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Library of Proustian Delights

Welcome to our library. At present, it is home to Quotable Proust, Proust A-Z, and les Invités de Marcel Proust. These three sections are works-in-progress whose contents will continue to grow. At present, they offer you a number of Proustian delights. We hope that you will find our Proust-Ink Library a stimulating and nurturing retreat in which to enjoy and contemplate Proust’s own works and those he has inspired. In one of our favorite quotes, Proust reminds us that the great works of art create their own posterity:

Quotable Proust

This section contains in English and the original French some of the novelist’s “greatest hits,” trenchant and often amusing observations about the human condition. Although the quotations available are already extensive, we will continue to add to them. They now come entirely from In Search of Lost Time/A la recherche du temps perdu, but will soon contain quotations from Proust’s other writings and the nearly 4,000 known letters that he wrote.

Proust A-Z

An ambitious undertaking that will eventually be an on-line encyclopedia of the major aspects of the writer’s life and works, including his family members and acquaintances and the endlessly fascinating era (1871-1922) during which he lived. This period, encompassing the Belle Époque, World War I and its immediate aftermath, is vividly recaptured for all time in the pages of his vast novel.

Les Invités de Marcel Proust

A place to introduce and celebrate people who have made important contributions to Proust studies or whose own talents and creations intersect or connect with Proust and his works. We now have three guests: a scholar and mystery writer who are one and the same person, an artist, and a young singer. Because Proust and his novel are so well known throughout the world and because his works are often inspire others, we anticipate that this guest lodge will soon bustle and thrive as it becomes crowded with new arrivals.

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Testimonials

  • The course is WONDERFUL. You simply cannot appreciate how it has enhanced my reading. I felt fairly alone at time, en face de Proust. This course has opened up a world which I sensed, but which I can now piece together.

    Barbara Pilsbury

  • Your lectures have widened my understanding and given me new things to think about. My sincere thanks to you and to Nic. This course has obviously been a labor of love for you two as the course fee is in no way proportionate to the service provided by you.

    Cathy Lamb

  • I am enjoying your fascinating first lecture.

    Peter Albert McKay

  • Thank you, Bill. I am just getting started, have always wanted to read Proust but felt I needed a structured environment. What a great thing for you to do.

    Denise Middlebrooks

  • Enjoying the course—well done. This was my second reading of Proust and to be able to do this within the context of a course gave me so much more than reading it alone. This was fun!

    Deborah Hendel

  • Just writing to tell you that I am loving doing the course—and finally reading Proust properly, something I have wanted to do since living in Paris many years ago. Your guidance, intimate knowledge, and passion for Proust are inspirational.

    Brita Lomba