-
Sodom and Gomorrah
- Remembrance of Things Past - Volume 4
- Narrated by: Neville Jason
- Length: 26 hrs and 13 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $45.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Captive: Remembrance of Things Past - Volume 5
- By: Marcel Proust
- Narrated by: Neville Jason
- Length: 19 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Remembrance of Things Past is one of the monuments of 20th-century literature. Neville Jason’s widely praised abridged version has rightly become an audiobook landmark and now, after numerous requests, he is recording the whole work unabridged which, when complete, will run for some 140 hours. The Captive is the fifth of seven volumes. The Narrator’s obsessive love for Albertine makes her virtually a captive in his Paris apartment. He suspects she may be attracted to her own sex.
-
-
At last a way to listen to this great classic
- By Patricia on 04-25-14
By: Marcel Proust
-
Within a Budding Grove, Part 1
- By: Marcel Proust
- Narrated by: Neville Jason
- Length: 3 hrs and 45 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Within a Budding Grove, Part 1 is the second volume of Proust's monumental, seven volume, quasi-autobiographical novel Remembrance of Things Past, which has been described as "one of the greatest works of imagination of all time." As the young narrator succumbs to the charms of the enchanting Gilberte, the author presents us with an unparalleled account of the pangs of adolescent love.
-
-
More social mores
- By Marius on 01-21-10
By: Marcel Proust
-
The Magic Mountain
- By: Thomas Mann
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 37 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hans Castorp is, on the face of it, an ordinary man in his early 20s, on course to start a career in ship engineering in his home town of Hamburg, when he decides to travel to the Berghof Santatorium in Davos. The year is 1912 and an oblivious world is on the brink of war. Castorp’s friend Joachim Ziemssen is taking the cure and a three-week visit seems a perfect break before work begins. But when Castorp arrives he is surprised to find an established community of patients, and little by little, he gets drawn into the closeted life and the individual personalities of the residents.
-
-
worth the wait
- By L. Kerr on 06-01-20
By: Thomas Mann
-
Buddenbrooks
- The Decline of a Family
- By: Thomas Mann
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 26 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First published in 1900, when Thomas Mann was 25, Buddenbrooks is a minutely imagined chronicle of four generations of a North German mercantile family - a work so true to life that it scandalized the author’s former neighbours in his native Lübeck.
-
-
Where Have You Been All My Life, Thomas Mann?
- By Virginia Waldron on 03-30-17
By: Thomas Mann
-
The Life and Work of Marcel Proust
- By: Neville Jason
- Narrated by: Neville Jason
- Length: 3 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This, the first audio-biography of Marcel Proust, tells the story of one of the world's most original and admired literary geniuses. From his youth in the salons of Belle Epoque Paris, we follow his progress through to his later years when, as a near recluse, he writes through the nights in his cork-lined bedroom.
-
-
A fine intro to Proust
- By Kirk McElhearn on 10-19-06
By: Neville Jason
-
In Search of Lost Time (Dramatized)
- By: Marcel Proust
- Narrated by: James Wilby, Jonathan Firth, Harriet Walter, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 39 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Featuring a fictional version of himself - 'Marcel' - and a host of friends, acquaintances, and lovers, In Search of Lost Time is Proust's search for the key to the mysteries of memory, time, and consciousness. As he recalls his childhood days, the sad affair of Charles Swann and Odette de Crecy, his transition to manhood, the tortures of love and the ravages of war, he realises that the simplest of discoveries can lead to astonishing possibilities.
-
-
Proust Snapshot
- By Wendy on 05-06-14
By: Marcel Proust
-
The Captive: Remembrance of Things Past - Volume 5
- By: Marcel Proust
- Narrated by: Neville Jason
- Length: 19 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Remembrance of Things Past is one of the monuments of 20th-century literature. Neville Jason’s widely praised abridged version has rightly become an audiobook landmark and now, after numerous requests, he is recording the whole work unabridged which, when complete, will run for some 140 hours. The Captive is the fifth of seven volumes. The Narrator’s obsessive love for Albertine makes her virtually a captive in his Paris apartment. He suspects she may be attracted to her own sex.
