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Remembrance of Things Past
- Swann's Way
- Narrated by: John Rowe
- Length: 19 hrs and 44 mins
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Remembrance of Things Past
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Summary
Exclusively from Audible
Swann's Way is Marcel Proust's literary masterpiece and the first part of the multivolume audiobook Remembrance of Things Past.
In the opening volume, the narrator travels back in time to recall his childhood and to introduce the listener to Charles Swann, a wealthy friend of the family and celebrity in the Parisian social scene. He again travels back, this time to the youth of Charles Swann in the French town of Combray, to tell the story of the love affair that took place before his own birth. The jealous love that Swann feels for the courtesan Odette, is a foretelling of the narrator's own future relationships.
Proust paints an unforgettable, scathing and at times comic portrait of French society at the close of the 19th century and reveals a profound vision of obsessive love. The remarkable details from his memory are the fundamental triumph of the audiobook; details like his younger self's desperate need for a goodnight kiss from his mother.
In 1922, Virginia Woolf marvelled, 'Oh if I could write like that!'
Many adaptations have been made of Swann's Way including the 1984 English language film, Swann in Love, starring Jeremy Irons, and a graphic novel by French comic artist Stéphane Heuet that was first published in 1998.
Narrator Biography
Whilst training at the Birmingham School of Speech and Drama, John Rowe did his first radio plays for the BBC before spending several years acting in repertory theatre. He then joined the BBC's Radio Drama Company at Broadcasting House and after a three year stint on stage with the Prospect Company at The Old Vic he became a committed radio actor. He is well known for his role as Professor Jim Lloyd in The Archers. He has not only worked extensively in radio but also in television and film, as well as narrating many audiobooks, including Within a Budding Grove by Marcel Proust. His film appearances have included The Heart of Me (2002) and Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001). He has most recently appeared on onscreen in the Netflix series The Crown (2016) and the BBC TV series Broken (2017).
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- Anonymous User
- 05-06-19
From Taj
What a masterpiece. some parts of the book are so intimate one wishes to remember them, to bring them out of the unconscious mind... to go over them with Proust over a cup of... herbal tea as he would like it.
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- Alison O
- 03-03-19
Sheer perfection
Wonderful translation of this glorious masterpiece. A superlative performance by John Rowe. Will hunt down all else he has narrated for more such gems
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- kathleen m dineen
- 16-02-22
tea and cake
a warm bath fully clothed
an absolute prick tease.
flowing asur silk
beautiful word
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- Gawain Mayall
- 31-05-23
Quite excellent
The narrator really caught the wistful poetic tone. Why must I write fifteen words. Eh?
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- anna
- 16-03-24
outstanding
I'd put off reading Proust for 30 years and thanks Audible, this audible book has made me want to read them all. it was outstanding 👏.
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- Barbie
- 12-08-18
Beautiful!
This is definitely the best way to enjoy Proust! Wonderful prose, beautifully narrated. It doesn’t get any better than this.
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- Kentigern
- 20-03-21
excellent
Excellent performance of a challenging text. Highly recommended. Honestly not sure what to make of the book itself but it is powerfully evocative and often amusing or insightful even if you might sometimes struggle to like the characters
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- osama
- 24-02-17
Rich, descriptive, colorful, deep, very slow paced
I enjoyed the first part, things afterwards became very slow and deeply descriptive. not my style.
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- Anonymous User
- 12-07-20
An incredible sensory experience...
My only sadness is that John Rowe has only narrated two volumes in the series. Will the other 5 volumes follow?
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- Tone
- 15-05-22
A profound experience.
This magnus opus of Proust is a challenge for many readers. Easily offput by its sheer volume and on the surface a rather dreary representation of the tedious lives of upper class French aristocracy of the late 19th century.
The first Volume is the best in my opinion as I suffered with the detailed relationships covered in the later volumes because they focus more on relationships of characters I couldn't care for.
Swann's way however is different, it is a literary work of art, that includes most of the well known parts of the entire work.
It's "Mindfulness literature". Long passages and sentences whirling around in beautiful, delicious, unassuming, natural prose examining the minute detail & beauty of just being.
Whether in the past or present, the experience is still in the moment of now, that moment when time is no longer relevant.
Like poetry, there is no desire for a plot or story to drive the narrative forward. As the title indicates, the focus is often on the small precious unexpected moments we remember & can recall with delightful nostalgia in later life.
Hard to really explain the experience, it takes time and patience and often many attempts to fall into this work and become absorbed by it.
So different to a normal read. The reader is required to become at one with the language, to flow with the prose, to feel it envelope you and wash around you.
When you find the sweet spot you will know it. Like a new awakening. A moment of transcendence. Sometimes having read for an hour but not realising that time has even passed a minute.
This is the reason many rate this work as one of the greatest pieces of European literature.
Persevere, you will be rewarded.
I've listened to the alternative, first class narrators for this volume but in my opinion John Rowe's narration is the one that most easily and fully transported me to the required state of consciousness.
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