Swann's Way

Written by:
Marcel Proust
Narrated by:
Simon Vance

Unabridged Audiobook

Ratings
Book
12
Narrator
7
Release Date
September 2010
Duration
17 hours 30 minutes
Summary
Swann's Way is the first novel of Marcel Proust's seven-volume magnum opus In Search of Lost Time. Following the narrator's opening ruminations about the nature of sleep is one of twentieth-century literature's most famous scenes: the eating of the madeleine soaked in a 'decoction of lime-flowers,' the associative act from which the remainder of the narrative unfurls. After elaborate reminiscences about his childhood with relatives in rural Combray and in urban Paris, Proust's narrator recalls a story regarding Charles Swann, a major figure in his Combray childhood, and his escapades in nineteenth-century privileged Parisian society, revolving around his obsessive love for young socialite Odette de Crecy.

Filled with searing, insightful, and humorous criticisms of French society, this novel showcases Proust's innovative prose style. With narration that alternates between first and third person, Swann's Way unconventionally introduces Proust's recurring themes of memory, love, art, and the human experience-and for nearly a century, audiences have deliciously savored each moment.
Reviews
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Anonymous

Simon Vance's narration is superb. His use of voices is always spot-on and his pronunciation of French words is impeccable. This is a performance not to be missed.

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Marco M.

Beautiful book, amazing analogies and descriptions of objects, situations, people and places. To me the narrator is the best possible, I've listen to, others, like the Neville Jason, who despite being good is not as perfect for this novel as I believe Simon Vance to be. Unfortunately Simon Vance apparently narrated this first book with Tantor Media and he or they didn't pursue the rest of the novel. For that audiobook listeners, who want to listen to the rest of the novel, would have to switch to Naxos Audiobooks and get used to Neville Jason voice... which, as I said, I don't feel is quite as perfect as Simon Vance.

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