-
-
At last a way to listen to this great classic
- By Patricia on 04-25-14
By: Marcel Proust
-
Within a Budding Grove, Part 1
- By: Marcel Proust
- Narrated by: Neville Jason
- Length: 3 hrs and 45 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Within a Budding Grove, Part 1 is the second volume of Proust's monumental, seven volume, quasi-autobiographical novel Remembrance of Things Past, which has been described as "one of the greatest works of imagination of all time." As the young narrator succumbs to the charms of the enchanting Gilberte, the author presents us with an unparalleled account of the pangs of adolescent love.
-
-
More social mores
- By Marius on 01-21-10
By: Marcel Proust
-
The Magic Mountain
- By: Thomas Mann
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 37 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hans Castorp is, on the face of it, an ordinary man in his early 20s, on course to start a career in ship engineering in his home town of Hamburg, when he decides to travel to the Berghof Santatorium in Davos. The year is 1912 and an oblivious world is on the brink of war. Castorp’s friend Joachim Ziemssen is taking the cure and a three-week visit seems a perfect break before work begins. But when Castorp arrives he is surprised to find an established community of patients, and little by little, he gets drawn into the closeted life and the individual personalities of the residents.
-
-
worth the wait
- By L. Kerr on 06-01-20
By: Thomas Mann
-
Buddenbrooks
- The Decline of a Family
- By: Thomas Mann
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 26 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First published in 1900, when Thomas Mann was 25, Buddenbrooks is a minutely imagined chronicle of four generations of a North German mercantile family - a work so true to life that it scandalized the author’s former neighbours in his native Lübeck.
-
-
Where Have You Been All My Life, Thomas Mann?
- By Virginia Waldron on 03-30-17
By: Thomas Mann
-
The Life and Work of Marcel Proust
- By: Neville Jason
- Narrated by: Neville Jason
- Length: 3 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This, the first audio-biography of Marcel Proust, tells the story of one of the world's most original and admired literary geniuses. From his youth in the salons of Belle Epoque Paris, we follow his progress through to his later years when, as a near recluse, he writes through the nights in his cork-lined bedroom.
-
-
A fine intro to Proust
- By Kirk McElhearn on 10-19-06
By: Neville Jason
-
In Search of Lost Time (Dramatized)
- By: Marcel Proust
- Narrated by: James Wilby, Jonathan Firth, Harriet Walter, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 39 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Featuring a fictional version of himself - 'Marcel' - and a host of friends, acquaintances, and lovers, In Search of Lost Time is Proust's search for the key to the mysteries of memory, time, and consciousness. As he recalls his childhood days, the sad affair of Charles Swann and Odette de Crecy, his transition to manhood, the tortures of love and the ravages of war, he realises that the simplest of discoveries can lead to astonishing possibilities.
-
-
Proust Snapshot
- By Wendy on 05-06-14
By: Marcel Proust
-
Speak Memory
- An Autobiography Revisited
- By: Vladimir Nabokov
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Speak, Memory, first published in 1951 as Conclusive Evidence and then assiduously revised in 1966, is an elegant and rich evocation of Nabokov’s life and times, even as it offers incisive insights into his major works, including Lolita, Pnin, Despair, The Gift, The Real Life of Sebastian Knight, and The Luhzin Defense.
-
-
this inspired me to read Nabokov's novels
- By meredith mcarthur on 03-16-12
By: Vladimir Nabokov
-
Absalom, Absalom!
- By: William Faulkner
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 12 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Absalom, Absalom! tells the story of Thomas Sutpen, the enigmatic stranger who came to Jefferson township in the early 1830s. With a French architect and a band of wild Haitians, he wrung a fabulous plantation out of the muddy bottoms of the north Mississippi wilderness. Sutpen was a man, Faulker said, "who wanted sons and the sons destroyed him". His tragedy left its impress not only on his contemporaries but also on men who came after, men like Quentin Compson, haunted even into the 20th century by Sutpen's legacy.
-
-
Narrator made the difficult easy.
