Swann's Way

Swann's Way is the first and best-known part of Proust's monumental work, Remembrance of Things Past. Often compared to a symphony, this complex masterpiece is ideally suited for audio. Listening lets you appreciate anew the incredible beauty of Proust's language and the uniqueness of his style.

The novel's narrator, Marcel, finds the true meaning of experience in memories stimulated by some random object or event. He recalls his childhood, and eventually reconstructs the story of Monsieur Swann and his passion for Odette, a beautiful, but socially inferior woman. Marcel's waking reverie gives rise to fascinating questions about the meaning of time.

Swann's Way, with its long passages of intricate introspection, becomes much more accessible and enjoyable with George Guidall's lucid narration.

Translation by C K Scott-Moncrieff.