer, this is not the kind of audio book that one can fully comprehend while doing something else. Just put your feet up and listen.

Les Miserables will be a tough read for some. Victor Hugo, in typical Nineteenth Century prose, is exceedingly verbose. His character introductions go on literally page after page, covering minute details that some modern readers will find tedious. Not only are they long, but they break the modern writing rule of "show rather than tell." When he presents new characters, we don't hear them converse or see their actions to form our own opinions. Hugo simply regurgitates a ten or twenty-page biography on them.

But this was how books were written then, and he did it as well as it could be done. The language is marvelous and rich, the characters interesting and complete, and the story sweeping and classic.

Jean Valjean, freshly released from a French prison, is caught stealing silver from an extraordinarily pious Bishop. Amazingly, this Bishop denies the silver is stolen, allowing Valjean to go free. Valjean, brutalized by nineteen years of life in "the galleys" and suffering poverty and maltreatment as an ex-convict, is so affected by this merciful act that he vows to reform. Seven years later he has changed his name and transformed himself into a righteous and contributing member of society, now a prominent factory owner and town Mayor. Life is good as he shares his profits and kind heart with the poor and unfortunate--until his past catches up with him. Valjean is then faced with an incredible predicament whose genius and complexity can be appreciated only by plowing through the full text.

Historically, this is an important literary work. Much of its political and religious sub-text may be lost, however, on those unfamiliar with the basics of the French Revolution. Like Valjean, readers will be better people for making the journey through this book. --Christopher Bonn Jonnes, author of Wake Up Dead.

Hugo is brilliant. I've read this book countless times, and find new insight in it every time. I continue to be incredibly impressed with his chapter about Cosette and her discovery of her own beauty- how real and (especially for a man) insightful it is. Two of the truest lines I've ever heard: (upon the discovery of her beauty) "...she perceived, however indistinctly, that she was armed." "Women play with their beauty like children with a knife, and sometimes cut themselves."
There is a chapter in which Cosette reads a letter that Marius has deposited in her garden, and it is full of beautiful, (I know I'm overusing this word, but there isn't a thesaurus handy and it's the perfect word for this book) insightful prose about love, the discovery of it, the joy of it, and the pain that comes when it is threatened.
Gavroche, the endearing gamin, is extremely funny in the quaint, charming way that is very classic, very Parisian, very Hugo.
The tragic deaths of almost all of the main characters are beautiful and poignant, and the descriptions of the ABC society (the young student revolutionaries) are wonderful.
The only qualm I have about this book is Hugo's slightly overdrawn descriptions, but they are hardly sufficient reason to overlook this treasure.
Please read this book, you'll be overjoyed that you did.

Les Miserables introduces Jean Valjean a famous character in literature. This story takes you into Paris after the French Revolution and Lafayette's death, to the barricades of the uprising of 1832. It is the story of Jean Valjean who stole a loaf of bread which made him a convict. He escapes from prison to start a new life. Javert, the police inspector, who will never let Valjean go free. Fantine the prostitute who touched Valjean's heart and defined the word desperation. The Thenadiers, the amoral villians who with the other characters bring this book to its excellency. This story brings out the desire to escape the prisons of our own minds. This novel is best summed up in its title, Les Miserables, translated is "The Miserables".

Victor Hugo takes us into the Parisian underworld. He shows us the battle between good and evil. Hugo uses Les Miserables as a platform to criticize the French political and judicial systems. He probably did not expect this story to become an epic that has touched the heart for more than a hundred years.

Reading this novel gives a clearer picture of how the French government reacted to the common people. It inspires the hope of an age of rebirth and revolution. There are also many themes played out in this novel that capture your thoughts and emotions. The story battles between good and evil. Morality is also a theme that is used many times in this novel. This book is definitely an extravagant spectacle that dazzles the senses and touches the heart. I would definitely recommend this novel to anyone with an interest in the French Revolutionary times or someone who just wants a story that displays human emotions like you have never read before.