- By Elizabeth on 11-16-11
By: William Faulkner
-
The Complete Essays of Montaigne
- By: Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, Donald M. Frame - translator
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 49 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
“A faithful translation is rare; a translation which preserves intact the original text is very rare; a perfect translation of Montaigne appears impossible. Yet Donald Frame has realized this feat. One does not seem to be reading a translation, so smooth and easy is the style; at each moment, one seems to be listening to Montaigne himself - the freshness of his ideas, the unexpected choice of words. Frame has kept everything.” (Andre Maurois, The New York Times Book Review)
-
-
Spend some enjoyable time with Michel de Montaigne
- By Rooby on 10-04-12
By: Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, and others
-
Being and Time
- By: Martin Heidegger
- Narrated by: Martyn Swain, Taylor Carman
- Length: 23 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Being and Time was published in 1927 during the Weimar period in Germany, a time of political, social and economic turmoil. Heidegger himself did not escape the pressures and his nationalism, and undeniable anti-Semitism in the following decades cast a shadow over the man, but not the work. Being and Time is not coloured by expressions of his later views (unlike other writings) and remains an outstanding document.
-
-
Surprised it works as audio
- By Anonymous on 02-02-20
By: Martin Heidegger
-
Germinal
- By: Émile Zola
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 19 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Germinal is one of the most striking novels in the French tradition. Widely regarded as Zola's masterpiece, the novel describes the working conditions of French coalminers in the 1860s in harsh and realistic terms. It is visceral, graphic, and unrelenting. Its strong socialist principles and vivid accounts of the miners' strikes meant that the novel became a key symbol in the workers' fight against oppression, with chants of "Germinal! Germinal!" resonating high above the author's funeral.
-
-
Fabulous!
- By Jim and Tori M. on 02-19-18
By: Émile Zola
-
Wagnerism
- Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music
- By: Alex Ross
- Narrated by: Alex Ross
- Length: 28 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alex Ross, renowned New Yorker music critic and author of the international best seller and Pulitzer Prize finalist The Rest Is Noise, reveals how Richard Wagner became the proving ground for modern art and politics - an aesthetic war zone where the Western world wrestled with its capacity for beauty and violence.
-
-
Not Just for Wagner Experts!
- By Rupert Pupkin on 09-26-20
By: Alex Ross
-
Outlander
- Outlander, Book 1
- By: Diana Gabaldon
- Narrated by: Davina Porter
- Length: 32 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why we think it’s a great listen: An all-time Audible favorite that mixes historic fiction, adventure, and romance with one of the most fascinating literary devices: time travel. Outlander introduces an exhilarating world of heroism and breathtaking thrills as one woman is torn between past and present, passion and love. In 1945, former combat nurse Claire Randall returns from World War II and joins her husband for a second honeymoon. But their blissful reunion is shattered....
-
-
Interesting story with a little too much romance
- By Anonymous User on 11-30-18
By: Diana Gabaldon
-
World Without End
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 45 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1989 Ken Follett astonished the literary world with The Pillars of the Earth, set in 12th-century England. Readers and listeners ever since have hoped for a sequel. At last, here it is. Although the two novels may be listened to in any order, World Without End also takes place in Kingsbridge, two centuries after the townspeople finished building their exquisite Gothic cathedral. The cathedral is again at the center of a web of love and hate, greed and pride, ambition and revenge.
-
-
Ten Stars
- By Laura on 12-17-07
By: Ken Follett
-
Fall of Giants
- Book One of the Century Trilogy
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 30 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ken Follett's World Without End was a global phenomenon, a work of grand historical sweep beloved by millions of readers and acclaimed by critics. Fall of Giants is his magnificent new historical epic. The first novel in The Century Trilogy, it follows the fates of five interrelated families - American, German, Russian, English, and Welsh - as they move through the world-shaking dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women's suffrage.
-
-
Loved it and learned alot.
- By Louis on 10-19-10
By: Ken Follett
-
The Winds of War
- By: Herman Wouk
- Narrated by: Kevin Pariseau
- Length: 45 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Herman Wouk's sweeping epic of World War II stands as the crowning achievement of one of America's most celebrated storytellers. Like no other books about the war, Wouk's spellbinding narrative captures the tide of global events - and all the drama, romance, heroism, and tragedy of World War II - as it immerses us in the lives of a single American family drawn into the very center of the war's maelstrom.
