Swann's Way

Article written by Charles Asoluka

Degree in Computer Engineering. Passed TOEFL Exam. Seasoned literary critic.

‘In Search of Lost Time’ explores the passage of time and the absence of meaning in the world as it follows the narrator’s memories of childhood and experiences into adulthood in high-society France in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This is volume one of a seven-volume French memoir that has been translated into English and made available in several editions. An unnamed narrator who is assumed to be the author tells the story of ‘Swann’s Way’.

In ‘Swann’s Way’ a family friend of Marcel’s is depicted as being hopelessly in love with Odette de Crécy, a coquette. Proust’s naturally pessimistic perspective on love, which he frequently treats as an illusion rather than recognition in his writing, enables him to relate the romance’s plot with the minute attention and upside-down dramatic scale of a clinician monitoring symptoms, even using words like “disease” and “convalesce.”

Key Facts about Swann’s Way

• Book title: ‘Swann’s Way’ (Du côté de chez)
• Book Series Title: ‘In Search of Lost Time’ (or ‘In Remembrance of Things Past’). In French, ‘À la recherche du temps perdu’.
• Author: Marcel Proust
• Year Published: 1913
• Type: Novel
• Genre: Modernism, Classic, Historical and Literary Fiction
• Language: French
• Publisher: Grasset and Gallimard
• Tense: ‘Swann’s Way’ uses the past tense to describe events and the present tense to provide philosophical insights.
• Perspective and Narrator: ‘Swann’s Way’s’ first-person narrator reflects on his youth. Third-person narration is used to describe occasions in the life of Charles Swann, a family friend of the narrator.
• Protagonist(s): Marcel and Charles Swann

Marcel Proust and Swann’s Way

French novelist Marcel Proust grew up in the country’s belle epoque period, which saw France restore and add to its splendor following an embarrassing loss to the Prussians in 1871. The war slowed down his publishing, and he wrote all eight volumes of his novel ‘In Search of Lost Time’ but didn’t complete revising the last three. He finished writing ‘Swann’s Way’ in 1913, just before World War One began.

‘Swann’s Way’s’ narrator experiences a lot of flashbacks and recollections that are brought on by references to his past. For instance, while the narrator considers falling asleep, he is reminded of the time he missed his mother’s goodnight kiss because his parents had Charles Swann over for dinner. Swann is a prominent member of the narrator’s society and a wealthy Jewish man. Additionally, tea and madeleine cakes bring back memories of his youth in Combray, his hometown.

Books Related to Swann’s Way

• ‘Ulysses’ by James Joyce is a masterpiece of contemporary writing, loosely inspired by the Odyssey, which follows common Dubliners in 1904. Joyce takes Celtic lyricism and obscenity to glorious extremes as he depicts a single day in the life of Dubliner Leopold Bloom, his pals Buck Mulligan and Stephen Dedalus, his wife Molly, and a captivating ensemble of supporting characters. Exciting creative tactics include wordplay, earthy comedy, and introspective monologues. A significant literary achievement of the 20th century
• ‘The Magic Mountain’ by Thomas Mann utilizes a sanatorium in the Swiss Alps, a community dedicated solely to illness, as a microcosm for Europe, which in the years before 1914 was already displaying the initial signs of its terminal madness, in this dizzyingly dense novel of ideas. A book that pulses with life amid death, The Magic Mountain is a mammoth masterpiece of erudition and irony, sexual tension, and intellectual ferment.
• ‘Madame Bovary’ by Gustave Flaubert was released in 1856. The main character overspends in an attempt to escape the monotony and emptiness of small-town life. Public prosecutors accused the book of being obscene when it was initially serialized in La Revue de Paris between 1 October 1856 and 15 December 1856. The incidental trial that followed in January 1857 made the tale well-known. When Madame Bovary was published in two volumes in April 1857, following Flaubert’s acquittal on February 7, 1857, it quickly rose to popularity. The novel is now regarded as Flaubert’s masterpiece and one of the most important pieces of literature in history. It was a groundbreaking example of literary realism.
• ‘The Red and the Black’ by Stendhal tells the story of Julien Sorel, a handsome and aspirational man is determined to overcome his lowly provincial upbringing. He soon realizes that the only way to succeed is to follow the sophisticated code of hypocrisy that governs society, so he starts to progress by lying and self-interest. His successful job leads him into the center of glitzy Parisian society, where he triumphs over the proud Mathilde and the kind, married Madame de Rênal. Then, though, Julien commits an unforeseen, horrifying crime that ultimately leads to his demise. One of the most intriguing characters in European literature is Julien, the icy exploiter whose Machiavellian strategy is undermined by his own emotions in The Red and the Black, a vibrant, sarcastic portrait of corrupt, greedy, and post-Waterloo French society.
• ‘The Brothers Karamazov’ by Fyodor Dostoevsky is a murder mystery, courtroom drama, and investigation of romantic competition centered on the “wicked and emotional” Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov and his three sons—the impetuous and sensual Dmitri, the coldly logical Ivan, and the healthy, red-cheeked young novice Alyosha. Dostoevsky captures the entirety of Russian life, it’s social and spiritual striving, in what was both the golden age and a tragic turning moment in Russian culture through the engrossing events of their story.

The Lasting Impact of Swann’s Way