Swann's Way (Version 2)


Read by Expatriate

(4.4 stars; 17 reviews)

"Swann's Way" is the first of the seven parts of Marcel Proust's great autobiographical novel "In Search of Lost Time." From the very first page the reader is drawn into the many facets of memory, memory as prompted by all the human senses. "Swann's Way (Du côté de chez Swann, sometimes translated as The Way by Swann's) (1913) was rejected by a number of publishers, including Fasquelle, Ollendorff, and the Nouvelle Revue Française (NRF). André Gide was famously given the manuscript to read to advise NRF on publication, and leafing through the seemingly endless collection of memories and philosophizing or melancholic episodes, came across a few minor syntactic errors, which made him decide to turn the work down in his audit. Proust eventually arranged with the publisher Grasset to pay the cost of publication himself. When published it was advertised as the first of a three-volume novel (Bouillaguet and Rogers, 316-7). Du côté de chez Swann is divided into four parts: "Combray I" (sometimes referred to in English as the "Overture"), "Combray II," "Un Amour de Swann," and "Noms de pays: le nom." ('Names of places: the name'). A third-person novella within Du côté de chez Swann, "Un Amour de Swann" is sometimes published as a volume by itself. As it forms the self-contained story of Charles Swann's love affair with Odette de Crécy and is relatively short, it is generally considered a good introduction to the work and is often a set text in French schools. "Combray I" is also similarly excerpted; it ends with the famous madeleine cake episode, introducing the theme of involuntary memory. In early 1914, André Gide, who had been involved in NRF's rejection of the book, wrote to Proust to apologize and to offer congratulations on the novel. "For several days I have been unable to put your book down.... The rejection of this book will remain the most serious mistake ever made by the NRF and, since I bear the shame of being very much responsible for it, one of the most stinging and remorseful regrets of my life." - Summary by Wikipedia (edited by Expatriate) (19 hr 2 min)

Chapters

Overture, Section 01 15:19 Read by Expatriate
Overture, Section 02 18:22 Read by Expatriate
Overture, Section 03 17:07 Read by Expatriate
Overture, Section 04 15:47 Read by Expatriate
Overture, Section 05 17:59 Read by Expatriate
Overture, Section 06 16:37 Read by Expatriate
Overture, Section 07 18:13 Read by Expatriate
Combray, Section 01 17:40 Read by Expatriate
Combray, Section 02 19:24 Read by Expatriate
Combray, Section 03 16:41 Read by Expatriate
Combray, Section 04 18:25 Read by Expatriate
Combray, Section 05 17:37 Read by Expatriate
Combray, Section 06 16:45 Read by Expatriate
Combray, Section 06 17:16 Read by Expatriate
Combray, Section 07 17:20 Read by Expatriate
Combray, Section 08 19:22 Read by Expatriate
Combray, Section 09 18:59 Read by Expatriate
Combray, Section 10 17:57 Read by Expatriate
Combray, Section 11 18:31 Read by Expatriate
Combray, Section 12 19:36 Read by Expatriate
Combray, Section 13 18:43 Read by Expatriate
Combray, Section 14 20:08 Read by Expatriate
Combray, Section 15 18:42 Read by Expatriate
Combray, Section 16 18:20 Read by Expatriate
Combray, Section 17 17:35 Read by Expatriate
Combray, Section 18 19:06 Read by Expatriate
Combray, Section 19 19:16 Read by Expatriate
Combray, Section 20 14:13 Read by Expatriate
Swann in Love, Section 01 16:34 Read by Expatriate
Swann in Love, Section 02 19:25 Read by Expatriate
Swann in Love, Section 03 17:20 Read by Expatriate
Swann in Love, Section 04 18:41 Read by Expatriate
Swann in Love, Section 05 19:03 Read by Expatriate
Swann in Love, Section 06 19:27 Read by Expatriate
Swann in Love, Section 07 18:18 Read by Expatriate
Swann in Love, Section 08 22:38 Read by Expatriate
Swann in Love, Section 09 19:31 Read by Expatriate
Swann in Love, Section 10 20:43 Read by Expatriate
Swann in Love, Section 11 17:46 Read by Expatriate
Swann in Love, Section 12 21:52 Read by Expatriate
Swann in Love, Section 13 20:43 Read by Expatriate
Swann in Love, Section 14 19:13 Read by Expatriate
Swann in Love, Section 15 20:53 Read by Expatriate
Swann in Love, Section 16 20:05 Read by Expatriate
Swann in Love, Section 17 22:15 Read by Expatriate
Swann in Love, Section 18 21:49 Read by Expatriate
Swann in Love, Section 19 20:00 Read by Expatriate
Swann in Love, Section 20 22:23 Read by Expatriate
Swann in Love, Section 21 19:28 Read by Expatriate
Swann in Love, Section 22 23:51 Read by Expatriate
Swann in Love, Section 23 21:28 Read by Expatriate
Swann in Love, Section 24 21:51 Read by Expatriate
Swann in Love, Section 25 21:14 Read by Expatriate
Swann in Love, Section 26 14:29 Read by Expatriate
Place Names: The Name, Section 01 17:18 Read by Expatriate
Place Names: The Name, Section 02 23:14 Read by Expatriate
Place Names: The Name, Section 03 21:06 Read by Expatriate
Place Names: The Name, Section 04 18:26 Read by Expatriate
Place Names: The Name, Section 05 19:48 Read by Expatriate
Place Names: The Name, Section 06 20:38 Read by Expatriate

Reviews


(5 stars)

This book is rated amongst the best ever for good reason. It is dreamy and musing and enters into the mind and inner world like nothing I've read. It goes deeply into the realm of memory as well. It is entrancing and poetic and beautiful. Thank you for this reading.


(5 stars)

I love the long sentences that can be read in one long breath.


(4 stars)

such a good story, very well read. French pronunciation a little rough.