How Proust Can Change Your Life

By: Alain de Botton

Narrated by: Nicholas Bell

Length: 5 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

For anyone who ever wondered what Marcel Proust had in mind when he wrote the one-and-a-quarter-million words of In Search of Lost Time (while bedridden no less), Alain de Botton has the answer. For, in this stylish, erudite and frequently hilarious book, de Botton dips deeply into Proust’s life and work - his fiction, letters, and conversations – and distils from them that rare self-help manual: one that is actually helpful.

Here, tendered in prose almost as luminous as its subject’s, is advice on cultivating friendships, suffering successfully, recognising love, and understanding why you should never sleep with someone on the first date. And here, too, is a generously perceptive literary biography that suggests that the master is as relevant today as he was in fin de siècle Paris.

©1997 Alain de Botton (P)2010 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

A nice petite primer on Proust

A nice petite primer on Proust. It travels similar ground as Bakewell's How to Live: A Life of Montaigne, Bryson's Shakespeare: The World as Stage, and even Wright's The Moral Animal: Why We Are the Way We Are. These books are not quite biography, not quite self help, but books that use the respective author's life/work/time as a peep stone into our own world.

Don't be distracted by De Botton's hyperbolic title. Neither he nor Proust is claiming any special power to change your life, but what they are trying to do is simply write something that will be read, perhaps appreciated. In the end they might even hope to deliver something that will be give their readers hints of how to live, how to love, how to suffer, and how to slow down and SEE the world.

Good book, well read, with just one remark

I own both the print and audio versions of this book and as a Proust fan, I enjoyed reading both. I like Nicholas Bell's lively rendition of the text very much but, as a French native speaker, I regret that he didn't research the pronunciation of French last names (or chose not to bother with it) before embarking on the project. It is weird to hear the 'n' and the 's' pronounced in "Guermantes" for instance or the 'p' pronounced in "Loup". It is a bit as if in a French audio version of Bill Clinton's biography, his name was pronounced the French way, with the "in" and the "on" treated as nasal vowels. Not a biggie but it bothered me, maybe because Proust's writing is so musical, even in English, and because the reading is so good otherwise...

‘How To’ About Nothing

This audiobook is entitled “How Proust Can Change Your Life” by Alain De Botton, is in one part and runs for 5 hours, 6 minutes.

I find this audiobook tedious and hard to digest. Having initially skimmed through the titles of the respective chapters, this forewarned (or perhaps prejudiced) me that what would follow might not be to my liking. Taken together, the headings struck me as an over-ambitious venture, contrived, convoluted and laden with affectation. When I eventually listened to the actual contents of the book itself, my suspicions were confirmed.

So, here are these headings of the chapters:
Chapter 1: How to Love Life Today; Chapter 2: How to Read for Yourself; Chapter 3: How to Take Your Time; Chapter 4: How to Suffer Successfully; Chapter 5: How to Express Your Emotions; Chapter 6: How to Be a Good Friend; Chapter 7: How to Open Your Eyes; Chapter 8: How to be Happy in Love; Chapter 9: How to Put Books Down

I myself, having read the novel (after a fashion, for only a few persons can honestly be heard to say that they’ve really read it although they might have done just that) find it difficult to relate any of these headings to what I’ve managed to make myself understand of Proust’s work. Potentially the most boring and impenetrable novel to read, it was surprisingly less taxing on my patience and concentration than listening at times to this audiobook — in my attempt to make sense of it.

In Chapter 2, De Botton introduces what I regard as an unfortunate element of subjectivity into his work. He recognises in some of Proust’s characters (for example, Albertine, Madame Guermantes) certain persons of his own acquaintance. He gives us their names — one of whom, despite her likeness to Proust’s character, has never read Proust and, in any event, prefers George Elliot. I myself of course don’t know these acquaintances of De Botton and I can therefore not identify them in the respective characters in Proust’s work. I also fail to recognise any of my own acquaintances in Proust.

Granted, as De Botton points out, Proust was of the opinion that, in reality the reader is, while he’s reading, the reader of his own self. The writer’s work is therefore merely a kind of optical instrument which the writer offers to the reader to discern that, without this book, the reader would perhaps never have had inner experience of. Consequently, Proust held, recognition by the reader in his own self of what the book says is the proof of its veracity.
I’ll concede that to me this information is very informative and helpful. I do not have an in depth knowledge of Proust or his work. I would have been unaware of Proust’s sentiments if I hadn't heard them from Alain De Botton. He gave me more insight into the mind of Proust and goes a long way toward clarifying the manner in which Proust perceives his reader.

