In Search of Lost Time, published under the original name À la recherche du temps perdu, is a novel by the French writer Marcel Proust. This novel, written by the author until the last days of his life, consists of millions of words and thousands of pages. Although In Search of Lost Time is published in different versions as one volume and two volumes, the original of this work was published in seven volumes and therefore proceeds in a certain order.
If you prefer to read one of the new versions of the novel In Search of Lost Time, you don’t have to worry about the order in which it is read. However, if you want to progress a little classically and read the work in the order in which it was published, you should know which book to start with first and determine the reading order accordingly. Let’s take a closer look at the order in which the Trail of Lost Time is read and see the story that the book offers to the reader.
In what order is the In Search of Lost Time series read?
Before we begin, who is Marcel Proust?
Born on July 10, 1871, Marcel Proust, full name Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust; He is a French essayist, novelist and critic. He was a homosexual and was the first European novelist to cover this theme in his works. He was fun-loving and undisciplined. When he died on November 18, 1922, some said he was one of the brightest writers who ever lived, while others said he was too heavy to read.
A preview of the novel In Search of Lost Time:
Marcel Proust, who had a close relationship with his mother, took up pen and paper after his mother’s death in 1905 and started his novel In Search of Lost Time. In 1913 the first volume was published, albeit with difficulty, and Proust thus continued to write. He was making corrections on the last volume of the novel in 1922, when he died. In other words, this novel is the last work of the author until his death.
In Search of Lost Time is a fictional novel, but it contains so many details from the author’s own life story that this allows it to be examined as an autobiographical work. This work, in which homosexuality, nightlife, perversion, the art world, prostitutes, war and many other subjects are told from the author’s point of view, has a universal language where the veil between reality and fiction is lifted from time to time.
What order is it read in Search of Lost Time?
Swann’s Side: The first book in the series
The Swann’s Side, the first volume of In Search of Lost Time, presents an embracing story that tells the reader what to expect in this novel. The main character of this story is Charles Swann. Swann is a rich man who fell victim to a painful love and was lost in high society. We encounter many important characters of the novel, such as Odette and Gilberte, for the first time in this story. In this story, the author pushes the limits of his memory and re-enacts the past for the reader.
In the Shadow of the Blooming Girls: An in-depth analysis of women and men
In the Shadow of the Blossoming Maidens, the second volume of In Search of Lost Time was awarded the Goncourt Prize in 1919. In this volume, the author makes an in-depth analysis of women and men. At the same time, we listen to the narrator’s memories of Paris and Normandy. In the story of this volume, we have the opportunity to take a closer look at the relationship between Swann and her family. It is considered to be the volume that most successfully reflects Marcel Proust’s humorous style.
Guermantes Side: Journey to the author’s childhood years
In Guermantes’ Side, the third volume of the novel In Search of Lost Time, we go back a little further and return to the childhood of the author. The main story that forms the autobiographical skeleton of the work is told in this volume. In fact, the reason for telling childhood stories in this volume is to form the basis of the events to be experienced in the next volumes. The author’s personal observations about both the past and the people he knows at the moment are also frequently featured.
Sodom and Gomorrah: We’re starting to read tougher stories
The fourth volume of the novel In Search of Lost Time, Sodom and Gomorrah, takes its name from the city of sinners, which is described in the Old Testament and is often found in western culture. So, as the name suggests, author Marcel Proust begins to include some tougher stories in this volume. In this volume, where love and sexuality are told from the author’s point of view, the step-by-step progress of the novel and the author’s experiences at that time are clearly observed.
Prisoner: How do desire and jealousy affect a person?
In Prisoner, the fifth volume of the novel In Search of Lost Time, we delve deeper into the story of the narrator, who is imprisoned by Albertine, who is imprisoned in the narrator’s house. Strong emotions such as desire and jealousy manage to be described much more strongly by the author in this volume. The writer, together with the reader, takes a dark walk through the streets of Venice and Paris, through the external world’s impositions on the individual and the thoughts of the inner world waiting to come out.
Albertine Lost: a story set in the streets of Venice
Albertine Lost, the sixth volume of the novel In Search of Lost Time, is exactly where the fifth volume of the novel The Prisoner ends, ‘Mademoiselle Albertine has gone!’ It starts with the sentence. The cry of Françoise, the maid who owns this sentence, starts a story that ripples through the skin. In this story of a tough confrontation with Andree, we spend a little longer on the streets of Venice and go on a gondola ride. In this gondola ride, the narrator rows through a series of new ideas that will complete the novel.
Captured Time: The author’s last days and the finale
Captured Time, the seventh and final volume of the novel In Search of Lost Time, has a harsher narrative than even such a harsh novel. Because when this volume was being written, the writer Marcel Proust was living his last days. The author, who finally catches up with the lost time he has been on the hunt for throughout the novel, concludes his novel In Search of Lost Time by making it one of the giants of literature by signing an immortal finale. The last words of the author are: “How happy would be the person who managed to write such a book!”
We talked about the stories that each volume of this impressive work presents to the reader by answering the question in which order to read the novel In Search of Lost Time, written in seven volumes by the French writer Marcel Proust. You can share your thoughts about the novel In Search of Lost Time in the comments.
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