Within a Budding Grove Audiobook By Marcel Proust, C. K. Scott Moncrieff - translator cover art

Within a Budding Grove

Remembrance of Things Past, Volume 2

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Within a Budding Grove

By: Marcel Proust, C. K. Scott Moncrieff - translator
Narrated by: Neville Jason
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Remembrance of Things Past is one of the monuments of 20th century literature. Neville Jason’s widely praised abridged version has rightly become an audiobook landmark and now, upon numerous requests, he is recording the whole work unabridged which, when complete, will run for some 140 hours.

Within a Budding Grove is the second of seven volumes. The young narrator, experiencing his youthful sexuality, falls under the spell of a group of adolescent girls, succumbs to the charms of the enchanting Gilberte, and visits a brothel where he meets Rachel. His impressions of life are also stimulated by the painter, Elstir, and his encounter with another girl, Albertine.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

Public Domain (P)2012 Naxos AudioBooks World Literature
Rich Texture • Profound Insights • Excellent Narration • Captivating Storytelling • Languorous Prose • Memorable Moments
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Proust provides so much detail in his writing that I’m not sure I could read it in a physical book. He draws us into his world in a way that is nearly intoxicating. As an audiobook, it’s superb.

Exponential detail

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I thought, "Swann's Way" was a little better. In "Within a Budding Grove" the young Proust (he never gives a name or an age, but I thin he is 16) spends the summer with his grandmother and Francious at the sea-side resort of Balbec, which is really Carboug, France. Well, NOT ONE TIME does he get into the ocean! I thought that this was negligent by Proust. How do you go to ocean but not get in the water? Nevertheless, this is definitely four stars for me, and Neville Jason is excellent. May Mr. Jason rest-in-peace.

Never Gets in Ocean

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Enjoyed this reading of 'In A Budding Grove' very much! Now it's onward to The Guermantes Way!

Brilliant!

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The worlds, greatest novel, brilliantly, read aloud! This part is as great as all the others.

The world’s greatest novel

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The narrator sounds like he understands what he's reading and pronounces French quite well and with only a few mistakes (e.g., with names ending -bourg). Highly recommended production!

Fantastic narrator with unobtrusive French pronunciation

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Yes , it is a commitment ..but the twists and turns and hilarity keep you going ! This is the farthest I’ve gotten and taking a little break for the next installment but absolutely looking forward !

So funny ! Gorgeous language and insight accompanied by laugh out loud humor ,

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I would read along whilst listening to this. That way, I was able to stay focused on the long and beautiful sentences. So glad I found this.

A great way to read a challenging book.

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On my second go at Proust he has only improved, deepened and become all the more rewarding.

Proust never ceases to astound.

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My first recommendation when reading Proust is the reader MUST make sure they have a reliable bookmark, because when (not if, but when) you lose your place your faulty memory will not be able to remember exactly where you just were. One young nubile girl starts to blend into another young nubile girl who looks at this point a lot like her friend. One picked flower starts to smell like another from an earlier page; a page that seemed to exist a whole lifetime ago. One young man with mommy issues starts to look almost exactly like another young man with grand-mommy issues.

That being said, you don't read Proust for the lines. You read Proust for everything else. It is those moments between plot points where all the rich texture resides. There is something languorous about just simply letting Proust's prose wash over you ~~~ wave after wave. Suddenly, you really don't care if you've already read a certain page because you are content and you recognize that you will read it again in just a few pages anyway and it will be beautiful and true all over again.

Neville Jason's narration is a fantastic crutch. I use the narration to keep me paced as I read the text. I tried this approach first with Joyce and it worked so well I used it with Pynchon. The listening/reading approach is perfect for Proust.

One young nubile girl and then another ...

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This is volume 2 of a 7 volume series comprising the entire novel "In Search of Lost Time". In this volume the maturing narrator becomes much more interested in the opposite sex, continues developing a rich fantasy life, and is motivated to pluck some flowers - it's so hard to choose! You will enjoy the intermingling of all layers of fin-de-siècle French society (from hotel crooks to the nobility) in the beach town of Balbec as the narrator exhibits stalker-like behavior as he tries to get introduced (very important in fin-de-siecle French society) to a clique of pretty young girls. Watch his carefully laid plans for meeting the girls (and also those for breaking into high society) come to naught, only to finally succeed because of a family connection: his grandmother.
Neville Jason's reading is a pleasure to listen to. He's a great voice actor, which makes it easier to identify the characters. it was quite an undertaking to read at 1.25 million words for all 7 volumes. (If all 7 volumes are not available when you read this, please put in a request for the missing volumes to Audible.)
Today, Moncrieff's title "Remembrance of Things Past" has been updated to "In Search of Lost Time", a better translation of the original French. Moncrieff's translation of what is perhaps the greatest twentieth-century novel was a work of art in itself, but the translation included some errors and is out of date. I recommend obtaining William C. Carters translation of this volume in paperback from Yale to read or browse when it becomes available, but this is still a great recording.

Marvelous reading of Vol 2 of the Search

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