Swann's Way

“Here is a Swann’s Way that functions as a [In Search of Lost Time] sampler plate: the mildly curious will find their appetites sated and the intrepid literary explorers will find theirs whetted.” —Eric Vanderwall, On the Seawall “From its initial ‘Time was …’ to ‘doing the cattleyas’ and beyond, James Grieve’s translation of Swann’s Way is ingenious, scrupulous, and limber. Grieve’s sensitivity to nuance and the skill of his syntactic joinery give this ver­sion of the entrance to Proust’s masterwork distinctive and enduring appeal.” —Chris Andrews

Marcel Proust (1871-1922) was a French novelist, critic, and essayist. Born in Auteuil, Paris, Proust began his literary career writing criticism and short stories for Le Banquet, La Revue Blanche, and Le Figaro. At 38 years old, Proust began gathering material for what would become his monumental epic, In Search of Lost time, which he would work on for the rest of his life. Published in seven volumes between 1913 and 1927, the second volume won the Prix Goncourt, France’s most prestigious literary prize. The monumental epic tracks economic and cultural change taking place in France at the end of the Third Republic; its play with the themes of memory and time earned him a reputation as one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century.

James Grieve (1934-2020) was an Australian translator and author. Best known for his translations of Proust, Grieve also translated two children’s books, wrote book reviews for The Canberra Times, and taught French language and literature at the Australian National University in Canberra.

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