How to Read Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time

Comments · 209

• BL

  @Bluszczykkkurdybanek · 2 months ago

  It took me three years to read this book, and I finished it last year. To celebrate the end of this beautiful journey, I baked myself some madeleines on the evening I read the last few pages :) It felt like the perfect way to mark the occasion. This is a deeply rewarding book, a true lifelong companion. I’ll definitely be rereading it many times for the rest of my life.<br><br>Thanks for the video and cheers from Poland!

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• JA

  @janefaceinthewind6260 · 2 months ago

  Oh Ben. What you are doing is so beautiful and so, so important. In a world where many are overwhelmed by a dystopian feeling of blandness, fear and the absence of humanity, you show them the incredible value and the power of the written word, of creative souls that were on fire and that created entire worlds that are eternal, with they minds alone, &nbsp;and thus you show us all that creation and the human mind and soul are powerful and can indeed change the world. Thank you so much for the spark of enthusiasm that is jumping over on us with every video you make. So many sparks - a firework! Thank you so much indeed.

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• FT

  @ftlpopeepopltf541 · 2 months ago

  I started it in 1980 and got around to finishing it more than 30 years later.

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• CH

  @christianmasters5374 · 2 months ago

  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeNXKPTOESA&amp;t=710">11:50</a> “an epiphany cannot be summarized and bestowed upon another rapidly.” 🗣️🗣️🗣️🔥🔥🔥 my man just dropping bars out here!<br>I was just reading an article in the Atlantic yesterday discussing how grim the future looks with rates of people reading for pleasure falling and many young (and not so young) adults not being able to read long, complex sentences, never mind long, complex works, thoughtfully. The whole time I was reading it, I thought about this channel and the beacon of light that it is. You demonstrate the power of enthusiasm and excitement so well and so effectively communicate the power that transformative works of art have! Thank you for everything you do, it’s so motivating to know that there are people like you out in the world who not only read the great books but love them and live them!

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• JE

  @JefferyEpsteinOfficial · 2 months ago

  You are the best literature youtuber!

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• PE

  @peterpiperthefirst9791 · 2 months ago (edited)

  It took me a very long time to get through Proust. I would give up and start again a couple years later. Each time I would start from the beginning so I’ve read Swanns Way three or four times. The way I got through was just to keep a book by my bed and read it when I was in the mood. I never forced it. And suddenly, I’d read it all. The point all of this is if you are someone who loves the novel, do not cheat yourself of this experience. Nothing quite like it.

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• KE

  @kenjiparas · 2 months ago (edited)

  &quot;When to the sessions of sweet silent thought<br>I summon up remembrance of things past&quot;<br>- Sonnet 30, Shakespeare<br><br>Thank you as always for these lectures, Ben! This is one of the lectures, along with the Lispector and Finnegans Wake, that I&apos;ve been waiting for from your channel. When it comes to literature, no one in this red app comes close to your knowledge. I consider you my Abbe Faria because you taught me so much about literature and you lit up my passion on reading books.<br><br>Keep on going, Ben! 🎉

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• LO

  @lorannamoody7011 · 2 months ago

  What amazes me is how much humor there is in the books. Example: the lyrics of the songs that the grandfather makes up. Also, it has the best descriptions of the feelings that come when a grandmother dies.

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• PD

  @pdcasablanca · 2 months ago

  Marvelous! Two of the finer things in life combined: your channel and Marcel Proust! Currently reading The Guermantes Way. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, my good sir, for the knowledge that you share with us, Jonas from Sweden

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• RA

  @rabbit5000 · 2 months ago

  there&apos;s lots i like of the way you film your videos but my current faves are those clips of your book collections and editions, the flipping of the pages and spotting some annotations — they&apos;re great to look at (visually) but also gets me feeling really inspired and raring to go!!

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• KO

  @Kokirikid101 · 2 months ago

  Can’t wait to watch this. Just reread the first four volumes in the new Oxford editions and will continue my reread in November when they release the Captive. I can’t state how amazing the Oxford editions are, in my opinion the very best translations of Proust. I watched your first video before tackling my first read of the Search last year, can’t wait to watch this video with joy of Proust already obtained

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• RV

  @rv.9658 · 2 months ago

  Wish i had this expanded version (of your past video) to consult back in late 2022 when I read Proust. I&apos;d say I wished i could read it again for the first time now...but I&apos;d be lying, given the stringent limits on my freetime as compared to 2022, and how proud I am to say I&apos;ve already finished this particular work.<br>Side note: I loved the solemn whispering in your earlier proust video and hoped to hear it in this one too 😅

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