The greatness of this book in my belief is not anything having to do with the title. The French title In Search of Lost Time refers to Marcel's endeavor to recapture a lost past. Strictly speaking all great fiction does this. Proust's memory does prove important but it is not his theory of perfectly recapturing the past which makes for a sumptuous read but his effort to do so which is quite a different thing. Proust reimagines things in a way they could not possibly have occurred. He imagines a thing in the way a child dreams a thing. The fact is that a child usually finds his imaginings are far better than anything the world suggests. Proust chose to believe differently and thats fine with me because what he imagines his past to have been like is something I believe no one has ever lived. To my ears his theory of recapturing time is just a necessary illusion for creating great fiction. And he does that. The first book of this multi volume set is the story of Swanns love affair with Odette told in such a way that we all know that this is a modern fiction writer who is writing a modern piece of fiction with as much self consciousness as Manet had when he painted Luncheon on the Grass. Later in this grand and intricately woven set of novellas we find Marcel at the Opera. And we find him enjoying this Opera in the way only a Flaubertian student of fiction enjoys fiction. Don't be fooled but don't miss the pleasures afforded in time spent here. This was the decadent era after all and authors were given free reign to invent. He writes like a Prince. Of that you need no proof of lineage. Buy this because nothing else like it exists. It is a document, though forged by a romanticist, of turn of the century France. Everything here is superbly written and entirely fake. Why do people write fiction? To make things right in the second draft.

30 years ago in my 20's I read Proust, over the period of a year. It has influenced my whole life, particularly his portrayals of friendship changes over time. It gave me a way of looking at life different from my crisis-ridden, "it's all over" point of view. Proust's book is about almost everything, because it is about his whole life. At his worst a very neurotic parvenu, at his best a deeply compassionate writer. And funny! Proust is a writer who lets his frailties show along with his greatness: unlike Tolstoy or St. Exupery, whose writing shows all their wisdom and little of their frailities. Proust is especially knowledgeable about jealousy. It you are not interested in thorough examination of a feeling, in pages, you won't like this. Interesting theories of art, literature, music. If you want to know where I'm coming from,

This book is unlike anything I have ever read. Proust's basic premise is that we do not fully appreciate an experience when it happens because we are hampered and distracted at the time by the experience itself. It is only when we remember and relive an event that we are truly able to extract the most from it and thus, in remembrance, experience it more vividly than we ever could at the time it happened. So Proust, a sickly asthmatic ex-socialite locked in a cork lined room, remembers and relives his entire life, and the seven volumes of Remembrance are the result. And his remembered and relived life is rich indeed, perhaps unsurprisingly, even more so than his actual life was. This is total recall with enhancement.

But the book is much more than that. It is paragraph after paragraph and page after page of the most perfect prose and Proust the perfectionist is also the funniest and wickedest writer that ever lived. His characters: the pompous bores, self righteous clergymen, overrated diplomats and talentless but currently fashionable artists, the dandies, hypocrites, proud servants and relentless social climbers are all stripped bare by his subtle observations and unbelievably brilliant dialogue. And then there are his justifiably famous descriptions; of landscape, flowers, gardens, and of course, insomnia. All drawn so beautifully that you can almost see and taste and smell and feel everything he writes about. Indeed it's enough to make you want to curl up in a cork lined room and spend the rest of your life living vicariously through Proust's remembrances.

Good writing alters your perceptions and the better the writing the more lasting the affect. Proust, with his incredibly detailed analyses of love and desire, self delusion and human emotion will change the way you think for ever. Remembrance of Things Past is better than therapy. There's just one small problem: the sheer volume of writing and the weight of the thing. But do not despair, even if you never finish all seven volumes, and few ! have, you will at least have some idea of the monumental scale of this masterpiece, and if you are very determined there is, supposedly, a support group to give you any encouragement you might need to complete the task. Once you have completed the books of course, you can impress others forever. And if you need even further challenges you can read the entire thing in French and that should keep you busy for a while. So while you may never climb Mount Everest, and might not even make the summit of this book, I would still urge everybody to try to read at least a little of Remembrance of Things Past.