Swann in Love (Remembrance of Things Past, 2)

Rating:
Summary: An excellent reading of the second half of Swann's Way.
Review: I bought this 3-disk set because, frankly, I couldn't imagine how anyone could pull off a reading of Proust's verbose and complex style. I was more than pleasantly surprised: Neville Jason does a fantastic job. His voice is polished and not overly dramatic; his phrasing shows a real understanding of both Proust's meaning and how best to convey orally his long sentences with all their long interpolations. The abridgment (which, according to the liner notes, was also done by Mr. Jason) is very sensitive to the original and retained far more of it than I thought was possible in a three-hour set. Period music is included, briefly and effectively, in the background. Since "Swann in Love" is more-or-less a self-contained novella within the great Recherche, this audio book would be an excellent way to get one's feet wet with Proust. My only caveat is that, Proust being, to say the least, a dense writer, this is not the kind of audio book that one can fully comprehend while doing something else. Just put your feet up and listen.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent reading of the second half of Swann's Way.
Review: I bought this 3-disk set because, frankly, I couldn't imagine how anyone could pull off a reading of Proust's verbose and complex style. I was more than pleasantly surprised: Neville Jason does a fantastic job. His voice is polished and not overly dramatic; his phrasing shows a real understanding of both Proust's meaning and how best to convey orally his long sentences with all their long interpolations. The abridgment (which, according to the liner notes, was also done by Mr. Jason) is very sensitive to the original and retained far more of it than I thought was possible in a three-hour set. Period music is included, briefly and effectively, in the background. Since "Swann in Love" is more-or-less a self-contained novella within the great Recherche, this audio book would be an excellent way to get one's feet wet with Proust. My only caveat is that, Proust being, to say the least, a dense writer, this is not the kind of audio book that one can fully comprehend while doing something else. Just put your feet up and listen.