The Guermantes Way

First published in two volumes in French in 1920 and 1921, “The Guermantes Way”, is the third book in the “In Search of Lost Time” series by French author Marcel Proust. The series centers around the narrator’s memories of his childhood through adulthood in late nineteenth and early twentieth century upper class French society. The seven volumes of the series explore the themes of time, memory, sexuality, and death, and are widely regarded as one of the greatest accomplishments of modern literature. “The Guermantes Way” was primarily written in 1914 and captures a changing Europe at the beginning of World War I. The world of the narrator is changing too. His family has moved, his grandmother is dying, and his esteemed family friend Charles Swann is also close to death. The narrator is increasingly drawn to his new elusive neighbor, the wealthy and aristocratic Madame de Guermantes. The object of the narrator’s regard is unreachable and unknowable in her rarified world, a world the narrator can see is slowly changing and coming to an end. “The Guermantes Way” is an engrossing character study of a man caught up in empty and decadent distractions amidst global transformations and personal loss. This edition follows the translation of C. K. Scott Moncrieff.