-
-
A Masterpiece
- By Robert on 05-24-13
By: Herman Wouk
-
Rules of Civility
- A Novel
- By: Amor Towles
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the last night of 1937, 25-year-old Katey Kontent is in a second-rate Greenwich Village jazz bar when Tinker Grey, a handsome banker, happens to sit down at the neighboring table. This chance encounter and its startling consequences propel Katey on a year-long journey into the upper echelons of New York society - where she will have little to rely upon other than a bracing wit and her own brand of cool nerve.
-
-
Such a pleasant surprise
- By Elena on 05-11-12
By: Amor Towles
-
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August
- By: Claire North
- Narrated by: Peter Kenny
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Harry August is on his deathbed. Again. No matter what he does or the decisions he makes, when death comes, Harry always returns to where he began, a child with all the knowledge of a life he has already lived a dozen times before. Nothing ever changes. Until now. As Harry nears the end of his 11th life, a little girl appears at his bedside. "I nearly missed you, Doctor August", she says. "I need to send a message". This is the story of what Harry does next, and what he did before, and how he tries to save a past he cannot change and a future he cannot allow.
-
-
Amazing
- By clifford on 11-12-15
By: Claire North
Publisher's Summary
Remembrance of Things Past is one of the monuments of 20th century literature. Neville Jason’s widely praised 39 CD abridged version has rightly become an audiobook landmark and now, upon numerous requests, he is recording the whole work unabridged which, when complete, will run for some 140 hours.
Sodom and Gomorrah is the fourth of seven volumes. Accidentally witnessing an encounter between the Baron de Charlus and the tailor Jupien, the narrator’s eyes are opened to a world hidden from him until now; he suspects that Albertine is attracted to her own sex.
More from the same
What listeners say about Sodom and Gomorrah
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Peter Schwenn
- 01-14-13
Narrator excellent
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes. The narration is excellent in every respect, which is a considerable achievement given the novel. Neville Jason renders the very long sentences comprehensible, does different characters without overdoing the distinctions, and transmits the writing beautifully, which can only be so if he understood himself - again no mean feat
What did you like best about this story?
There's no need to review Proust.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No one has read this work in one sitting.
Any additional comments?
I have much less difficulty in reading this work via audiobook than by sight.
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Darwin8u
- 07-30-13
Looking back obliquely on Proust's fourth volume
Reviewing 'Sodom and Gomorrah' puts me in an awkward spot. What are the risks of looking back obliquely on Proust's fourth volume of 'In Search of Lost Time' (ISOLT)? Will any indirect reference to Proust's army of inverts turn me into a pillar of salt? Will I disquiet my friends and my family with funky quotes from Proust's salon-centric novel?
It is hard to grab this one volume and grade or inspect it separate from the previous three, and seems premature to attempt to capture the full body of ISOLT before finishing the next three. Still, having read/listened 2700+ pages /102 hours of Proust now, I can still feel confident in saying that the guy is brilliant, weird, distressing, mesmerizing, queer, petulant, boring, beautiful, raving, labyrinthine, decadent, lyrical, perverse, funky, banal, and that is just a sampling of my feelings about Proust on just one of his d@mned pages.
But this is a novel that once started, must be finished. It is also a novel that needs to be eaten in discrete and slow chunks. I'm not sure it is possible to eat an entire wheel of Leerdammer by oneself, or to drink an entire hogshead of wine, or to read Proust's ISOLT all the way through. It is brilliant, but needs to be consumed in small graceful quantities, preferably with your pinky sticking out.
33 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Pablo Halpern
- 11-29-14
Excellent narration of a great work
Where does Sodom and Gomorrah rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
Rare for audio books, I can say categorically that I enjoy listening to this book better than reading it myself. I read the first three volumes of this series ("In Search of Lost Time", also called "Remebrance of Things Past") and found it tough going. Neville Jason transmits Proust's complex sentence structure with seeming effortlessness. He does a good job of changing voices in a way that brings out the personality of characters in the novel, especially for male characters.
Any additional comments?
