/lit/ - Literature

Sup /lit/

First time on this board and came to ask you about Proust's In Search of Lost Time. I've only heard good stuff about Swann's Way, the first book, but literally wasn't even aware of the names of the other volumes and came to ask is it worth reading the whole series? I've not read Swann's Way yet either and am curious to know /lit/'s opinion on the work.


Pic related

Everyone's gay.

Anyone else read/currently reading these?

Ahoy /lit/.

Is Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time all it's cracked up to be? Should I dig in?

Has anyone here read all (or even just some parts) of it? Is it worth the effort?

I read the whole damn thing, for which I feel like demanding a medal. A famous quote about this work goes, "I may be thicker skinned than most, but I just can't understand why anyone should take thirty pages to describe how he tosses about in bed because he can't get to sleep. I clutched my head."

I heartily agree. Nor do I like dinner parties that take longer to read about than they took to occur. The main problem with Proust (and his admirers) is that they are convinced that the French aristocracy, with all their trivial concerns and all their trivial conversations, were actually interesting. In reality, they were very dull and conventional people. One of Proust's friends actually said that to him, but Proust was too status-struck to listen.

The only character in the books I liked was Charles Morel, because he screwed everyone over and treated them like dirt. By the time I finished, I thought they deserved him.

Anyone read In Search of Lost Time? I know where to get a complete, pretty cheap Folio set.