However, to the narrator of the novel, characters come and go — he has scant regard for those he falls in and out of love with, or for those aristocrats whose banquets he frequents, or for his closest of his friends, or even, at least in one instance, for his beloved grandmother, when he fumes at her for wanting to have a photograph taken of herself. I don’t think that Proust wanted us to remember his characters as such, or that he wanted us to see in them reflections of those dear us, or wanted them to assist us in Regaining Lost Time. In this regard, Proust (through the narrator) is more interested in the abstract, the inanimate: i.e., the taste of a madeleine cookie and the sound of a teaspoon against a plate. In my opinion, characterisation does not fulfil such a central role in this novel so as to project the characteristics of any of the personae onto those of any acquaintance of the reader.

I find Chapter 3 informative, only because it gives me as a novice to Proust, what I regard as a basic insight into Proust’s novel. And besides, one can never have enough of this basic information, given the complexity of the work. So, I I’ve enjoyed the simplistic approach adopted in the bulk of this chapter, whereby the nitty-gritty of the difficulties associated in approaching Proust is revealed.

Alain De Botton comments that whatever the merits of Proust’s work, even a fervent admire would be hard pressed to deny one of its awkward features — its length. We learn that even Proust’s own brother, Robert, lamented that people have to be very ill or have broken a leg in order to have had the opportunity to read this work. De Botton comments that this reader faces another challenge — the length of individual sentences which are snake-like constructions. The very longest is located in the 5th volume and would, if arranged along a single line in standard sized text, run for a little short of 4 m and stretch around the base of a bottle of wine 17 times.

In 1913 the head of an esteemed publishing house, upon being asked to consider Proust’s manuscript for publication, remarked: “My dear friend, I may be dense . . . but I fail to see why a chap needs 30 pages to describe how he tosses and turns in bed before falling asleep.” A reader for another publishing house remarked, at the end of 712 pages of the manuscript, that “one doesn’t have a single, but not a single clue of what this is about. What is the point of all this? What does it all mean? Where is it all leading? Impossible to know anything about it. Impossible to say anything about it.” All other publishers went along with such sentiments and eventually Proust was forced to pay for the publication of his work himself.

The other chapters of this audiobook, oscillate with varying degrees of success, between attempting to give us further insight into the life and work of Proust: on the one hand, Marcel Proust the brilliant novelist, and on the other, Marcel Proust the dilettante artist in general, critic, philosopher and even psychologist. To boot De Botton would have us believe that Proust is apparently instructing us on “How to . . . Love Life Today, to Read for Yourself, Take Your Time, Suffer Successfully, Express Your Emotions, Be a Good Friend, Open Your Eyes, be Happy in Love and Put Books Down”.

Insofar as Alain De Botton purports to enlighten me on “How To” achieve any of the above goals, I regard his attempt as unsuccessful. However, his giving me more basic insight into the life and work of Marcel Proust, I find helpful.

PS: I have recently reviewed another Audible book also dealing, inter alia, with Marcel Proust’s “In Search of Lost Time”. This audiobook, entitled “The Modern Scholar: Giants of French Literature — Balzac, Flaubert, Proust and Camus” by Prof. Katherine Elkins, is worth acquiring.

Gentle, inciting and above all, human.

What made the experience of listening to How Proust Can Change Your Life the most enjoyable?

Being aware of de Botton's accessible, yet insightful previous work, helped me enjoy his specific overview of a lengthy series of books I know I will never read or listen to. Knowing that this slim novel is as close as I will ever get to knowing a fraction of what Proust tried to incite his readers to think AFTER they put his books down helped me cope with my awe and wonder. Mostly I loved chuckling along with the whimsical self doubts revealed by the diverse reactions to Proust's monumental achievements by people involved with Monty Python, Virginia Woolf and of course the author himself. Being a fan already of the previous incitements to think further than the parameters of the aforementioned, I could trust this mini guide.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Although this is not quite appropriate for this book, being a Proustian Primer, it helps me to mention the author himself as a "character." His " presence" as he drives through the French countryside near Chartres on the way to find the fabled Proustian Madeleine, I was reminded of we the countless tourists who have travelled the globe, retracing/ revisiting/paying homage to Art and places which have figured previously only as figments of someone else's imagination. Proust himself would have approved, I think, because we are prompted to avoid "artistic idolatry" and relish the every day items we encounter, in the Proustian spirit.

What three words best describe Nicholas Bell’s voice?

Disappointing French accent. I am sorry. Previous reviewers have remarked on the gross mis pronunciation of the names, places, events which form the important foundations of this book. They were correct of course. What a mistake to make by the production company. Although the gentleman's voice itself is pleasant enough, the awful accent jars in nearly every line.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Not a pilgrimage to points of Proustian artistic interest.

