The Proust Center

“Reading Proust Aloud”

Do you know someone who wanted to read Proust, but found him unintelligible?

Are you curious, if listening to Proust is different than reading him?

We are going to mimic Proust himself and read every word of Combray aloud.

Proust wrote to Georges de Lauris, 27 November 1909: “I’ve read my beginning to Reynaldo (200 pages!) and his reaction has greatly encouraged me.”

Unusual Guidelines:

1. There will be no set pages for each month; we will pick up from where we previously stopped.
2. We will stay within the text; we will ‘read and respond.’
3. Thus, no spoilers, biographical information, or literary criticism will be welcomed.

William C. Carter signing his books; Jefferson Market Library,  April 2023. 

We will read Combray aloud from William C. Carter’s annotated edition of Swann’s Way, by Yale University Press.

Starts September 12th, Jefferson Market Library.
Space is limited.
Register: nypl.org/events/programs/2023/09/12/reading-proust-aloud