Stéphane Heuet

Observations of society and etiquette as an adolescent on holiday, living as a dilettante with his grandmother. Illustrations (reminiscent of Tintin) in full colour, this adaptation set in the fictional seaside town of Balbec, on the Normandy coast. I loved the visual atmosphere created in this novel of a seaside town in the late 1800s/early 1900s, with the changes in weather, the cycle rides, the diablo games, the bandstands, the excursions, and the seasonal holiday makers staying in a Grand Hotel. Also the depictions of the (fictional) artist's watercolours really helped bring the story to life - Proust with his lingering observations captured well in this adaptation. The glossary in the back was particularly useful, explaining references to Proust's influences and social attitudes of the time. A superb way of understanding the novel.… (altro)

The Lazy approach to getting to know the contents of this famous novel. Illustrated throughout in colour. References to Eurydice, Chat Noir & Musée Grévin, Japanese water-flowers (and water-houses), Champs-Elysées, The Elysian Garden of Women, The alley of myrtles in the Aeneid, The Allée des Acacias, Dryad in the trees, Diomedes "cruel chargers bloodshot eyes"; like so many writers of a period, it is particularly noticeable that they expect the readers to have been taught the classics of ancient Greece and Rome as they were. Glad to have become acquainted with Proust, especially the Madeleine event that gave the name "Proustian" to a stimulation of unconscious memory. I also enjoyed his invention of a composer, Vinteuil, and that the music was used in the same way. The story illustrated well the social conventions and snobbery of French society at the time.… (altro)