Any additional comments?

How life affirming a gentle book can be. There is no " self help" tone to this book for which some of us are really grateful. Nonetheless, the wisdom of others can be mulled over with no entreaties that this, or any other knowledge is " the key."

Whimsical, clever, enlightening.

Wonderful book. I'm getting the paperback to retread and share. It's that good. It occasionally sounds condescending, but this is a quibble.

Personal

Any additional comments?

Taste of what Proust might be about - focusing on major areas like friends, love, books. Elaborates on how beauty is found in noticing things that might otherwise be considered mundane. It is only through pain and difficult lessons that we really learn. Avoiding the common turn of phrase to really describe what is experienced rather than relying on someone else's perception. Richness in the minutia. Descriptions of Proust as a tortured individual.

Could not get through it

I guess this book was not what I expected. I was expecting snippets of his text and how they relate to modern life with many examples. After 2 hours of listening it was mostly about Proust's really sad and tragic life. I found some interest in backstory of Proust's family. But, the book goes into too much detail on some of his work without the real examples of pertinence now. It was not very engrossing and I just couldn't bear to finish it!

I loved it!!

I thought this book might be dry and boring, but the exact opposite is true. I have a new-found appreciation for Proust. Very thought-provoking in an enjoyable way.

utterly lovely

a great piece on a great lover of beauty. I highly recommend giving it a go

De Botton delivers, as ever

As John Berger would say, "a way of seeing" that's differently perceptive and alters one's approach to Proust, literature in general and the world around one.

Prose at its most elegant, beautifully performed

If you could sum up How Proust Can Change Your Life in three words, what would they be?

Witty, elegant, affecting

What did you like best about this story?

Of all the audiobooks I have downloaded, this is the one I return to again and again. It's a clever book, written by a master of supremely elegant yet unnaffected prose, enhanced by its competent and non-irritating narrator. It isn't a self-help book in the true sense, thank goodness, although it encourages one to reflect on how one lives. I also learnt a lot about Proust the writer and the man, and I wish that I could go back in time and spend an evening in his evidently delightful company. Bravo Mr de Botton.

Really good

Amazon won't let me leave this page until I give some sort of forced opinion.

I liked this book.

Are you happy now, Amazon??

Life before finishing Proust

An entertaining adjunct to my current extended soirée into all things Combray. With some time to kill when not able to hunker down and give it my all, I decided to get to bottom out de Botton in more or less one sitting of just over five hours.

This seems to be self-help with a helping hand from a wide ranging reading of Proust and the ancillary of luminaries who enlighten as to what it all might mean. Great fun to be in the book looking out at someone looking in.

Will Proust change my life? He has....certainly to the extent that I got a trouble free holiday out of it. Will this? No.

Sensitive and perceptive

An elegantly written perusal of aspects of Proust's writings and life. Lots of intelligent observations about how we may learn to enjoy life more and suffer less. Relaxed and chatty in style, with plenty of curious details if his life.
One anecdote I found particularly interesting was the brief meeting between Proust and Joyce. A cold, indifferent exchange with no engagement from either man.

Maybe a more appropriate title would be How What Proust Wrote Can Change Your Life. His life has contributed a work of stunning perception on a huge range of human predicaments, yet his life is not one many would choose to emulate, or rather suffer. Great sensitivity comes at a high price.

Zzzzz

Disappointingly dull. I fell asleep every time I listened to this. I've given it 2 stars because I was grateful that it alleviated my insomnia for a while.

A book about a French author

This is a book about a French author. Surely you could have found a reader able to pronounce French.

good intro to Proust's work

a lot of anecdotes from Proust's life but not quite life changing. few chapters speak to Proustiam philosophy of life.

A little dry but worthwhile

Some good points but Proust hasn't changed my life. Certainly, there is not enough room made for wisdom or philosophy in the world today.

well worth a listen

I really enjoyed this thought provoking book. A good insight to Proust. If like me you have not read his famous book, this gives you an insight to who he really
was.

How to kill an audio book with bad French

Alain de Botton - great writer - lots of time for his ideas and takes on Proust.

Narrator's French pronunciation - shocking - each time I heard him say Guer (hard g) - man (not nasalised) - tes (he says tez like in tazer!) I died a little inside (it's a name that comes up again and again). Even when he tried to say Andre Gide - he somehow got it wrong. Surely he could have asked a French speaker if he was unsure...

Otherwise, as a narrator he was excellent but - overall score - 1/5. We shall not forgive!