In Search of Lost Time continues. The narrator is now an adolescent, so this book is largely concerned with his newfound fascination with young ladies. The first half of the book continues on from the last book, featuring Swann and his wife Odette and more pertinently, their daughter Gilberte. In the second half, he spends the summer in the seaside town of Balbec, trying to meet girls. (Actually he spends most of time thinking about trying to meet girls.) After much foreshadowing, he finally meets the young Albertine who will play a large part in his life and this novel. I really enjoyed this part.
Our narrator, amongst many other failings, is a terrible judge of first impressions. He keeps meeting people and describing how awful or unfriendly they are, only to shortly realise that they are actually wise and kind and pleasant after all. The same thing applies to places – he hates his room in Balbec at first, and wonders if he will ever be able to sleep properly there. But it isn’t long before he’s talking about his room like an old friend, welcoming him home after a long day out.
I found the book (like the previous one) very evocative and immersive, not least because of the way he goes to every length to describe, analyse and unpack every nuance of his (and others’) every minor emotion and state of mind. And there are many very funny deadpan asides – I laughed out loud quite a few times. Proust may not be Wodehouse, but there is still a goodly amount of humour in his writing.