Proust's "In Search of Lost Time" is a rewarding series for those who stick with it. (My book club is taking 2-3 years reading all 7 volumes.) Proust is like a neuroscientist, getting inside the head of his characters, especially the narrator, who resembles Marcel Proust himself. If you're looking for an action-filled page-turner, this book is not for you (even in audio form), but if you are looking for a thoughtful book with an interesting take on human nature, Proust has something significant to offer. Remember, this is volume 4. Reading or listening to the previous three volumes is a must before starting this one.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 07-28-15
Exploring the Forbidden (though Ubiquitous)
Would you consider the audio edition of Sodom and Gomorrah to be better than the print version?
Yes, because of Neville Jason's performance and apparently deep understanding of the characters.
What other book might you compare Sodom and Gomorrah to and why?
Only to the other volumes of Remembrance of Things Past
Which character – as performed by Neville Jason – was your favorite?
Baron de Charlus. Neville Jason brilliantly depicts his wild emotional swings and bombast and manages to deliver the significant situational humor while maintaining empathy for the character's plight.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No. Proust is too dense to absorb all at once.
Any additional comments?
Proust's humor comes across much more strongly in this volume than in the previous ones -- or perhaps I just am only now understanding it.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Russ
- 09-18-12
Worth the wait and wonderful every step of the way
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Without the audiobook, I would never have attempted to read the book, and even if I did, I couldn't have brought as much to it as the narrator. Few realize how funny as well as insightful it is.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Charlus is both the figure of fun as well as a historical anomoly and Neville Jason milks him for all he's worth--and more.
Have you listened to any of Neville Jason’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Listening to Jason is like rejoining an old friend over a glass of brandy after a wonderful dinner. The stories, the digressions, all are first rate.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
At 24+ hours, it's too much. I listen during my commute and the time in the car flies by.
Any additional comments?
For those who have only heard of, wondered about, and might be intimidated by the heft and the reputation of the novel, this are the best way to go. The insights into human nature are timeless. The abridged versions are worthless, since plot is the least of the charms.
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Hasmik
- 02-12-16
Absolutely fantastic!
This is an absolutely fantastic - life changing - piece of literature. Neville Jason's performance transfers you to the beginning of the twentieth century. Phenomenal!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 04-07-22
Extraordinary, but…
I have made it a project to experience all of this remarkable series of stories In Search of Lost Time. This is the fourth segment I have completed.
I must say I am as devoted to and excited by the task as ever.
Proust’s language and images are beyond compare. His description of memory and ideas and experiences in the past are unlike anything I’ve ever read or heard in literature. For these features of his craft alone, this is a venture well worth the effort.
Neville Jason’s narration is simply extraordinary. His accomplishment in narrating all six books is, I think, one of the finest in all of the world of read literature.
Proust’s accounts of Marcel’s memories of his grandmother, the experience of dreams and death and mourning, summer life on the water, and on and on are vivid and dream-like and beautiful.
One prominent element of this particular book is all the dinner parties and events of the life of the upper class world in resorts along the coast during these summer months. Candidly, I found it pretty dreary. To be fair to Proust, I think that’s his point in his satire. There’s little to be admired in it. But it goes on and on and on. I constantly wanted to get back to the story and the flow of the main character and his life.
But I get it. Obviously I survived.
And now I look forward to the next installment!
-
Overall
- Raskolnikov
- 11-28-20
Pretty Amazing
For a homosexual, Proust writes elegantly about heterosexual love. Wonder what is next for Proust (narrator) and Albertine in Paris, now that they are leaving Balbec. For me, Proust and Albertine are the latter-day Swann and Odette of early. The last 50 pages of this volume are really good. However, if I were Proust, I would have made Charlus and Prince Guermantes to have crossed paths in the wealthy whore house instead of Morel learning that someone (Charlus) was spying on him and giving the heads-up to Prince Guermantes. I also really like the discussion about the Dreyfus Affair.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- S. Menich
- 06-12-18
...and the story continues....
