The Magic Lantern of Marcel Proust: A Critical Study of Remembrance of Things Past

Touching, insightful analysis; a work even for those who have not read the subject material - masterful illumination the interactions, significance of Time, habit, memory, the social and amorous.

Proust can be read at many different levels. There is the humor, the era it evokes, the language (even in translation) and the themes. Howard Moss writes here of the essential themes or, as he terms them, the ways of In Search of Lost Time.There is the way of the aristocracy, symbolized by the path to Swann’s house by the land of the Guermantes, and the way of bourgeoisie, symbolized by the path Meseglise. These two way respectively symbolize the realm of society and the realm of love.According to Moss, both ways fail to satisfy the author’s deepest wants. Marcel’s love relationships are built on anxiety and suffering while the life of society is shown, with rare perspicacity, as vain and vapid.Instead, there is a third way: art. Via the mechanism of his art, Marcel is able to recreate the essences hidden beneath sensibilities and immortalize his family, his social circle and ultimately himself.Moss’s work, though an exercise in criticism, has a slight touch of the beauty of In Search of Lost Time, itself. Though only one hundred twenty five pages, the reader will find more depth than in many tomes. Like a work of literature, every word seems intended and poignant.This is the third commentary I’ve read on Proust and, without doubt, the most insightful. Highly recommended to devotees.

Anyone interested in Marcel Proust does indeed enjoy an embarrassment of riches. We are blessed in English with several superb full-length critical biographies, beginning with George Painter's pioneering work, and more recently by the spectacular biography by the dean of Proust studies, Jean-Yves Tadie, and the almost equally as superb (and perhaps more readable) biography by William C. Carter. We are also blessed with a plethora of first-rate advanced studies, either written originally in English, or translated from the French or German.Despite this, we have a shortage of introductory works on Proust. Samuel Beckett wrote a very short and one of the earliest studies of Proust, but despite its excellence, it is not really appropriate as an introduction. The prose is excruciatingly thick at times, and the argument sometimes completely obscure (Beckett is said years later to have found it impenetrable in many places), not qualities one seeks in an introductory work.Luckily, this clearly conceived and transparently written by Howard Moss, long poetry editor at the NEW YORKER, makes a perfect introduction. Unluckily, it is currently out of print. Hopefully, some publisher will rectify this situation by making it available to the reading public.THE MAGIC LANTERN OF MARCEL PROUST is a very short book, and obviously in such a work there can be no attempt at a comprehensive discussion of all the minutiae in the film. Instead, Moss discusses certain motifs that reveal Proust's overarching concerns in the RECHERCHE. For instance, "The Gardens," the second chapter, focuses on the landscapes and physical locations there, and what they reveal about the structure of his work. "The Parties" focuses on Proust's analysis of society and class. "The Way" discusses the ideas that provide the central structuring for the work as a whole.What I love most about Moss, in addition to his magnificently clear and unelliptical prose, is his integrity as a reader. Too many writers about Proust graft onto their discussion their own principal interests. Moss takes the reader of Proust--whether actual or potential--into the heart of the text itself. One gains the sense of what is central to Proust, and not merely to the critic writing about Proust.

Succinctly: why you should read this book—As noted in the foreword by Damien Searls, most books written on the novel are analyses, often of a single aspect/theme/motif of the novel—"whichever aspect of Proust’s universe sparks the critic’s interest.”However, “Moss’s…is in some ways an exception, because it has no special topic, no theory to prove or argument to make. It synthesizes or distills the whole of Proust’s massive work [and] lays out the sweeping claims and overarching structure….”‘Look Inside’: check out the chapter titles and you will be hooked.

To be read (and digested) after reading Proust. None of the fluff, patronization or overly-academic pabulum of some others. Substantive, though short, and aided my understanding a great deal. Only problem: I now need to return and reread Proust.

An awesome book on the classic by Proust! This is the one to read~ there are so many books out there on Proust and hismasterpiece. This one is brief and to the point and more insightful than most out there. Read "In Search of Lost Time", fall in love, and then re-live all the beauty and insights with this gem from Howard Moss.

Is this a copyright violation? Very poor quality. Recommendation: do not purchase!

This short book is an excellently written companion to "Remembrance of Things Past." Mr. Moss presents insights and interpretations that greatly increased my understanding and pleasure and answered many of my questions.

Wonderful book to have, it’s a great companion read for In Search of Lost Time. I read it while I was working through the fifth volume, some things were revealed prematurely but it clarified a lot. It’s short and elands itself well to a re-read :)