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BookDragon Blog

19 Sep / How Proust Can Change Your Life by Alain de Botton

How Proust Can Change Your LifeFirst 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

By Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, British, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction Tags > Alain de Botton, BookDragon, How Proust Can Change Your Life, Lit crit, Personal transformation
2 Comments
  • silverseason

    Did he tell you anything you did not already now? Did he feel your pain? I thought the book was better regarding Proust than regarding self help. http://silverseason.wordpress.com/

    Reply
    • terryhong

      Reading Proust in a college lit class actually did change my life (if nothing else, I’ll never look at madeleines again the same way!) … I was in my late teens when I first read Proust, so I’m sure my understanding was limited by my then-very-young experience.

      Reading Proust through de Botton’s clever lens decades later certainly provided great entertainment … in addition to greater insight ….

      Reply

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