If a reader has made it to Vol 4, they should be used to it by now. Nothing much happens in this installment, but the words are beautiful, and the narrator does a brilliant job at using different voices for each character.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Luvin Cocktails
- 06-28-17
Excellent reading of V4 of "In Search of Lost Time
This is volume 4 in a 7 volume series comprising the entire novel "In Search of Lost Time". Proust lived much of his life as a closeted homosexual, and this volume opens with an exploration of human sexuality. The Search, written 100 years ago, was the first novel to openly explore these topics, which explains the title of this volume: Sodom (for men) and Gomorrah (for women). Meanwhile the Dreyfus affair continues to disrupt high society as the social climbing narrator works to penetrate fashionable society's highest levels and begins to realize there is nothing there…
Neville Jason's reading is a pleasure to listen to. He's a great voice actor, which makes it easier to identify the characters. it was quite an undertaking to read at 1.25 million words for all 7 volumes. (If all 7 volumes are not available when you read this, please put in a request for the missing volumes to Audible.)
Today, Scott Moncrieff's title "Remembrance of Things Past" has been updated to "In Search of Lost Time", a better translation of the original French. Moncrieff's translation of what is perhaps the greatest twentieth-century novel was a work of art in itself, but the translation included some errors and is out of date. I recommend obtaining William C. Carters translation of this volume in paperback from Yale Press to read or browse when it becomes available, but this is still a great recording.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Welsh Mafia
- 11-02-14
Change of direction and tone
I read the first hundred pages in Mallorca in August 2014 and again set aside until re-visiting the same spot again at the end of October 2014. The fourth volume seems to be the spot where others have stumbled. I found that the answer to this one is to fill a few days with the very best that life has to offer - in my case a full cooked breakfast, beautiful sunshine in the best October temperatures in Mallorca in thirty years, sea swimming every day, good coffee and an afternoon ice=cream, grilled king prawns, simply fried mackerel and an entrecôte to round things off. In this context the extended reading marathons just topped up the feeling of good living that I managed to engender all week.
I have to say that the Charlus and Jupien encounter was a jarring counterpoint to what has gone before - but only insofar as the judgmental solemnising that is set down after the event rings with an out of place hypocrisy. The unwritten Gomorrhe of Albertine’s adventures were all the more enjoyable for Proust’s lightness of touch and certainly, when Charlus rejoined the happy social band and took up the baton of conversation and counterpoint, I was the happiest camper on the sunbed.
I decided that complementary good living is the only way to get through the final two volumes and so will postpone my next adventure in Proust until I can re-assume the posture - February 2015 and looking forward to Tenerife already!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Antti
- 04-25-14
Saturation
I love Proust.
Around ten years ago I started reading ”Time" from the beginning, as fervently as I had ever read anything. But I remember that when I reached what really is the fifth volume in Proust after a few months I ran out of steam and never recovered to finish the project.
I started listening to the unabridged audiobook versions last autumn just as fervently for three months. And again I somehow hit the rocks with this volume. Perhaps I was just so saturated with Proust I couldn’t take it any more.
Unsurprisingly surprisingly, this is my least favourite volume so far, yet such a statement should be placed in its proper context, that is, taking into account that Proust even at his "worst" is as good as literature gets. Not that "Sodom and Gomorrah" isn’t psychologically masterful, and not that the language isn’t as beautiful as ever. Not that the themes of homosexuality and being Dreyfusard or anti-Dreyfusard wouldn’t be expertly conducted, both the kind of social taboos to make one lose all standing in society. This all Proust uses to great effect in exploring what I perceive to be at the core of his grand work: identity not as something that is, in the objective sense of the word, but rather as perceived and interpreted. Perceived in the sense that not only are we given an identity in our social sphere, we also assume one for different contexts. Interpreted in the sense that what we take on is a character, a role that abides to certain norms, often unsaid, but which, when broken, become apparent as reasons of disdain.
Yet somehow, despite its wonderful treasures, it just doesn’t connect with me. I think it’s because I was coming from a very intensive Proustian period and it was just too much, especially since ”The Guermantes Way” is, so far, my favourite volume, as perfect as a book can be, and I’m more than willing to return to this when I finally finish the series (at this writing I’m two-thirds through ”The Captive”).
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- nooban
- 11-22-20
poor albertine
tell him where to albertine and Don t kiss him out me more time if you ask me.