The Year of Reading Proust discussion

I just finished my first piece of preliminary reading: Proust's Overcoat: The True Story of One Man's Passion for All Things Proust. It was fabulous and i think i will read it again after we finish ISOLT, if not before. If anyone needs anything to get them excited, READ THIS.

Added to my list, Marieke. I'm trying to get as many Proust pre-lims in before we start the real thing.

Proustitute wrote: "Marieke, as you can see from my review, I also loved it. I see from Kris's review that she feels similarly.

I hope others will read it before ISOLT! I think it's a great book to read first as it l..."

indeed; i'm tempted to just link to both your reviews instead of writing my own. (i just have to figure out what to say).

if anyone is hesitating, it's really short! and it's super engaging. you won't want to put it down. normally i would have read this on a saturday morning, but i opted to read it as a commute book, and it was also perfect for that (it just took me a few days to read that way).

Sold. I'm on it ---
thanks.

Kristen wrote: "Sold. I'm on it ---
thanks."

:)

When we read ISOLT next year, i'll be thinking about what Marthe was missing out on. ;)

It's a lovely book. And the approach is wonderful - I liked the layers in it - the ways that information about Guérin, the Proust family, passages from ISOLT, and the artifacts are all woven together.

And there's something so moving about thinking of Proust wrapped in that black overcoat, sitting in his bed, writing ISOLT longhand.

I picked up my library copy today - yay!

Oh good, Kristen. I'm looking forward to hearing what you think of it. :)

are you going to read it in one fell swoop? i borrowed an e-version from my library because of instant gratification, but then i got a hard copy from the library at work, so i will have it at home for awhile which means i'll probably end up buying it. :)

ah yes...looking at it I think I want/need my own copy somehow. It's a little charmer of a book.

It's a little charmer of a book.

YES! in fact, i'm loving my entire arrangement of Proust books, only some of which i own. for the time being. i will likely own the rest...i will single-handedly save the economy! (actually, this all means the christmas list will have something on it this year)

anyway, i really thought it was one of those perfect little books...it was short, but not too short. and if it had been longer, the author would have been in danger of over-doing some things, i think. i appreciated how she didn't go too far into all of Marthe's hang-ups, for example.

perfect...need, want, gotta have!

Will get this one. Sounds good.

read this on a beach the other day, and you were all right - this is very much a "one sitting" book.

i don't know very much about proust's life and i'm trying to change that before i read ISOLT. i didn't realize how much was almost lost after he died. guerin's dedication to collecting and saving proust's legacy and work is touching. i wonder how different ISOLT would be without his dedication?