How Proust Can Change Your Life by Alain de Botton
First off, I want to announce that I have actually read Marcel Proust: madeleines, mothers, memories, and all. But admittedly, only under great duress as I had to pass my college literature class. I still have marked-up Proust texts on my shelf as proof. Of course some of the notes are rather illegible and clearly show signs of nodding off, but at least I did at least turn EVERY page.
Okay, so forget Proust. Which I did, until I picked up the second of my Alain de Botton books (not reading in publishing order, I realize) and just about laughed myself silly, with more than a few ‘aha’-moments thrown in. And maybe for the first time, I was actually just a wee bit thankful for having somehow annotated through Swann’s Way (the first volume of Proust’s seven-volume tome, Remembrances of Things Past). De Botton, however, has seemingly read everything else of Proust’s too. Thank goodness, we get only the best bits!
With clarity (and brevity!), de Botton makes Proust accessible even to lit crit rejects like me! But the minor miracle here is that by using pertinent Proust passages (say that 10 times fast!), de Botton manages to create an incredibly entertaining self-help guide on how to live a happier, richer life. Who knew Proust could be so funny? Or so knowing? From “How to Love Life Today,” to “How to Suffer Successfully,” to “How to Put Books Down,” de Botton (and Proust) are all the guidance you need to a better you! In just one short volume, too. Imagine that!
Readers: Adult
Published: 1997
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