Swann's Way

Written by Marcel Proust

Narrated by Jason Smith (Male Synthesized Voice)

"Swann's Way" is the first volume of Marcel Proust's seminal work, "In Search of Lost Time" (À la recherche du temps perdu), originally published in 1913. It introduces readers to the themes that Proust explores throughout the series: involuntary memory, love, art, and the interplay between perception and reality. The novel is known for its intricate sentences and detailed descriptions that capture the essence of experience. The narrative weaves through the memories of the narrator, including the famous madeleine episode, which becomes a symbol for the unexpected resurgence of past memories.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Loudly
• Release date: Nov 6, 2023
• ISBN: 9798368992501

Marcel Proust

Marcel Proust (1871-1922) was a French novelist. Born in Auteuil, France at the beginning of the Third Republic, he was raised by Adrien Proust, a successful epidemiologist, and Jeanne Clémence, an educated woman from a wealthy Jewish Alsatian family. At nine, Proust suffered his first asthma attack and was sent to the village of Illiers, where much of his work is based. He experienced poor health throughout his time as a pupil at the Lycée Condorcet and then as a member of the French army in Orléans. Living in Paris, Proust managed to make connections with prominent social and literary circles that would enrich his writing as well as help him find publication later in life. In 1896, with the help of acclaimed poet and novelist Anatole France, Proust published his debut book Les plaisirs et les jours, a collection of prose poems and novellas. As his health deteriorated, Proust confined himself to his bedroom at his parents’ apartment, where he slept during the day and worked all night on his magnum opus In Search of Lost Time, a seven-part novel published between 1913 and 1927. Beginning with Swann’s Way (1913) and ending with Time Regained (1927), In Search of Lost Time is a semi-autobiographical work of fiction in which Proust explores the nature of memory, the decline of the French aristocracy, and aspects of his personal identity, including his homosexuality. Considered a masterpiece of Modernist literature, Proust’s novel has inspired and mystified generations of readers, including Virginia Woolf, Vladimir Nabokov, Graham Greene, and Somerset Maugham.